TURNTABLE TRICKS

Top tips to soup-up the sound from your spinner

MUSIC
REVIEWS
Rock rippers from
Yo La Tengo & You Me
At Six join The Strokes
& Genesis reissues

SWEET STREAMS
Hi-Fi Rose
network player
is a treat for
the eyes and
the ears

MARANTZ WOWS!
Reference duo delivers the AV
goods on so many levels

PURE POWER
Aussie amp makes good on
ultrafidelity promise
ISSUE 530 MAR/APR 2023 A$11.95
 Distinctive Design, Elegant Execution, Beautiful Sound.

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Editor’s lead in
y the time this issue lands in five songs from the studio sessions of the Really, that Marantz felt that its latest
your letterbox, and hopefully band’s 2022 album ‘Once Twice Melody’, reference AV preamplifier (page 28) should
by the time it lands in your arguably the best and most beautiful yet include a phono stage among every other
lap, Record Store Day will be from Baltimore’s dream-pop duo; Brian Eno’s connection and technology that such a product
just days away. The annual ‘FOREVER VOICELESS’, a purely instrumental is expected to play ball with nowadays is all the
celebration of the independent version of his remarkably transcendent, evidence you need of vinyl’s ongoing relevance.
record store and everyone involved in it — the achingly beautiful, pensive — and for that As one of our regular contributors states
staff, the customers, the artists — takes matter, critically acclaimed — album from last in the introduction to his review of one of the
place globally on Saturday 22nd April and, year; and Midlake’s ‘Live at the Roundhouse’, most digitally embroiled products Australian
keeping with tradition, will see hundreds of the recording of undoubtedly the London gig Hi-Fi magazine has ever tested (page 20), we
special release vinyl (over 400, in fact) become that I most yearned to be at last year (and trust remain confirmed analogue audio equipment
available to purchase in stores on that day (and me when I say there were many). There are, of fans. But it’s impossible to ignore, and indeed
in some cases, online in the following days). If course, some Aussie gems in the list — a 12-inch increasingly easy to enjoy, the digital kit that
this comes as news, or indeed an unexpected sampler of disco/electro/jazz from genre- largely defines the hi-fi industry these days. The
reminder), to you, and you consider yourself a spanning Close Counters, and a translucent digital ambition manufacturers are showing is
passionate spinner of the good wax stuff, I’d orange pressing of Ocean Alley’s seminal 2018 quite incredible, and the streaming industry’s
recommend putting aside half an hour to visit alt-rock record — though I think I’ll pass on the embracing of lossless quality and the waves
www.recordstoreday.com.au before that fourth Zoetrope picture disc of Bluey Dance Mode! being made to increase quality on the go are
Saturday in April to peruse the list and see what There are, coincidentally actually, a few further stoking that fire. The question Sonos
is going on in your area (you can easily find out vinyl goodies in this issue too. There’s news of and Apple are raising with their latest mass-
which stores local to you are participating in JBL’s first-ever turntable (page 10); the regular market wireless speakers, the HomePod 2
RSD by putting your postcode into the site’s Hi-fi Primer (page 75) offers tips and tricks on and Era 300 (page 16), is whether ‘spatial’
‘Find an RSD Store Near You’ tool). I myself how to get the best sound from your inherently audio will really be The Next Big Thing in music
will be hitting up Melbourne’s Greville Street temperamental record player, whether you’re recording/distribution (and consequently
Records to hopefully catch some live music new to decks or as comfortable with them as music reproduction). I don’t know about that
and, depending on the state of my bank the bed you sleep in; and a fresh interview with personally, but it’ll be an interesting one to see
balance at that time, make that inevitably tough turntable virtuosos Rega in light of its 50th play out. While my own listening sessions are
annual decision between a handful of albums. anniversary (page 71)... though admittedly it firmly in stereo – crisp, snappy, clear hi-res
I’ve got my eye on, to name just a few, focuses more on the amps it has ‘digitised’ than digital audio and lovely, tactile, warm vinyl.
Beach House’s ‘Become’ EP, which comprises any of its renowned record players! rebecca.roberts@futurenet.com
Mar/Apr 2023. Issue 530

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AUSTRALIAN HI-FI MAGAZINE ISSUE 530 – MAR/APR 2023
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HI-FI ROSE RS520 Streaming Amplifier
herein.
Information contained in this magazine, whether in editorial matter or in
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Could a self-confessed analogue fan come to love a device that
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28 Marantz AV 10 & AMP 10
Preamp/Power Amplifier 36 Rega Elex Mk4 Stereo
Amplifier
listening tests and should be construed as applying to the specific sample
tested—neither Future nor its employees, agents, subcontractors or licensees This reviewer uses the word ‘wow’ no The second Rega amplifier to get the
assume responsibility for product performance, quality or applicability.
fewer than three times to describe this digital treatment (after the Elicit), the
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www.whathifi.com/australianhifi
 80 Sound Travels
Features Australian Hi-Fi contributor Tom
Waters sits down with Nigel Ng of

6 Audio News
NAD CS1 Music Streamer; Bowers
Sydney’s Audio Connection
distributor and retailer, which aspires
& Wilkins Pi7 S2 & Pi5 S2 Wireless to be the place that everyone goes to
Earbuds; Sennheiser HD 660S2 for hi-fi information.
Wired Headphones; JBL Classics
Electronics; Musical Fidelity Nu- 84 High-End Review
Vista Amplifiers; Sonos Era 100 & A relative new-kid-on-the-block from
300 Wireless Speakers; Sonus faber Melbourne delivers power in spades
Homage Loudspeakers; Audiolab from its stereo power amplifier, which
7000 Series Electronics; Fyne Vintage has been fittingly named after its
Five & Fifteen Loudspeakers; Yamaha ‘diamond-like attributes’ — purity,
TW-E3C Wireless Earbuds; dCS Bartok faithfulness and constancy.
Apex Streaming DAC; MartinLogan
Motion Loudspeakers; Revival Sprint
Loudspeakers; Sony NW-A306
Music
Portable Music Player; Cambridge
Departments
Audio AXN10 & MXN10 Music
Streamers; Wilson Benesch A.C.T.3zero
104 Top Picks
Babymetal’s latest is a nigh-on no-
Audio News 6
Loudspeakers; Melco N1-S38 Digital filler of heavy music meets J-pop,
Music Library; KEF Reference Meta and unquestionably their strongest Editor’s Lead-In 3
Loudspeakers compendium of delirium to date. Esoterica 79
Meanwhile, new You Me At Six Hi-Fi Marketplace 93
33 AI Sound Is Here
You’ve tried the chat, you’ve seen the
material rarely falters, and 40 years
in, Yo La Tengo chooses to intensify
Hi-Fi Primer 75

art — now hear the AI audio. Our Jez rather than subside. High End 84
Ford dives into the sites creating music. Interview 71

105 Rock Rippers Len Wallis Headlines 39

75 Hi-fi Primer
Record players are arguably the most
Lyrically, British rockers Haken
use animals to metaphorically and
Music Reviews 104
temperamental hi-fi components — allegorically explore some aspect of SoundSites 19
even the best are easily upset by poor the world around us; Supergrass’s Sound Travels 80
positioning, adjustment or support. erstwhile leader Gaz Coombes
Which is why it’s important to take care continues his maturation into a
in set up and use to ensure you get the thoughtful and eloquent singer-
best sound from yours. songwriter; and Anglo-French former
YouTube star Laura Cox delivers an

71 Interview
I sit down, open up Zoom, and discuss
album of bracing trad-rock despite
it not being a very popular genre in
with British turntable legends Rega its France these days.
journey towards digital amplification,
and what the future might look like for
the 50-year-old brand.
106 Reissues
A sweeping collection of Genesis’
intimate BBC sessions and massive

3 Editor’s Lead-In
That turntable that this vinyl revival
live shows gets pressed on wax, while
indie fans should be able to delight
encouraged you to purchase or revisit in a boxset of The Strokes’ 10 seven- OUR FRONT COVER
(or simply keep using!)... well, it’s almost inch singles released from their first The most digitally savvy product to have
that definitive time of the year when it three albums, which this reviewer been reviewed in Australian Hi-Fi basks in
deserves to spin some new records. No, calls “a clutch of magnificent pop the limelight, while a majestic Marantz AV
not Boxing Day, or indeed every Sunday moments”. Motorhead, Neutral Milk duo and a powerhouse from Melbourne
afternoon. But Record Store Day, which Hotel and Gary Numan material gets prove undoubtable highlights.
is just days away! reissued too.

Australian Hi-Fi 5
 Soundbites

similar to its lower-ranging sibling, the main

aesthetic difference lies in the front display,
which is now bigger and, like the screen on the
9000A, in colour as opposed to monochrome.
This aesthetic upgrade has also been gifted
to the 7000CDT transport ($1,300), which also
gets a superior, tray-loading mechanism as
opposed to the 6000CDT’s slot-loading one,
plus enhancements in the power supply and
output circuitry that include a more advanced
toroidal transformer and a higher level of
shielding for the circuits.
In addition to the coaxial and optical outputs
(which are fed by a digital stage that has been
designed to ‘exhibit vanishingly low levels of
jitter’) is a USB Type-A input — a feature
borrowed from the 9000CDT — to allow for
playback from USB devices.
from features and engineering perspectives — The last of the mid-range musketeers is the
Three (mid-range) while also bringing something new to the table. 7000N Play streamer ($1,300), of course, and
musketeers Like the 6000A, the 7000A has three
line-level RCA inputs, an MM phono stage (in an
Audiolab claims it offers ‘a significant step up
from its still-current forebear’, the 6000N Play.
There was really only one name Audiolab could upgraded guise), Bluetooth support (upgraded Like other Audiolab streamers, the 7000N Play
have logically chosen for a new mid-range from aptX to aptX HD here), and two pairs of is based on the third-party, app-controlled DTS
component series, considering its lineup already opticals and coaxials each. But it also builds Play-Fi multi-room streaming platform — an
comprised the entry-level 6000 Series, the on its sibling by adding a USB Type-B input for established gateway to a plethora of music
recently announced reference 9000 Series, PCs, Macs and phones, not only making it more streaming services — and also supports DLNA
and the homage-paying 8300 Series. Indeed, versatile but also taking file support further to playback, Spotify Connect and AirPlay 2.
the Audiolab 7000 Series is here — a three- PCM 32-bit/768kHz and DSD512. The 7000N Play is blessed with the same
strong range comprising an amplifier (7000A), There’s now a new-generation 32-bit Sabre DAC as found in the 7000A, feeding optical and
CD transport (7000CDT) and music streamer chip (the ES9038Q2M), as well as the same coaxial outputs that can hook up to an amplifier’s
(7000N Play), and slotting into the middle pages post-DAC active filter and Class A circuitry digital input or an external DAC. Alternatively, its
of the brand's catalogue to offer a performance found in the 9000A. Power output is 70W per RCA outputs can plug straight into an integrated
level between the two extremes. And who channel (compared to its siblings' 50W and amp, preamp or pair of active speakers.
knows, perhaps the best available at its price. 100W ratings), with the toroidal transformer Again, the aesthetic DNA throughout the
Whether or not Audiolab has created three having been uprated from 200VA to a new 7000 Series is evident in the 7000N Play’s
mid-range marvels here is something we will 250VA unit. 2.8-inch LCD colour display and streamlined
all have to ponder a little while longer, though Audiolab’s typical choice of three amplifier full-width chassis.
thankfully I can readily divulge details around the modes allows users to use the 7000A as an The three Audiolab 7000 Series components
7000 Series. integrated amplifier, solely as a power ampli- are available now.
The 7000A integrated amplifier ($2,500) fier, or just as a standalone DAC/preamp. Jan
nestles between the starting-point 6000A and Ertner, Audiolab’s Lead Electronics Designer, has For more information, contact AV
flagship 9000A models, and therefore tweaked the Class AB circuitry over that found in Revolution on (02) 9521 4844 or visit
www.avrevolution.com.au
unsurprisingly borrows from both siblings — the 6000A, and while the 7000A looks very

The apex of
streaming DACs?
What do you get when you upgrade one of the
world’s best-sounding digital sources with an
overhauled Ring DAC circuit that, in a sibling
product, has already proven to be capable of
transparency of the highest order? By name, Primarily, the new Bartók gets the company’s Considering the performance heights of the
the dCS Bartók Apex; by talent, perhaps a class Ring DAC Apex technology, hence the name. previous model, and the fact that the Bartók
leader in its field... This technology, which was introduced to Apex shares some of the same electronics as its
The dCS Bartók Apex represents the next dCS’s top-end Vivaldi and Rossini products last high-end Vivaldi and Rossini systems, as well as
generation of the Bartók network streaming year, features changes to the reference power the clocking architecture and digital processing
DAC, following on from the 2018-released supply that feeds the DAC circuitry, uses new that make up its Ring DAC Apex platform, hopes
model that has been very well received by the components with a reconfigured layout on the are understandably high for this new model
industry. While the Bartók received a ‘Bartók circuit board, and introduces an all-new output within this revered level of the market.
2.0’ software update last year, which upgraded stage. Those who are interested in a deeper dive The dCS Bartók Apex comes in two variants:
the mapping algorithm that controlled its dCS into Apex can read dCS’s comprehensive ‘APEX: one with an integrated headphone amplifier
Ring DAC technology and introduced new digital A Closer Look’ article at www.dcsaudio.com/ ($34,995) and one without ($29,995).
filters and improvements to its DSD upsampling, edit/apex-a-closer-look. Completing a thorough
the Bartók Apex evolves the model further with overhaul for Bartók, the software side of things For more information, contact Advance
more advanced hardware and software. has also been revised. Audio on (02) 9561 0799 or visit
www.advanceaudio.com.au
06 Australian Hi-Fi www.whathifi.com/australianhifi
 Soundbites

Streaming for all

Cambridge Audio has added two music streamers to its
ever-increasing arsenal of streaming products — which
should catch the attention of those who are looking
to modestly modernise their system. The new AXN10
($1,099) and MXN10 ($899) network audio players sit
below the UK hi-fi brand’s established mid-tier CXN V2
($1,799), and in the case of the MXN10 allows for more
flexible placement.
Perhaps surprisingly, the AXN10 and MXN10 offer the
exact same streaming features, file compatibility and
functionality as one another. The discrepancy between

Take two single 9.2mm bespoke drive unit in each

earbud and support the less efficient
them actually lies in their size. The AXN10 is a typical ‘full
size’ music streamer designed to match the existing AX
Bowers & Wilkins has unveiled the second aptX Bluetooth codec. range of affordable hi-fi separates, while the MX has
generation of its Pi7 and Pi5 wireless Both models have different mic set- a much smaller footprint — 52 x 215 x 191mm, which is
earbuds, promising that the new models ups and active noise-cancellation (ANC) near-identical to that of the company’s DacMagic 200M
will be more stable and reliable than their powers too. The Pi7 S2 has a six-mic desktop DAC/headphone amplifier. Cambridge says its
predecessors. My colleagues at What set-up — three in each bud — compared flexible form can be used to add “streaming to any music
Hi-Fi? found that the original Pi7 had a to the Pi5 S2’s dual mic set-up per bud. system and bring vintage hi-fi kit back up to date”.
tendency to drop out, especially in busy So on paper the Pi7 should offer superior Both models have the brand’s in-house StreamMagic
signal areas like rail stations, so fingers call quality. module at their core, the very same that powers the more
crossed Bowers has ironed out that rather The Pi7 S2 are the only model to offer premium CXN V2 streamer, the Evo streaming amplifiers
large crease — not least as the earbuds Adaptive ANC, where the earbuds are and the high-end Edge NQ streaming preamplifier.
were very hard to fault otherwise. able to monitor their surroundings and As such, the AXN10 and MXN10 offer a Smörgåsbord
“We’ve introduced a new design of tweak their settings accordingly to deal of streaming options, including AirPlay 2, Chromecast
antenna and repositioned it within the with the external noise the mics detect. and Bluetooth 5.0. UPnP compatibility means you can
earbud endcaps,” according to a B&W Once again, the Pi7 S2's case can play any locally stored files on your network through the
spokesperson. “At the same time, we cleverly act as a ‘retransmitter’. In the box two streamers, too, and a USB (Type A) input accommo-
have switched to a new endcap material is a USB-C to USB-C cable and a 3.5mm dates music stored on a USB key/drive. Music streaming
that is more transparent to Bluetooth to USB-C one. Connect the USB-C end of services such as Spotify Connect, Tidal and Qobuz are
signals. The result is stronger Bluetooth either cable to the Pi7 S2’s charging case, supported, of course, as is internet radio.
signal strength, giving us an improved and the other end to a music source (such As for outputs, there is one RCA line-level (pair), coaxial
25m range (double what it was before) as your laptop), and the case can stream and optical. Stuart George, Cambridge Audio’s CEO, notes
plus enhanced wireless stability.” the source-playing audio to the earbuds, how connectivity options are important: "We believe in
The aptly named Pi7 S2 is the more at aptX Low Latency standard. offering our listeners choice. It’s essential to offer diverse
premium pair, priced $700, with the Pi5 It is the Pi5 S2’s case that actually routes to the music you love.”
S2 retailing for a more modest $450. holds more charge, though. Despite both That sentiment clearly extends to file compatibility,
Both new models look relatively similar pairs of earbuds being listed as offering with the ESS Sabre ES9033Q DAC in both players able
to their predecessors — fancy to look at five hours of listening, the Pi5 S2 case to handle hi-res audio files up to 32-bit/768kHz PCM and
and functional to use, featuring round carries a quoted 19 hours of charge, while DSD512 (though native MQA support for Tidal Masters
sides and a raised semi-circular outer the Pi7 S2 carries an additional 16 hours. streams has been left off the menu).
case housing the earbuds’ capacitive The difference is likely driven by the more There are no screens on the front panel, which is a
touch controls. premium pair’s power-hungry hardware shame if you enjoy seeing album artwork in full colour,
As well as having re-engineered parts and streaming capabilities. however both can be controlled by the company’s
of the earbuds to fix the connectivity Those who wish to stand out from the dedicated StreamMagic app, for iOS and Android.
issues, the company says it has also crowd certainly can do thanks to Bowers’
For more information, contact Synergy Audio Visual
extended both pairs’ battery lives to five widest range of colour finishes to date.
on (03) 9459 7474 or visit www.synergyaudio.com
hours from the earbuds — a welcome The Pi7 S2 are available in three new
boost over the originals’ four-hour claim. colours — Satin Black, Canvas White and
Unsurprisingly, the Pi7 S2 boasts a Midnight Blue — while the Pi5 S2 come in
more premium feature set than its more Cloud Grey, Storm Grey, Spring Lilac and
affordable sibling. They continue to Sage Green.
support the aptX Adaptive Bluetooth
codec, and sport four 9.2mm bespoke
For more information, contact
drive units each driven by its own amp.
Bowers & Wilkins on (02) 9196 8990
Meanwhile, the new Pi5 S2 feature a or visit www.bowerswilkins.com

Australian Hi-Fi 07
Soundbites

Wireless headphones of
the future
MQA, PSB Speakers and hearables start-up company Sonical
have partnered to produce “high-resolution audio
headphones” that combine hi-res wireless transmission with a
computer-in-your-ear operating platform. Indeed, these yet-to-
be-named headphones — due to go on sale under the PSB brand
early next year — sound ‘next-gen’ in more ways than one.
The high-quality wireless connection comes courtesy of
MQA’s latest technology, SCL6, a codec that has been designed
to facilitate truly hi-res audio streaming for the first time in such
products. It’s essentially a way of packaging an audio file for trans-
mission (in much the same way as aptX or LDAC, say) and works
for broadcast and streaming across Bluetooth, UWB (Ultra Wide Ultra, retro, cool
Band) and Wi-Fi, with any file type and regardless of whether In February, at the UK’s biggest hi-fi show of the year, Scottish loudspeaker
the connection is wireless or not. Its scalability is what’s clever brand Fyne Audio helped maintain the momentum of the retro-revival by
here — it can supposedly vary in data rate from 200kbps (lossy) all unveiling its classic-looking Vintage Fifteen and Five speakers. The new
the way up to 20Mbps (lossless) depending on the quality of the models are, in Fyne's words, “ultra, retro, cool” and arrive to top and tail the
connection, with the latter figure accommodating lossless company’s firmly established Vintage line.
transmission of hi-res 24-bit/384kHz PCM files. Over The Vintage Fifteen is now the largest model in that series, sitting
Bluetooth? Not likely, the Bluetooth pipe is just not wide enough. above the also-new Five and previously launched Vintage Ten and Twelve.
But UWB is low power and can achieve a higher bit-rate, so this Each 93kg loudspeaker is loaded with what Fyne describes as “its most
will probably be the vehicle in which, via SCL6, wireless hi-res is ambitious and dynamic” IsoFlare driver to date. The familiar point source
achieved on the PSB headphones. Given that the ‘best’ Bluetooth transducer system features a giant 15-inch (380mm) multi-fibre cone mid/
codecs have a maximum data rate of around 1Mbps (less than bass driver, paired with Fyne’s 75mm titanium dome, neodymium motor
that of a CD-quality file), SCL6 and UWB together have the compression tweeter, for a claimed 800W peak power handling and bass
potential to hugely impact on-the-go sound quality. down to 22Hz.
As for the headphones-based computing system that will Also flying the flag for ambition is the 1970s-inspired design. The
be at the headphones' core, that comes courtesy of Sonical cabinets are handbuilt from a birch plywood that has been finished in a
and is officially called CosmOS, though it has been referred to walnut veneer, with the aesthetic completed by gold anodised metalwork
as ‘Headphone 3.0’ for its next-level ambition. The idea behind and a “retro texture” grill. While more than just a design flourish, their
Sonical CosmOS is to open up headphones to apps, allowing analogue dial ‘Presence’ and ‘Energy’ controls for personal room tuning are
users to install third-party apps in the same way they can on their pretty eye-catching too.
phones, thus giving headphone manufacturers greater versatility The twin-cavity enclosure has been mathematically contoured to
in what they can offer. The system supposedly runs on powerful reduce standing waves, and is ported downwards onto Fyne’s largest
low-wattage processing cores, enabling it to reside in a portable, BassTrax LF diffuser system to date. This port design supposedly allows
battery-powered product like wireless headphones. Why, that the 15-inch driver to move the largest volume of air without port turbulence
makes the hoard of headphones on my desk sound pretty dumb! from a Fyne speaker yet.
“Our use of the CosmOS platform to make the world’s first Apart from being bookshelf-sized and now the smallest member of
software-defined wireless headset, and the inclusion of MQA’s Fyne’s classic lineup — something that Fyne says took a year of R&D to
adaptive wireless codec helps set a new benchmark for a high achieve — the Vintage Five look near-identical to their larger floorstanding
resolution, mobile high-fidelity product,” says Gordon Simmonds, siblings, sharing that veneered, handbuilt birch ply cabinet and gorgeous
President and CEO of Lenbrook Industries, PSB Speakers’ parent gold-metal trim. This time, however, they feature Fyne’s smallest IsoFlare
company. “We believe this product underscores what Paul Barton driver, which combines a five-inch (125mm) multi-fibre cone mid/bass
and the PSB team have accomplished over the brand’s 50-year driver with a 19mm neodymium motor, compression dome tweeter. The
history in the pursuit of audio excellence for listeners at home and IsoFlare driver is built into a cast aluminium chassis and incorporates Fyne’s
now on the move.” flux-focusing magnet. This combo apparently helps eliminate vibration
Our very own Jez Ford recently delved into the Sonical ‘Head- colouration and increases bass sensitivity.
phones 3.0’ innovation, so those who are intrigued should check Like the Vintage Fifteen, the Vintage Five has its own ‘Deep
out his musings at www.whathifi.com/news/headphone-30- Cryogenically Treated’ crossover, Van den Hul silver plated OFC internal
could-a-computer-in-your-ear-change-headphones-forever. wiring, and a ‘Presence’ control dial for fine room integration.
Further details about the PSB-branded headphones are being Available this autumn, the Vintage Five are priced $8,495, while the
kept under wraps for now, but I’m already wondering whether Vintage Fifteen come in at a very aspirational $69,995. The new models
such a ‘smart’ and hi-res-supporting pair will give us all a glimpse sandwich the existing members of the range — the $42,995 Vintage Ten
into the near future of headphones when they arrive in 2024. and $54,995 Vintage Twelve.
That certainly gives MQA time to start building out an
For more information, contact HiFi Collective on (03) 9013 4334 or
ecosystem of SCL6-supporting devices to give consumers an
visit www.hificollective.com.au
end-to-end option when the PSB headphones launch, for like a
lot of technologies, SCL6 requires support from the source too.

08 Australian Hi-Fi www.whathifi.com/australianhifi

 Soundbites

Classic roster be up for grabs in the coming months — but JBL supports a decent variety of playback formats
JBL hasn’t wasted any time this year so far, hasn’t been overly coy about what to expect. — CD, CD-R and CD-RW (but no SACD, sadly),
having already announced a new subwoofer, a Starting with the turntable, the TT350 as well as FLAC, WAV, MP3, AAC and WMA files
Bluetooth turntable, a pair of streaming Classic is a direct-drive design with a die-cast through the 24-bit/96kHz-supporting USB.
speakers… oh, and an entire line-up of hi-fi aluminium platter and natural walnut-veneered Outputs include RCA, optical and coaxial.
electronics. The all-new JBL Classic Series chassis. The S-shaped curved aluminium Like the anniversary SA750 amplifier, the
comprises the SA550 integrated amplifier, tonearm comes pre-fitted with a “high- SA550 Classic integrated delivers Class G
MP350 hi-res music streamer, the TT350 quality” Audio-Technica moving-magnet amplification with high power output and
turntable (when announced, it was the cartridge in a removable headshell (the TT350 “ultra-low distortion”. It also features the latest
company’s first-ever record player!) and a also lets you adjust the vertical tracking angle aptX Adaptive Bluetooth codec for offline
CD350 CD player. Yes, a new CD player! if you’re upgrading to different a cartridge). wireless streaming.
These electronics echo the modern-retro The SA550 offers 90W of power per channel
visual design seen in the limited-edition SA750 into eight ohms, or 150W into four ohms. It has
integrated amplifier (which launched in 2021 to four analogue inputs (three pairs of RCA and an
celebrate JBL’s 75th anniversary), and join the MM/MC phono stage) plus three digital inputs
L100 and L52 Classic speakers in the company's (an optical and two coaxials). Hi-res audio
growing heritage range. support extends up to 24-bit/192kHz, too.
Inspired by the JBL SA600 amplifier from the Last but not least, the MP350 Classic music
1960s, the Classic Series combines this retro streamer similarly supports hi-res audio up to
design with thoroughly modern engineering. 24-bit/192kHz. You can stream music from
The components feature natural walnut wood phones and tablets via Google Chromecast or
veneers (the same used for the Classic Naturally, it can play at 33 1/3 and 45rpm AirPlay 2, while Spotify and Tidal subscribers can
speakers) and machined aluminium controls and speeds, while adjustable damped feet help play and control their streaming directly from the
faceplates, while under the hood are the latest reduce vibration and make up for any uneven services' apps thanks to Spotify Connect and
hi-res digital and analogue audio technologies surface you may be forced to put it on. Tidal Connect. The MP350 is also Roon Ready.
designed to deliver “an unmatched listening The CD350 Classic, meanwhile, features a
The new JBL Classic Series will be available
experience”. We don’t have a full picture of each “robust” tray-loading mechanism and USB-A
later this year, with exact Australian pricing
component yet — the Classic lineup won’t be input, with an internal DAC capable of delivering and availability to be confirmed.
available until later in the year, so more details will what JBL claims is bit-perfect sound. The player

layered, rigid SSD mounter. This is connected to

the data path directly and circumvents any RAID
(or 'disk array') controller, says Melco.
Handmade in Japan, that all-new chassis is
constructed around a 3mm stainless steel base
plate, helping to reduce unwanted vibrations.
The two-tone aluminium casework is
complemented by teal LED lighting, while an
OLED display and illuminated control buttons
adorn the front of the unit alongside a USB port.
Melco has chosen to use “die-cast Amphe-
nol USB ports” — not only for the input but also
the rear panel’s DAC, Expansion, Import and
Best since 1975 Melco’s expertise in digital music storage, Backup ports — as opposed to the conventional
Melco has announced an all-new reference transfer and playback knowledge, and utilises its USB connections, which it claims can ultimately
digital music library that it says delivers “the best “unique architecture which carefully transports compromise performance.
sonic performance in the company’s history”. delicate signal data while avoiding noisy high- For connection to your home network,
Considering the Japanese audio specialist is speed elements and fast processors”. Melco provides Neutrik RJ45 connectors and an
almost 50 years old, that is quite the claim. It is actually the first Melco design since upgraded LAN port. The N1-S38 also supports
The N1-S38 arrives to headline Melco's 2018’s half-width N10 and N100 to have been a switchable 10MHz external clock input — a first
established lineup of digital libraries, which, if developed entirely from the ground up, with a for a Melco music library.
you were wondering, are essentially what the new chassis and casework, a new set of system Promising some serious digital sorcery, the
company calls its music servers. They act as electronics, and new power supplies — well-equipped Melco N1-S38 is available now in
high-performance, intelligent storage for your including a specially developed high-capacity black or silver finishes, priced $22,995.
digital files, though still require a connection to a mains transformer, supply and local regulators.
DAC, amplifier and speakers. For the all-important storage section, the For more information, contact Hi-Fi
Collective on (03) 9013 4334 or visit
Based around a brand-new SSD-based N1-S38 uses an “audio-specific custom” 3.84TB
www.hificollective.com.au
platform, the N1-S38 is said to build upon SSD drive used in conjunction with Melco’s own

10 Australian Hi-Fi www.whathifi.com/australianhifi

 Soundbites

company. Firstly, they feature an upgraded version of the company's thin-

film tweeter (officially called ‘Gen2 Obsidian Folded Motion Tweeters’),
complete with larger magnet structures for higher, less-distorted output
and an improved waveguide. The Motion XT models benefit from a more
advanced variant that the company says delivers “the most effortless and
detailed sound in the Motion range”.
As for the mid/bass drivers, the Motion models now use woven fibre-
glass woofers — the same material used in MartinLogan’s wall and ceiling CI
speakers — while the Motion XT speakers boast Kevlar cones. The chosen
crossover for all of the Motions is a new ‘McCracken-Vojtko’ design, which
is an upgrade on the Vojtko crossover found in its previous Motion models.
This really does appear to be a tweeter-to-spike overhaul, too, with the
Motion floorstanders featuring new fully adjustable, toolless feet designed
to dampen vibration and speed up set-up.

Motion from across the ocean The MartinLogan Motion and Motion XT ranges will be available on our
shores from April, with pricing as follows:
MartinLogan has come out of the gates this year with not one but two new
speaker ranges, both of which look to further the legacy of the US brand's Motion Series
13-year-old Motion series. First up is the fourth generation of the Motion F20 floorstanders: $6,999 Motion XT Series
range since the very first Motion models were introduced in 2010. The new F10 floorstanders: $4,999 F200 floorstanders: $9,999
series comprises five models — two floorstanders, one bookshelf, one B10 bookshelf: $2,599 F100 floorstanders: $8,499
centre channel and a dedicated surround module. And then there’s an all- C10 centre channel: $1,799 B100 bookshelf: $2,699
new, more premium and also-AV-friendly Motion XT range that too offers MP10 surround module: $1,899 C100 centre channel: $3,299
two floorstanders, one bookshelf and one centre speaker but forgoes the
surround. You can see every model across the two new ranges above. For more information, contact Audio Active on (03) 9699 8900 or
visit www.audioactive.com.au
MartinLogan says the Motion series has been “completely reimagined”,
with a sleek new design and advanced audio innovations exclusive to the

inevitable that a refreshed R Series would also to point you to its current models, such as the
feature it. Essentially, MAT is a circular, maze-like Kube 12b and KF92.
plastic structure that sits behind the tweeter Aesthetically very much in-line with the
and absorbs “99%” of the unwanted distorting outgoing R Series models, these latest speakers
sound radiating from the cone’s rear into the are available in a choice of black or white gloss or
cabinet. Clever. walnut finishes. (The R3 Meta and R7 Meta will
As far as I know, this latest R Series doesn’t also be available in ‘Indigo Gloss’ and ‘Titanium
bring as many component changes as its Gloss’ special edition finishes respectively.)
predecessors brought over their previous
version — 1043! — but that doesn’t mean it’s a R Series pricing per pair is as follows:
soft update this time round. Far from it. Another R11 Meta floorstanders: $11,500
very welcome albeit unsurprising inclusion R7 Meta floorstanders: $8,500
across the range is the 12th generation of KEF’s R5 Meta floorstanders: $7,000
Uni-Q driver, which can also be found in the R3 Meta standmounts: $3,900
multi-award-winning LS50 Meta standmounter R6 Meta centre channel: $3,500 (per piece)
that sits below the new R Series. KEF says the R2 Meta centre channel: $2,500 (per piece)
design has further benefited from a specific R8 Meta Dolby Atmos speakers: $2,800
"selection of tweaks and modifications",
including a refined tweeter gap damper (for For more information, contact
better resonance control), a more flexible Advance Audio on (02) 9561 0799 or visit
www.advanceaudio.com.au
decoupling chassis (for improved vibration
dampening), and an enhanced crossover design

R Series gets Meta and fine-tuned signal path. The promise? A

significant step forward over the previous-gen
Five years after its last refresh, the KEF R Series models in terms of sonic transparency.
speaker range has been updated to include So, to the seven models. The R3 Meta are
the company’s performance-enhancing MAT the series’ only standmounters, joined by the
(Metamaterial Absorption Technology), among R11 Meta, R7 Meta and R5 Meta floorstanders.
other improvements. Those wishing to use the R Series in a surround
The seven-strong hi-fi- and AV-friendly sound setup have a choice of two centre
range sits in the middle of KEF’s enviable lineup, speakers — the R6 Meta and R2 Meta, which
between its Q Series and The Reference series. can also be used in LCR configuration — and a
The latter was given the MAT treatment just over Dolby Atmos-compatible R8 Meta surround
a year ago alongside the Blade, following the module that can be wall-mounted or placed atop
debut of the technology in the LS50 Meta and another speaker. The range doesn’t have its own
LS50 Wireless II in 2020, so it was somewhat subwoofer, though KEF would only be too keen

Australian Hi-Fi 11
Soundbites

Amp nu-comers
Valves were masters of the electronic world for a
relatively short time before being superseded by
transistors. The first transistor was successfully
demonstrated in 1947 at Bell Laboratories, and
by the 1950s it already felt like good old thermi-
onic valves were in their twilight years. But there
was one last-ditch attempt at fashioning an ul-
tra-reliable vacuum valve, a design which would
deliver the very best measured performance
yet avoid glass-based microphony and delicacy.
This led to RCA’s introduction of a metal-cased connections — and its RCA and XLR outputs eight ohms), improved imaging and a greater
ceramic ‘nuvistor’ valve in 1959. come in fixed and variable options. Additionally, ability to drive speakers, says Musical Fidelity.
The nuvistors looked rather dull — no glowing the PRE has a +6dB gain boost button to help All Nu-Vista amplifiers come with an
filament within glass here — but they were stellar with system matching — it also cleverly remem- outboard power unit (PRE PSU/PAS PSU/PAM
performers, proved almost indestructible, and bers which input needs this feature. PSU) in a matching chassis, keeping the AC
were long-lasting too. The Nu-Vista PAS power amp has a mains power supply away from the main unit and
No-one makes them anymore, so it comes high-power (300W into eight ohms) output consequently removing interference from the
as a bit of a surprise that Musical Fidelity has stage, with five thermally compensated output main units’ circuits. The PSU units are similar in
announced a three-strong Nu-Vista separates devices per channel for more stable operation. dimension and weight to the main preamp and
range that uses them. It seems the British brand It further takes inspiration from Musical Fidelity’s power amp units (a hefty 25kg for the PRE, and
still has a stash that it's dipping into here! iconic Titan amplifier by having separate an even heftier 40kg for the PAS and PAM), so
The new models are the Nu-Vista PRE capacitors for the bulk supply — one each for the you'll want to make sure you have ample space
pre-amplifier, Nu-Vista PAS stereo power output devices. This, it says, claims to reduce and support for them before taking the plunge.
amplifier, and Nu-Vista PAM monoblock power output impedance and thus improve dynamics. The Nu-Vista components sport aluminium
amplifier. These all-analogue amps have been The power amp features two line-level RCA chassis (in black or silver) and dimmable VU
designed from the ground up, with their nuvistor inputs, two balanced XLR inputs, and single fixed meters on their front panel. Musical Fidelity
valves complemented by fully balanced discrete RCA and XLR outputs. naturally claims that build quality befits the
circuitry and extensive connectivity. The PAM monoblock effectively separates models’ five-figure price tags. The Nu-Vista PRE
The Nu-Vista PRE and PAS are both Class the PAS power amp into two modules for those and PAM cost $41,000, while the PAS is $45,000.
A designs with eight (four per channel) 6S51N who want (and can afford) better channel That’s not it for the new range either; more models
nuvistors in the buffer stage. The PRE also has a separation. The PAM benefits from a modified will beef it up this year and next. Watch this space.
pair of mini power amps operating in Class A and internal design thanks to the extra space, with a
outputting around 50W. bridged output amplifier stage using two pairs of For more information, contact Audio
The pre-amp has 12 inputs in total — six high-power, thermally compensated output Marketing on (02) 9882 3877 or visit
www.audiomarketing.com.au
line-level RCA and six fully balanced XLR devices. The result? More power (600W into

Budget Walkman upscaling processing onboard for those who

do want to cut the cord. Sony claims it has
alive and well improved its algorithms to let the player offer
more sonic subtleties and dynamic range when
It’s been quite some time since the industry saw playing CD-quality 16-bit/44kHz tracks, too.
a hi-res music player from as big a brand as Sony The player runs the Android 12 operating
cost so little, to the point where I wondered system, with Wi-Fi support accommodating the
whether the final nail had been hammered into playback of music from (subscribed-to) music
the coffin of the budget music player market. streaming services.
So imagine my surprise when news of the $499 The good news continues with battery life,
Sony NW-A306 landed in my inbox. with the NW-A306 claiming to offer up to 36
At first glance, the NW-A306 looks like a hours of (CD-quality) 44.1kHz FLAC playback
stripped-down version of the company’s and up to 32 hours of (hi-res) 96kHz FLAC
higher-end NW-WM1ZM2 and NW-WM1AM2 playback — more than enough to get you
players. It features a rectangular, milled through a long-haul flight. Charging is via
aluminium design with rounded sides, large USB-C.
physical buttons and a 3.6-inch touchscreen. Doesn’t that all sound marvellous? There is,
The only significant aesthetic difference seems however, a catch: the NW-A306 only features
to be that it has lost the large semi-circular pro- 32GB of storage — and only 18GB of this is listed
trusions on the other models' tops. It’s further as being “usable”, which could be an issue for
good news when you look down the spec sheet people who have large hi-res music libraries
to see features normally only seen on much downloaded locally. That said, given the player’s
more expensive portables. price and the world's increasing reliance on
With Sony’s S-Master HX digital amplifier streaming, this may not be a dealbreaker for all.
onboard, circuitry that uses a reflow solder than flagship phones.
containing gold, and native DSD support, the In addition to the typical 3.5mm jack is For more information, contact Sony
NW-A306 will, Sony says, offer significantly Bluetooth for listening wirelessly through Australia on 1300 137 669 or visit
www.sony.com.au
better — less distorted and less noisy — audio headphones, with improved DSEE Ultimate

12 Australian Hi-Fi www.whathifi.com/australianhifi

 THE ABSOLUTE
REFERENCE AUDIO
Known among audiophiles as a manufacturer whose cables set the
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patents constantly advance the frontiers of the industry.

AVAILABLE IN AUSTRALIA THROUGH ABSOLUTE HI END 0488 777 999 . info@absolutehiend.com . www.absolutehiend.com
 Soundbites

Bluesound, though the CS1 is purely an 'end-

point' streamer. That means it solely supports
third-party streaming protocols such as Google
Cast, Apple AirPlay 2, Spotify Connect and Tidal
Connect. This increasingly popular route means
that music can be streamed to the CS1 directly
from Apple and Google devices and compatible
native music service apps, instead of through a
dedicated product app. Typically, the necessary
network connection can be via Wi-Fi or Ethernet.
DLNA support allows for the playback of
networked music files — the CS1 supports
high-resolution audio up to 24-bit/192kHz and
can also render MQA files/streams — while Blue-
tooth is also onboard for offline streaming. Roon
is also handily supported for subscribers to that
suitable for similarly budget electronics, NAD is popular library management platform.
Streaming gateway promising “audiophile-grade streaming” here As for hooking it to your system, the CS1 has
If you have a CD player- or turntable-front- thanks to its inclusion of “audiophile-grade RCA outputs for stereo amplifiers or powered
ed system you love but want to easily and components”. One of those is a digital stage speakers, as well as optical and coaxial outputs
affordably add streaming skills to it, your wish based on Texas Instruments’ PCM5141 DAC, for external DACs, or as alternative means of
is NAD’s command. The Canadian hi-fi brand a design NAD says is “known for its extremely connection to amplifiers and powered speakers
has released the CS1, a low-priced hi-res music low noise, excellent dynamic performance, and with digital inputs — so it really can just slip into
streamer designed to bless traditional set-ups immunity to clock jitter”. existing systems.
with streaming powers, or be paired with active Of course, NAD has many a standalone
speakers for a modern, space-efficient system. music streamer and streaming amplifier in its For more information, contact Convoy
While the CS1’s modest $599 price tag puts arsenal that are based on the BluOS multi-room International on (02) 9774 9900 or visit
www.convoy.com.au
it at the lower end of the streamer market, most streaming platform from its sister brand

while the Sprint 4 are their 2.5-way floorstand- be placed on Revival’s optional speaker stands.
ing counterparts. Both boast what Revival calls Available in Blonde Oak, Walnut or Matte
an “innovative Elytron Acoustic Baffle design”, Black finishes, the Revival Audio Sprint 3 cost
which is essentially a lightweight, high-strength $1,750 while the Sprint 4 will set you back
construction crafted asymmetrically to help $3,200 — less than half the asking prices of the
optimally guide soundwaves as they leave the Atalante 3 and 5 respectively.
speaker, and thus reduce cabinet diffraction.
For more information, contact Audio
Daniel Emonts, Revival Audio's CTO and
Marketing on (02) 9882 3877 or visit
co-founder, clearly believes in his vision. “I’m www.audiomarketing.com.au
immensely proud of what we’ve been able to
achieve with the Elytron baffle on the Sprint 3
and 4,” he said. “Having personally attached
the final design to these speakers, I’m excited
for others to now hear the crisp, flawless sound
[they] are able to deliver.”
Both models feature a 28mm soft-dome
tweeter, enhanced by Revival’s patented ARID
(Anti Reflection Inner Dome) technology for
absorbing unwanted resonances in the back
cavity of the speaker, out of harm’s way. They’re
paired with seven-inch BSC (Basalt Sandwich
Construction) woofers. Considering these driver
technologies are also present in the higher-
ranging Atalante models, and considering how
much the Atalante 3’s performance was praised
Revival Audio by my colleagues, the Sprint speakers look to
have strong engineering foundations indeed.
catalogue doubles The Sprint 3 offer a nominal impedance of
Sporting the same vintage style that made six ohms and a claimed frequency response of
newcomer Revival Audio’s debut, high-end 55Hz-22kHz, whereas the Sprint 4 claim a
Atalante speaker range so alluring when it arrived nominal impedance of four ohms with a 45Hz-
Down Under last year, its new Sprint series sees 22kHz frequency response.
the French company seeking to forge a name for In terms of housekeeping, the 20.6kg Sprint
itself in the market’s mid-tier price point. 4 floorstanders come with foot spikes for
Designed and assembled in France, the stability, vibration absorption and better sound
Sprint 2 are two-way bookshelf loudspeakers, imaging, with the smaller 9.1kg Sprint 3 able to

14 Australian Hi-Fi www.whathifi.com/australianhifi

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Soundbites

Serious headphone
heritage
Sennheiser has designed its fair share of classic
over-ear headphones over the years starting
with the number ‘6’. The iconic HD 600 and
HD 650 both fall into this category, but will the
brand's new HD 660S2 be a pair to look back on
in a few years with a similar sense of fondness?
As part of the design process for these latest
open-back headphones, Sennheiser says it
took onboard feedback from owners of the
previous HD 660S model to help it shape the
sound quality of the HD 660S2.
And the result, according to the German
brand, has been an upping of the ante in terms
of detail, dynamics and bass. It has implemented
a number of design tweaks, one of which
is aimed at improving the airflow around the
38mm driver via a new vented magnet system. Sonos enters a new era
This system has been designed to reduce sonic Following what felt like a lifetime of rumours 100 and the outgoing One is that it delivers
distortion and help deliver a more dynamic and and online leaks, Sonos has finally pulled the stereo (compared to the One’s mono) sound.
dramatic sound. The HD 660S2 also use a light- cloth from its Era wireless speakers. The new Inside the speaker lies two angled tweeters
er aluminium voice coil than the previous-gen Era 300 ($749) and Era 100 ($399) mark a with custom waveguides that are designed
model, while impedance matches Sennheiser’s brand-new range for the multi-room mogul, to deliver “detailed stereo separation”, and
HD 600 and HD 650 models at 300 ohms. expanding on the typical Sonos features a 25% bigger woofer that promises deeper
“With precision and power like no other and (the Sonos S2 platform, Wi-Fi, AirPlay 2, and bass. Each driver is powered by its own Class
new sensitivity across all frequencies, listeners Sonos and Alexa voice control) with Bluetooth D amplifier.
will hear details they’ve never heard before, connectivity (for the very first time in a non- Both new Sonos Era speakers can also be
especially at the lower end of the spectrum,” portable Sonos speaker), a physical USB-C used as stereo pairs — if two are purchased,
said Jermo Koehnke, Sennheiser’s Audiophile input and, in the case of the Era 300, spatial of course — and can handle audio files up
Product Manager. audio support. to 24-bit/48kHz from Qobuz and Amazon
The HD 660S2 feature plush ear cushions, Indeed, the larger of the two speakers Music, the two music streaming services that
an eye-catching jet-black finish and bronze was designed specifically for playback of the Sonos ecosystem currently supports.
accents. Of course, being open-back, they have Dolby Atmos spatial audio tracks, with Sonos’ Both work with the Sonos S2 app for more
outer mesh grilles that allow you to peer into the Principal Product Manager Ryan Moore features too, including multi-room system
inner sanctum of the headphones too. stating that “the goal with Era 300 was really grouping with other Sonos products, music
In the box is a storage pouch and two 1.8m to create the best standalone spatial audio playback from supported streaming services
detachable cables — one with a 6.3mm socket experience of any single speaker”. At the time and Sonos Radio, and Trueplay room correc-
and the other with a 4.4mm balanced plug. of launch, the Era 300 supports Dolby Atmos tion tuning available for iOS and (for the first
The Sennheiser HD 660S2 over-ears are Music via Amazon Music Unlimited and Apple time ever) Android users.
available now for $949.95. Music, though there has been no word yet on Both also feature new top panel interfaces
whether Atmos tracks on the Tidal service will with touch capacitive controls, the most tac-
For more information, contact Sennheiser
also be embraced by the Era 300. tile of which is a new volume slider (or ‘trough’,
Australia on 1800 648 628 or visit
en-au.sennheiser.com To cater for its spatial audio chops, the Era as Sonos refers to it). Additionally, Sonos says
300 rocks a unique hourglass cinched design it has put a lot of thought into the longevity
that makes it looks unlike any other speaker and sustainability of its new products. The Era
on the market. That has been specifically speakers can be more easily repaired and fully
chosen to cater for the unusual acoustic serviced by Sonos thanks to more screws
architecture housed within. Inside are six than glue used in the construction; they are
drivers — four tweeters and two woofers, made with “a high percentage of” post-
each driven by its own Class D amplifier — consumer recycled plastic (more than 40%,
with custom waveguides that fire sound out apparently). And they use less power (less
forwards, upwards, left and right to surround than two watts) when in idle mode.
you with music. Finally, a word on that USB-C input. If you
The Era 300 can also be used as Dolby did want to hardwire a turntable or another
Atmos rears in a surround system with the source to one of the Eras, you’ll need to
Sonos Arc or Beam Gen 2 soundbars (and a buy the Line-In Adapter and Sonos Combo
Sub perhaps) — a feature that’s sure to please Adapter separately at a fairly reasonable cost
AV fans, even if such a set-up is pretty costly. of $35 each.
The smaller Era 100 (which looks like and So, could the new Sonos Era speakers
succeeds the existing Sonos One) can also help take spatial audio out of the Wild West
be used as rear speakers, and with a wider and propel it towards being the audio feature
range of soundbars too — Arc, Beam Gen 1 of the future? I guess we will soon find out…
and Beam Gen 2, and Ray. But it doesn’t have
spatial audio support.
The biggest difference between the Era For more information, visit Sonos at
www.sonos.com

16 Australian Hi-Fi www.whathifi.com/australianhifi

 Soundbites

pressure into the alternate chamber, reducing

impedance peaks.
These new models also benefit from a new
midrange driver, a 15cm natural fibre cone with
a neodymium magnet that promises to be more
efficient than past versions. It has a shorter and
wider voice coil for greater control, faster re-
sponse and more force, too. And the suspension
has been improved and optimised for greater
speed and control.
There are new bass drivers too. The Serafino
has a new coil and spider material and is
optimised for better air movement and bass
extension, while the Amati’s new 22cm bass
driver has 23% more force and an integrated
heatsink. The Guarneri’s 15cm driver promises
better control and a low resonance of 15Hz,
along with deeper extension without distortion
due to the purpose-built neodymium motor
system and new tuning frequency. It has also
been optimised to reduce modal vibration.
The entire range benefits from Sonus faber’s
new hybrid crossover system, combining
Jantzen inductors, Clarity Caps, and Mundorf
capacitors and resistors hand-soldered onto
custom PCBs.
A thorough update indeed, though the
Homage speakers do also utilise existing Sonus
faber technologies, such as its D.A.D reference
tweeter, cellulose pulp midrange cones and
sandwich cone mid/bass drivers. Aluminium
‘dampshelves’ at the top of the cabinet increase
rigidity and reduce resonance, too, while airflow
is maximised by the company's proprietary
UltraFlex anti-resonance porting system.
Available now, the Amati G5 cost $59,995;
the Serafino G2 are priced $42,995; the
Guarneri G5 are either $31,995 with stands or
$25,995 without; and the Vox G3 are $27,995.

For more information, contact Synergy

Audio Visual on (03) 9459 7474 or visit
www.synergyaudio.com

Classici anni ‘90 Naturally, they feature improved cabinet

construction over the 90s originals, with a better
Like TikTokking to TCL’s Waterfalls, Sonus faber’s bracing and porting system allowing for greater
four-strong Homage loudspeaker range is a efficiency and output while maintaining control
contemporary take on a 90s classic. The range of vibrations. This was helped in no small part by
originally launched in 1993, and has now been Sonus faber’s 2021 acquisition of the De Santi
updated with plenty of modern technological woodworking facility, which supplied the brand’s
advances to see another day. cabinets for 35 years.
The models in the range are the Guarneri It has also redesigned the midrange and
G5 two-way standmounters (fifth generation), tweeter chambers, but the original series’
Serafino G2 and Amati G5 3.5-way floorstanders defining lute shape has been retained (albeit
(second gen and fifth gen, respectively) and with modified metalwork). The brand’s new
three-way Vox G3 centre channel (third gen). proprietary technology, Intono, is also found in
Each takes inspiration from a musical the Amati G5 and Serafino G2. Intono seeks to
instrument in order to honour its makers and address the drawbacks of ported cabinet/sealed
the lute-making tradition that has its roots in enclosure designs by harnessing their strengths.
Cremona, the Italian brand’s homeland. And all By tuning the midrange driver just above peak
models come in three colourways — red, wenge pressure frequency within a further sealed
(an African hardwood) and graphite. enclosure, Sonus faber is able to equalise

Australian Hi-Fi 17
Soundbites

Class A.C.T.
The latest loudspeaker from Wilson Benesch’s
Fibonacci Series reference line, the A.C.T. 3zero
floorstanders are, like the company’s Omnium
towers that arrived last year, an upshot of the
€7.4-million pan-European SSUCHY research
project that was created to develop and
promote the use of bio-based composites
based on renewable resources, as opposed to
oil-based non-recyclable materials.
To that end, the A.C.T. 3zero’s enclosure —
which stands just over one metre tall — uses
sustainably sourced and bio-based composite
materials in its construction, replacing the car-
bon fibre-heavy structure of its A.C.T.
predecessor. Those familiar with the Yorkshire
company’s designs will know that carbon fibre
has played a big part in its history — the British
brand even produced the first carbon fibre design is now in its sixth generation, dating back rectly amplifier coupled, this reductive crossover
composite monocoque enclosure in the high- almost 35 years to the company’s birth in 1989. approach chosen to eliminate the phase
end audio industry almost 25 years ago. Wilson This is, however, the first generation of A.C.T. to anomalies often caused by complex crossovers.
Benesch says these new naturally sourced and use an isobaric drive system, comprised of two When I tell you that pricing for the A.C.T.
sustainable materials replace almost all materials seven-inch Tactic 3.0 drivers and incorporated 3zero starts at $68,000, you might not be
previously used from petrochemical sources. into the speaker's three-part foot, which also surprised that every Wilson Benesch speaker is
As well as the new A.C.T. 3zero’s cabinet provides structural fixing points for the 13mm hand-built to order, and offered in a wide range
being more eco-friendly, Wilson Benesch says steel ties that run the entire length of the of natural wood, carbon fibre and paint finishes.
it is also stiffer and better damped than the speaker chassis and tie to the top. If you want to opt for something aesthetically
previous one. The SSUCHY initiative allowed the Carrying over from the three models that sit unique, Wilson Benesch’s Australia distributor,
British company to work with a huge amount of above the A.C.T. 3zero in the company's flagship Nirvana Sound, can oblige.
R&D and measurement resource, so you can bet Fibonacci Series (including the most eminent
that the A.C.T. 3zero represent cutting-edge. Eminence speaker!), the accompanying drivers
Wilson Benesch followers may not be include a seven-inch Tactic 3.0 low-bass unit, For more information, contact Nirvana
Sound on (0) 409 514 914 or visit
surprised to read that its renowned, pedigree a one-inch Fibonacci Tweeter, and a dedicated
www.nirvanasound.com
‘Advanced Composite Technology’ speaker seven-inch Tactic 3.0 midrange cone that is di-

Its latest true wireless earbuds, the TW-E3C, tick

a lot of today's boxes: Bluetooth 5.2 and aptX
Adaptive for some of the stablest and highest-
performing portable connectivity around; a
decent 24 hours of battery life (nine hours in
the buds themselves, plus 15 hours from the
case; IPX5 waterproofing for protection up to
“a low-pressure water stream”; and app control
and features that include EQ presets.
Then there's multipoint Bluetooth support
for seamless audio switching (useful if, say, you
want to wirelessly listen to music from your
laptop but also be connected to a phone in case
a call comes in), plus the option to turn on ‘ambi-
ent’ mode if you need to stay somewhat dialled
into your surroundings. Gamers even have
access to a gaming mode to reduce latency.
Really, Yamaha’s all-new TW-E3C impress as
much as any earbuds could on paper — not least
for a pair that costs a mere $129. They look good
too, thanks in part to the range of colours on
offer — grey, black, red, beige, green and blue.
Box-ticking buds Do these wireless headphones have Bluetooth Now they just need to prove up to scratch in the
For better or worse, the consumer technology 5.2 and aptX? Honestly, it is difficult to keep up! all-important sound department as well…
industry has largely become embroiled in a big But while sonic performance is, we all have to
box-ticking exercise. How many services does remember, the key pillar to a successful product, For more information, contact Yamaha
this music streamer support? Are MQA and features are important in this wireless digital age Australia on 1800 805 413 or visit
https://au.yamaha.com
AirPlay 2 onboard? What about Google Cast? of convenience. And Yamaha clearly knows that.

18 Australian Hi-Fi www.whathifi.com/australianhifi

 SOUNDSITES

AWARD
WINNING
SOUND

Len Wallis Audio

64 Burns Bay Road
Lane Cove, NSW 2066
02 9427 6755 Call 02 9317 3330
www.tivolihifi.com www.lenwallisaudio.com.au www.audiosolutions.net.au

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hello-info@hifidisposals.com.au
or call us on 03 9882 0372. 1300 761 022 A DIVISION OF CLASS A AUDIO
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On Test HIFI ROSE RS520 Network Streamer

20 Australian Hi-Fi www.whathifi.com/australianhifi

 On Test

HIFI ROSE RS520

All-In-One Network Streamer

• Extremely versatile • Volume control issues when $6,299

• Quality sound used as USB audio device
• Easy to use • Only one analogue input

et’s face it, many of our readers, the sturdy binding posts. But as for the rest, it’s socket. There is also a USB Type-B input so that
and indeed many of us here at all 1s and 0s. you can use the HIFI ROSE RS520 as an audio
Australian Hi-Fi, including myself, Now, there are a lot of digital audio devices device with a computer, both digital optical and
remain confirmed analogue audio around today, including some very high-quality coaxial inputs (and outputs), the aforementioned
equipment fans. We love our ones, but in many cases the designers seem to analogue line-level RCA input, a pre-amplifier
hefty Class A/B or Class A power shy away from fully embracing what they are, as output and two HDMI connections.
amplifiers, our classy analogue interconnects, though digital is necessarily second class. This is The pre-amp output is switchable to fixed or
and all of our separates components, each not the way chosen by HIFI ROSE. The RS520 is variable level, allowing you to use the RS520 as a
lovingly chosen to do one thing — or a small a digital device and, unashamedly, it looks like it. control pre-amp for an external power amplifier,
number of things — extremely well. Which isn’t to say that it doesn’t look very nice... or just as a source to a full external system.
But could I come to love a device that goes Almost the entire front panel is taken up by One of the HDMI connections is an output.
against all of that in just about every particular? an 83mm-tall, 310mm-wide, high-resolution, Use it to connect an external monitor, and that
After spending a month with the HIFI ROSE touch-sensitive screen. The only physical connected screen can then display things like
RS520, I have to say that I can, and have. controls are four slim buttons on the top, for the digital audio standard of the current signal, or
power/standby, volume up and down, and mute. what is currently playing, including album art. The
A DIGITAL BOX OF TRICKS All other control is via the supplied remote, the other HDMI is labelled eARC (Enhanced Audio
The name on the RS520’s box and in its official touchscreen or the free app available for iOS Return Channel) and acts as an input. For the
documentation is ‘Advanced All-In-One Network and Android. I used the iOS version on an iPad uninitiated, Audio Return Channel is a provision
Streamer’, but the machine in front of me is extensively for this review. in most modern TVs, where the main HDMI input
actually more than that — it is also a high- The remote control works via both IR and RF. can send audio from the TV back down to the
performance integrated amplifier. For the former, you need to plug the included IR cable to the source device. That TV to HIFI ROSE
And it is virtually entirely digital. Yes, it has a receiver into the 3.5mm socket on the rear panel; audio link is what’s available here. You can plug
pair of RCA inputs so that you can connect an and for the latter, you need to plug the included your TV into the RS520 and get the sound that
analogue audio device — only one of them. And wi-fi/Bluetooth antenna/dongle into one of the way. (Or you can use the optical connection.)
of course, it converts the kind-of-digital signal three USB 3.0 sockets, also at the rear. All this stuff is packed into a machined
from its kind-of-Class D amplifier to analogue at Network connection is via wi-fi or an Ethernet aluminium enclosure that is, to my eye, rather

Australian Hi-Fi 21
On Test HIFI ROSE RS520 Network Streamer

handsome. The device is available in silver or HIFI ROSE using the Youtube API provided by like a good way to reduce the problem. Certainly,
black, and I had the latter finish option, which is Google), ROSE Podcast (which provides access it should allow the use of higher frequencies than
pictured below. But wait, VU meter displays? That to a number of podcasts), Internet Radio, and traditional Class D design.
brings me to another handsome design trait... Bugs. Bugs? I tapped on that one but was told One final thing about the internals: there is
Within the control app you can change the that it’s only available in Korea. HIFI ROSE is, by a bay at the bottom of the RS520 for installing
display from the default settings (which show the way, a South Korean company, and it isn’t a Solid State Drive to act as internal storage.
selectable menu icons, the music playback unusual for South Korean high-fidelity products (Alternatively, you can use an external USB 3.0
screen, and so on) to — yes — a pair of large VU to have native offerings. drive for storage if you prefer.) I popped in a
meters. With the high resolution of the machine’s The digital audio formats supported include 240GB Kingston storage drive, but the HIFI ROSE
display, these looked real and ever so handsome. almost everything I’ve ever heard of... and a supports those with up to 4TB capacities.
One of the colour options for these is ‘McIntosh’. couple I haven’t. The only obvious omission was You can then copy a stack of music onto
That’s the brand, not the apparel. DTS, so it would be unwise to try playing DTS- it over your network — if you like that kind of
encoded ‘CDs’ through the unit. Also supported independence from whatever your network
WHAT’S GOING ON INSIDE? is MQA. While I do have Tidal, I’ve abandoned my system may be doing, and especially if you prefer
Well, obviously quite a lot. But let’s touch on a HiFi Plus subscription and so no longer have MQA to keep your audio equipment disconnected from
small number of the essentials. First, proceedings hi-res streams. (I have doubts about the value of the network because of the inevitable noise to
are run on and managed by the ROSE OS, high-resolution streaming via MQA anyway.) which it subjects connected equipment to. If you
based on some version of the Android operating Handling the PCM derived from these formats instead plug a drive into a USB, it works in pretty
system. That makes sense — Android is mature, is an ESS SABRE ES9038PRO DAC chip. This is much the same way, and again you can copy
obviously works very well with touch screens, ESS’s flagship chip and features THD+Noise of music to (or from) it over your network. The usual
and is very reliable. It is a closed system, though: -122dB for all eight channels. By combining four disk formats are supported (for e.g. NTFS and
don’t expect to install your own apps on it. into the left and four into the right, even higher exFAT) and music is kept in a simple folder system
The home screen features a series of icons performance is available (theoretically -134dB!). with proper names, so it’s fairly easy to navigate.
across the front. Hit the ‘ROSE’ icon at the top The RS520 also supports DSD. I tested PCM
right of any other screen — or the ‘Home’ button up to 24-bit/768kHz sampling and DSD512, and SETUP
on the remote — and you return to that main all files seemed to playback fine. As is always the case with modern network-
screen. More icons can be accommodated So what about this Class A/D power based gear, after the basic setup (performed by
on the screen, but you have to swipe left and amplifier? Isn’t ‘D’ digital and ‘A’ heavily biased the unit guiding you through steps via its screen
right to get to them — which is no bother as analogue? Well, as is often the case with modern interface), it checked home and stated that there
the touchscreen works as well as that on any amplifier topologies, the names are somewhat was a software update available (717MB in size,
phone. In the settings, you can remove unwanted inventive. What HIFI ROSE has done is take upgrading it to version 4.4.02). Naturally I let it
icons and change the order in which they Class D — which is a switching technology and go ahead, and the whole process took a couple
appear so that the ones you use most often are kind of digital — and improve it. Instead of using of minutes to download (over my 50Mbps NBN
conveniently to hand. silicon for the output transistors, it uses gallium connection) and then another two minutes to
The smart features include support for arsenide. This, the company says, reduces the install and reboot. I was then notified that another
DLNA, Apple AirPlay, Spotify Connect, Tidal, ‘dead time’ between switching the unit on and off update was available, so I went searching through
Apple Music, Qobuz, ROSE Tube (which looks to as low as 10%. I don’t know if this ‘dead time’ the settings to find that 4.4.02 was indeed the
like YouTube; it’s a YouTube client developed by was ever a problem, but if it was this would seem latest one, but something called Audio MCU

22 Australian Hi-Fi www.whathifi.com/australianhifi

 On Test

(I think) required an update too. That took only a provide you with YouTube access, podcasts and worked with utter reliability, even when I decided
couple of seconds, followed by a reboot. assorted other stuff. I found that you can use to switch between modes and devices with wild
If you’ve ever set up a smartphone or tablet, the built-in ‘Video’ app to play video content abandon. The RS520 didn’t trip up.
you won’t have any problems with the basic setup from your network-connected storage or the Tidal did have its own app on the unit. Once I
of the HIFI ROSE RS520. And once you’re done, internal or connected drive. This displays on the entered my login credentials, this worked pretty
the machine presents a series of slides to show unit’s own screen. I used the HDMI output to see much as it would on my phone or tablet — again,
you some of its usability and function highlights. what it could send to the TV screen, but with utterly reliably. Missing, however, was the
Oh, and since it is an Android device, I just video it purely showed a single frame and text relatively new ‘Tidal Connect’ feature, which lets
plugged in a standard USB keyboard to speed information while the video remained playing on you stream the service’s library to a compatible
up the bits of setup which required entering its own front panel. I didn’t leave this on for long audio device in much the same way as Spotify
passwords and user IDs. because I didn’t want burn-in from a static display Connect allows you to.
As you go through things early on in your on my OLED TV. (Again, the HDMI output often HIFI ROSE says that the RS520 supports
ownership of the RS520, you might find yourself displays useful signal information, and with music MQA-encoded audio, so I imagine that allows
digging into the settings a fair bit to enable stuff. also shows cover art.) subscribers of the super-duper Tidal tier to
For example, for direct access to my network There’s much more to explore for owners playback hi-res Masters tracks. After a few years
hard drive I had to enable “SMB” and enter than what I have covered here, but now it’s time there, I have now fallen back to the lossless audio
login credentials. The setup menu is logically to get to the main game for our readers: using subscription tier, since any enhancement by
organised, so I had no trouble finding where to the RS520 for music playback. So, let’s look at MQA added nothing discernible to me. Streams
do this — or anything else really. If you’re not several of the ways you can do this... still sounded excellent through the RS520.
comfortable with this level of network setting, (I should, however, first add that this unit is Roon
however, perhaps find someone who is to help. Ready but not a Roon Core device. I don’t use LOCAL NETWORK AUDIO
I’m sure your dealer will have a young staff Roon so I offer no further comment.) If you have music stored on your home network,
member who’s competent at this kind of stuff!
Be prepared to dig around and you’ll be INTERNET STREAMING
rewarded. As previously mentioned, the remote I used Tidal and Spotify and both worked
control can work via IR if you plug in the infrared precisely as expected, with one exception:
receiver, and via RF. The latter uses Bluetooth. It perhaps a little surprisingly, there wasn’t a Spotify ... audio formats
wouldn’t work for me until I went into the relevant app on the RS520. I don’t understand why, since
setting and switched on Bluetooth. Then I could there is a Spotify app for Android. Nevertheless, supported include
pair the remote. it shouldn’t be a problem. You can (as I did) just
use the native Spotify app on your handheld
almost everything I’ve
SOURCES EVERYWHERE or laptop device, whether it’s Windows, Mac, ever heard of... and a
As you’ve no doubt gathered by this stage of the
review, there is a lot to this unit. A lot. If you sign
iOS or Android operated, and play it on the HIFI
ROSE over Spotify Connect: play your music, tap
couple I haven’t
up for a HIFI ROSE account, some of the apps the ‘speaker’ icon, and select the RS520. This

Australian Hi-Fi 23
On Test HIFI ROSE RS520 Network Streamer

you ought to be able to play it on this unit. I have

mine on 8TB of network attached storage,
and I could access it via the integrated ‘Music’
app. I was able to drill through its folders once
I’d entered the NAS credentials into the setup.
Or, more conveniently, I could use any DLNA-
compatible app on a phone or tablet to call up the
music I wanted and send it, at full resolution, to
the HIFI ROSE. The RS520 was yet again reliable
in showing up as an available playback device.
Its own display confirmed whether I was sending
it 16-bit/44.1kHz audio from a ripped CD, or
DSD512 from a downloaded music file, or indeed
the 24-bit/705.6kHz or 768kHz PCM files that I
created (you try finding some!).
Don’t worry, Apple aficionados, as the RS520
is equally compliant with AirPlay. Indeed, my iPad
showed the streamer as an available speaker.
If you’re an Apple Music subscriber, you can
directly access the service’s library from the app
available on the unit. I would be very surprised if
the RS520 doesn’t support the high-resolution
audio available on that service.

INTERNAL AUDIO
Again, for anything on an SSD that’s installed on
the unit, you’ll use the ‘Music’ app. If I owned this
HIFI ROSE, I’d be tempted to go for a 4TB SSD
and load it up with a great stack of music. I could
easily fit all my music on that, including the 55GB
of DSD files, with plenty of room to spare.
Copying music to it via the network was
moderately speedy. The Ethernet interface
supports gigabit standards, though in practice
file transfers ran at about a quarter of that speed.
A typical CD in FLAC format took about ten to
fifteen seconds to transfer. If you have a large
music collection, expect the process to take
some hours. Start it before you go to bed and all
will be done in the morning!

TV USE
I have an OLED TV on the wall above my regular
gear. I normally feed its optical output into my
DAC, and that’s clearly what you could do with
this unit as well. But since the machine only
has one optical input, I instead used the eARC
connection with the TV. Generally this worked
very nicely: the sound quality was fine and audio/
video sync seemed good.
The unit implements HDMI CEC (Consumer
Electronics Control) so when I powered on the
TV, the RS520 would come to life automatically.
Likewise, it would switch off with the TV too.
This might seem a kind of pedestrian use for
an audio device of this level and price, but, hey,
sometimes you just want to watch TV!
I did experience sound dropping out for a
second or so for every couple of hours of use, but
I cannot say whether it was caused by the LG TV
(it’s a 2021 model), the RS520, or some strange
one-off partial incompatibility between the two.

24 Australian Hi-Fi www.whathifi.com/australianhifi

 On Test

SPINNING CDS sensibly organised on the SSD in a properly I used the JRiver Media Center to send some
Of course, you can just plug a CD transport into named folder, and each had a name matching the DSD files to the RS520. It worked in the sense
one of the digital inputs and enjoy your compact track title. that the files were delivered bit-perfect and
disc collection. But there were a couple of apps decoded by the unit properly. Fortunately, I
on the unit that intrigued me – ‘CD Player’ and PLAYING COMPUTERS! happened to start this test with The Alan Parson’s
‘CD Ripper’. These, it became clear, facilitate Now, plug a computer into the USB Type-B Project album ‘I Robot’. If you’re familiar with this
disc playback and ripping if you plug HIFI ROSE’s socket, and the unit can act as a USB Audio release, you’ll know that it starts with a synth
dedicated RSA780 CD drive into one of the USB device for the computer. arpeggio that slowly ramps up in volume from
sockets on the back. That’s a fairly pricey bit of For Windows computers, you’ll need to underneath the sound floor. But right at the start,
kit ($729) and one I did not have to hand for this download the driver from the HIFI ROSE website the RS520’s delivery was loud, and the analogue
review, but since I did happen to have a cheap tape hiss was also loud. Some experimenting
USB DVD drive, I plugged that in to see what quickly revealed that the unit was operating at full
would happen. As it turned out, it did a pretty volume. I turned down the volume on the unit but
decent job. nothing happened. The same thing happened
When I tapped the ‘CD Player’ key, the HIFI
If I owned this HIFI when I played PCM. Hmm.
ROSE recognised my drive. So I popped in a CD ROSE, I’d be tempted Through further experiments I managed to
and closed the drawer. After a few seconds, a list work out that when the RS520 is plugged into a
of ‘unknown’ tracks appeared on the display and to go for a 4TB SSD and Windows computer, it controls the output level
started playing. A few seconds later, all of those load it up with a great not by changing its internal volume level in the
‘unknown’ labels disappeared and were replaced traditional manner, but by sending an instruction
by track titles, which the unit had grabbed from, stack of music back to the computer telling it to reduce the level
I believe, the FreeDB CD database. Although the of the signal being fed to it. That means that the
original FreeDB is now defunct, its data is still computer has to resample the signal.
hosted elsewhere, which is presumably where That works fine with audio using the standard
the unit found it. Album art was also displayed. (the English language one is eng.hifirose. Windows Direct Sound output — YouTube,
Anyway, CDs sounded identical to the ripped com), click on ‘Support’ and then ‘Download’, system sounds, Spotify and so on. It also works
versions from my network. Good news. and choose the most recent ASIO Driver (for on the computer version of Tidal, which allows
As for the ‘CD Ripper’ app, when I tapped Windows PC). Recent versions of Windows might you some control over output, if you do not have
on that, the loaded CD began ripping as FLAC provide basic support, but you’ll need the ASIO the audio set to Exclusive mode. Not that you’ll
files to the SSD I had installed within just a few driver if you want to send DSD to the RS520. be using Tidal or Spotify on a computer plugged
seconds. Of course, all of the tagging that the I did have issues with this, though I’m guessing into this unit, of course; it can play those two
RS520 had grabbed from the internet was that HIFI ROSE can address them with a driver or libraries perfectly well itself.
appropriately applied. The ripped files were firmware upgrade. But if you use an audio app that bypasses

Australian Hi-Fi 25
 On Test HIFI ROSE RS520

So what does it sound

like? Excellent, to give
you the one-word
answer... there’s an
unusual precision

the standard Windows audio handling processes

in order to deliver a pure bitstream, you won’t
have level control via the unit itself. You can still
adjust the level, but to do so you have to find and
open the audio driver controller in the Windows
system tray, navigate to the ‘Volume’ tab, click on
the ‘Output’ option and then adjust levels there.
Obviously, this is less than convenient.
Things are somewhat better on a Mac. No
driver is required, for example. Initially, I was only
getting a hashy noise when running standard
DSD, but then I realised I needed to go into
the Mac’s Audio MIDI Setup app and change
the default format from 16-bit and 44.1kHz to
something higher. I chose 32-bit and 176.4kHz,
which worked perfectly with DSD in regular,
2x and 4x (i.e. DSD64, DSD128 and DSD256)
formats. (DSD512 doesn’t work with JRiver on a
Mac because the software only supports DoP

SPECIFICATIONS
Inputs: 1 x stereo analogue audio (RCA),
1 x USB Type-B, 1 x coaxial digital audio,
1 x optical digital audio, 1 x HDMI (eARC),
Ethernet, 2 x USB Type-A, 1 x wi-fi/
Bluetooth USB dongle) (DSD over PCM), and with DSD512 that requires Dynaudio loudspeakers — a pair of modest Emit
Outputs: Stereo speaker outputs (binding a bandwidth too great for USB Audio.) 20 during my initial explorations, and then my
posts), 1 x stereo analogue audio (RCA — As with Windows, the unit controls the big-boy Contour 20i standmounters for the more
fixed and variable level output available), 1 x volume on the Mac rather than internally. Unlike scrutinising elements. The latter have a nominal
coaxial digital audio, 1 x optical digital audio, Windows, this worked with directly streaming four-ohm impedance and a slightly less than
1 x HDMI audio. But it would not work with DSD while the average sensitivity.
Other connections: IR in, Trigger in/out, track was playing. When I stopped playback, I Naturally, I mostly listened to digital audio,
ground, internal slot for SSD could adjust the volume and then start it again, streamed from the internet or fed from local
Supported digital formats: PCM to and it played at the set level. Odd. lossless sources. But I did give the RS520 a
32-bit/768kHz, DSD512 (Incidentally, the Mac reported that the bit of a whirl with my analogue kit — a Thorens
Power output: 2 x 250W at 4 ohms and HIFI ROSE supports PCM all the way from TD1600 turntable fitted with a Goldring Ethos
8 ohms 16-bit/44.1kHz to 32-bit/768kHz.) MC cartridge, partnered with a Simaudio Moon
Distortion: 1% at 250W or 0.007% at 150W Know too that when you are playing audio 610LP phono preamplifier.
at 1kHz from a computer, you can touch the input I normally use — and thus I guess my
Accessories: Remote control, IR receiver, indicator on the screen to display the precise standard for comparison is — a very high-quality
screws to mount SSD, batteries, power format you’re playing — an easy tell of whether Class A/B power amplifier, which drives the
cable, manual your computer settings are correct. All we need Dynaudio speakers and is fed by an analogue
Dimensions (HWD): 127mm x 347mm x is for those volume wobbles to be settled. preamp via balanced XLR. Then there’s the
329mm Finally, I reached for my turntable to try out aforementioned Thorens/Moon combo (with the
Weight: 8.55kg the RS520’s RCA inputs. The HIFI ROSE does Moon connected to the preamp over balanced
not reveal what analogue-to-digital conversion XLR) and a very high-quality DAC/streamer with
Distributor: Addicted to Audio standards it uses for this — remember, since various sources plugged into it (also connected
65 Trafalgar Road the internals are entirely digital or digital-like, all to the preamp via balanced XLR). All up, the gear
Epping, Vic 3076 analogue signals do have to be converted. the RS520 was replacing costs about $12,000.
T: 1300 888 602 So what does it sound like? Excellent, to give
W: addictedtoaudio.com.au LISTENING SESSIONS you the one-word answer. But there’s more
All of my listening of the RS520 was through to it than that. There’s an unusual precision,

26 Australian Hi-Fi www.whathifi.com/australianhifi

 On Test

revealing details not previously known, or it an unfortunate sheen but to ensure that it was In the end, I’m not sure. What I do know is that
perhaps highlighting details that were for me available for my — the listener’s — inspection. I could happily — very happily! — live with the
less obvious. Glenn Gould’s humming on ‘The This was similarly apparent in King Crimson’s HIFI ROSE RS520 acting as a combined primary
Well-Tempered Clavier’ (CD) and ‘Silver Jubilee ‘Red’, both via CD from the plugged-in drive and source and centrepiece for my own system.
Album’ (vinyl) was slightly more obnoxious than from a 24-bit/96kHz rip from the DVD Audio
usual, courtesy of, seemingly, a rare disclosure release. There was a touch more bite — an CONCLUSION
of the upper midrange. At times I wondered increased aggression, you might say — compared If you want fine digital sound in an incredibly
if there might have been some interaction to my regular analogue system’s rendition. versatile and compact system, you should check
between the amplifier stage in the RS520 and But it was an attractive aggression. I waver: out the high-performing RS520. So long as you
my particular speakers that enhanced the upper was this revealing a deficiency in my system, or have a network connection, all you need add is a
midrange and lower treble slightly — not to give adding something which ought not to be added? pair of loudspeakers. Stephen Dawson

The GFA-555se represents the most advanced thinking in audio amplifier design.
It offers exceptional value and superior performance at a reasonable price.
RRP $2999.00

www.ngpdistribution.com.au | sales@ngpdistribution.com.au
On Test Marantz AV 10 & AMP 10

28 Australian Hi-Fi www.whathifi.com/australianhifi

 On Test

Marantz AV 10 & AMP 10

15.4-channel Preamplifier/Processor & 16-channel Power Amplifier

• Fantastically featured • Nothing of note $12,800 (AV 10)

• Superb stereo and $12,800 (AMP 10)
multi-channel sound

W
ow! When you partner used to control the AV 10’s myriad functions. and Soundcloud. Like a lot of networked hi-fi
Marantz’s new reference I would not, however, recommend that you equipment these days, it is also Roon-tested.
15.4-channel pre-amplifier/ use any of these controls: you should instead Surround-wise, the AV 10 does all flavours
processor, the AV 10 — which load the free, iOS- and Android-compatible of DTS and all flavours of Dolby, as well as IMAX
has Dolby Atmos, DTS:X Pro, Auro 3D, 8K, IMAX Marantz AVR and HEOS apps onto your phone Enhanced (DTS again), Auro 3D and 360 Reality
Enhanced and HEOS streaming — with its new or tablet (preferably a tablet, because the larger Audio. It cannot do Audyssey DSX. It also cannot
flagship power amplifier, the AMP 10 — which screen size aids operation) and use this to control do Dirac Live at the time of writing, but Marantz
has 16 channels (sixteen!), with each of those the AV 10. Don’t forget that you will need a home says a software upgrade will enable it by the time
channels rated at 200 watts into eight ohms wireless network in order for phone/tablet control you read this review. This review sample had
(/400 watts into four ohms!) — you’ve opened the to work, too. Audyssey MultEQ XT32 onboard for loudspeaker
door wide to audio/video nirvana. If you instead decide to use the supplied calibration — which will also be standard on all
Marantz has poured everything it has learned infrared remote for any reason, you will find you models available for the future.
about audio and video over the 70 years it’s can use it even when the room is pitch-black,
been building electronic components into this as Marantz has included a switchable back- AMP 10 POWER AMPLIFIER
handsome pair, cutting no corners. The result lighting feature that makes all the buttons on it As you’d expect, Marantz uses Class D
is audible, visible, and plainly evidenced by super-easy to read in this situation — or any other amplifier modules to deliver the AMP 10’s 16
the level of state-of-the-art components and lighting situation really. channels of power — not the Hypex modules it
technologies that have been incorporated into When it comes to describing the Marantz AV uses in other components it makes, but modules
the designs. 10’s capabilities, it’s tempting to tell you what it it builds itself in its Shirakawa Audio Works facility
can’t do rather than what it can, since the truth in Japan. Indeed, both the AV 10 and AMP 10 are
AV 10 PREAMPLIFIER/ is that it can do pretty much everything you can built in Shirakawa. These modules aren’t entirely
PROCESSOR imagine might be necessary for a state-of-the- proprietary. Marantz’s Marketing Manager Gary
Marantz has continued with its ‘porthole’ design art audio/video processor to do today. Dayton explains: “We designed all of the amplifier
for the front-panel display on the AV 10, this However, to give you a quick taster of what’s architecture in-house, using an Ice Power switch-
time making the display’s diameter exactly the on offer, the AV 10 sports — deep breath — Wi-Fi mode controller chip, and we build everything
same as that of the two rotary controls located and Bluetooth (including Bluetooth re-transmit) in-house.”
to either side (input selector to the left; volume support; an Ethernet socket for a more reliable Each of the eight two-channel amplifier
control to the right). I would have aligned the network connection; HEOS multiroom and modules can be maintained as a standard two-
three rather than offset them, but that’s just me. streaming; Amazon Alexa, Google Voice channel amplifier, or tied together for bi-amp
However, this porthole display is not the only Assistant and Apple Siri voice control; playback mode (one half to drive high frequencies, the
display on the front panel of the AV 10 — there’s for MP3, WMA, AAC, FLAC HD 192/24, ALAC other for low frequencies), or bridged together
a much larger (and conventionally rectangular) 192/24, WAV 192/24 and DSD 2.8/5.6MHz audio; to double power output (BTL mode, which
one located beneath a fold-down flap too. Also gapless playback; internet radio; AirPlay 2; and stands for both ‘Bridged Transformerless’ and
underneath this flap are an additional dozen access to streaming services such as Spotify, ‘Bridge Tied Load’) so that instead of 16 channels
push-buttons, plus a multi-selector that can be Amazon Music (including HD), Tidal, Deezer each rated at 200 watts into eight ohms, you’d

Australian Hi-Fi 29
 On Test Marantz AV 10 & AMP 10

have eight channels each rated at 400 watts the complexity of this processor is such that I’d pitch, Sill composed, played and produced
per channel into eight ohms. Each module is recommend you insist that your hi-fi dealer install her own music, right down to conducting the
independent of the others, so you can in fact it for you, including full speaker calibration. orchestras. I just have to note that in addition to
have multiple different configurations. Speaking of which, although you can use the her musical career, Sill was also a career criminal,
standard Audyssey app for speaker calibration, specialising in robbing liquor stores often whilst
IN USE AND LISTENING you can get far more sophisticated high on drugs. She once told Rolling
Installation-wise, it’s a bit daunting to be control — as well as a number of more Stone magazine: “You know that
presented with 16 pairs of speaker terminals, all advanced features — by paying $31 old joke where someone’s doing an
tightly packed across the rear of the AV 10 amp, for Audyssey’s MultiEQ Editor app. I armed robbery and they say, ‘OK,
but Marantz includes a special tool that allows had no issues with this particular app, mothersticker, this is a fuck-up’? That
you to wire them up very easily. I configured this though others have reported that it was actually me.’”
review sample with channels bridged to supply has some ‘bugs’, the most common Crayon Angels, which opens Sills’
each of the front three channels with 400 watts seemingly being that it defaults the self-titled debut album, was delivered
of power, which still left me with spare amplifier subwoofer level to –12dB, so your perfectly by the Marantz pair. The
capacity, even after adding surround and height mileage may vary on this one. You warmth of her acoustic guitar string
speakers. You could use these ‘spare’ channels should also download Marantz’s AVR sounds (multi-tracked) and gorgeous
for additional FX speakers in a home cinema app to control this duo. Yes, you can vocals were captivating. Listening to
system, or to drive speakers in three other zones. use the remote, but app control is a far Sills’ multi-tracked vocals on The Lamb
To support the microphone necessary to superior experience. Ran Away With the Crown is an amazing
enable the Audyssey loudspeaker calibration, Listening sessions for this review experience, where her perfect pitch
Marantz has provided what looks like a child’s commenced with conventional creates aural magic, particularly given
assemble-it-yourself cardboard rocket-ship two-channel material, first via the the arrangement, which includes
(which you have to, well, assemble yourself), atop analogue inputs, and then via the canon perpetuus and counterpoint
which you place the Audyssey microphone used digital inputs. The purity of the sound (she was a big J.S. Bach fan).
in conjunction with the automated calibration was extraordinary, not least because The Marantz duo delivered more
system that ensures all the speakers you use are Marantz has included two ‘Direct’ of Sills’ vocal magic on Jesus Was a
correctly equalized to deliver optimum surround modes which, when activated, disable Cross Maker, composed when she
sound at the listening position. all non-essential circuitry to enable the discovered that her then-lover, J.D.
Automatic calibration has always been the highest possible sound quality. I have Souther, had left her to reunite with
very best way to ensure the best sound with to say that I was as impressed by the Linda Ronstadt. This track also reveals
5.1-channel systems, but the automated process performance of the circuitry used for the extraordinary qualities of her
becomes even more important as the number digital-to-analogue conversion as I piano, and too of her piano playing.
of channels is increased, to the point where was by the analogue circuits. Indeed, Also listen to how revealing the
with a 15.4-channel system, as in the case of there will be no need for an external Marantz duo is of the drum kit, from
this Marantz duo, it’s absolutely essential and DAC of any kind — the ones inside the kick-drum through to crash cymbals.
completely indispensable. AV 10 deliver as high a performance as The production values on this album
Marantz’s TV screen-based system set-up you’ll ever need. are absolutely outstanding… and don’t
process takes you through every step in laborious I’ve been a Judee Sills fan since last year, miss the angelic choir in the background. (A
detail (right down to how to strip the ends of off when I first saw the film documenting her short, word to the wise, too: if you can find Sills’ ‘Songs
your speaker wires and what to do if your speaker sad life (‘Lost Angel – The Genius of Judee Sill’). of Rapture and Redemption’ on vinyl, buy it,
wires are not different colours!), but quite frankly A prodigious multi-instrumentalist with perfect because yep, the AV 10 even has a phono input.)

30 Australian Hi-Fi www.whathifi.com/australianhifi

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On Test Marantz AV 10 & AMP 10

SPECIFICATIONS

AMP 10
Rated output/channel:
Normal Mode: 200W (8Ω), 400W (4Ω)
BTL Mode: 400W (8Ω)
Frequency response:
5Hz–70kHz ±3dB
Input sensitivity (unbal/
balanced): 1.4V/2.8V
Input impedance (unbal/
balanced): 47kΩ/100kΩ
S/N ratio (IHF-A): 110dB
Gain: 29dB
Power consumption: 500W
Standby consumption: 0.2W
Dimensions (HWD):
Among many others, I also auditioned even better when I played the ‘Luxe’ version of 189 × 442 × 488mm
my favourite album of the year so far, ‘Heavy ‘Gravity’. Watching these movies meant I just Weight: 19.8kg
Heavy’ by Young Fathers. That gave me the had to rewatch both ‘Blade Runner’ and ‘Blade
opportunity to turn the Marantz duo’s volume Runner 2049’ for the umpteenth time, and
to ‘Stun’… and when I did, the bass did exactly indeed the soundtracks sounded better than I’ve
that — stun! It truly was stunning, and most ever heard them sound before. Of course, with
particularly so on Geronimo. The way the Marantz the Ultra HD images that are contained on the
partnership sustained the background drone and modern Blade Runner, the screen looked better
atmospherics on this track was truly ethereal. than I’d ever seen it look before too (the HDMI AV 10
Switching to home theatre mode with its socketry on the Marantz is 8K-compatible, by Analogue inputs
various flavours of multi-channel sound was a the way). Input sensitivity (Unbal/Bal):
revelation, too. There was absolutely no audio Marantz’s ‘Web UI Advanced Setup’ mode is 200mV/400 mV
bleed from any channel to any other, so cinema built into the AV 10. This feature is primarily aimed Frequency response:
sound effects were reproduced exactly as they at custom installers, as enabling it allows them 10Hz–100kHz +1/–3dB
are in a full-sized movie theatre — but with far to check various features of operation remotely, S/N ratio: 105dB (IHF-A weighted)
superior tonal quality, thanks to the speakers via the internet. They can also use it to ‘lock out’ THD: 0.005% (20Hz–20kHz)
I was using. Although the AV 10 can feed four various functions so they cannot be changed Digital inputs
subwoofers independently, you will likely only from the unit itself. Owners could also use this THD: 0.002% (1kHz/0dB)
need two, taking feeds from the left and right function to prevent unauthorised operators from S/N ratio: 110dB
channels respectively, which is a cute trick the AV making changes to the system set-up or from Phono input
10 can perform for you. accessing the device via other paths. Input sensitivity: 2.5mV
If you have ever wondered whether Dolby RIAA deviation:
Atmos is worth adding the extra necessary CONCLUSION ±1dB (20Hz to 20 kHz)
speakers for, you will wonder no more once What can I say about this pair? Well, it seems only S/N ratio: 74dB (IHF-A weighted)
you’ve listened to how Atmos soundtracks are fitting to repeat this review’s opening comment: THD: 0.03% (1kHz)
delivered by the AV 10 and AMP 10 — you’ll be wow! Together, the Marantz AV 10 and AMP
figuring out how to install those extra speakers. 10 deliver the goods on so many levels: more Power consumption: 100W
That said, if you don’t want to install them, the AV channels than you’ll ever need, more features Standby consumption: 0.2W
10 has multiple ‘Speaker Virtualiser’ modes you than you’ll ever need, more connectivity than Dimensions (HWD):
can use instead to help create a more immersive you’ll ever need and more customisability than 189 × 442 × 503mm
soundfield from your traditional speaker you’ll ever need, not to mention fantastic sound, Weight: 16.8kg
configuration. build quality and looks. And then, of course,
Honestly, I have never heard Atmos sound there’s the fact that it’s built and backed by one Contact: Sound United (Masimo
as good, despite having watched ‘The Fifth of the world’s most respected and trusted brands Consumer) on (03) 8542 1111 or
Element’ almost monthly since it was first in home cinema. So it’s worth saying it one last visit www.soundunited.com.au
released on Blu-ray. And the soundfield was time… wow! Greg Borrowman

32 Australian Hi-Fi www.whathifi.com/australianhifi

 Feature

AI sound is here You can lengthen prompts to include details,

art styles, materials and lens types. You can
use your own picture as a reference, then use a
prompt to turn it into something else. Example:
You’ve tried the chat, you’ve seen the art, now the images above each started as a photo I took
of the Audio-Technica Sound Burger turntable
hear the AI music I was reviewing, and then became varied with
various prompts.
nly recently was I playing money, while potentially saving on their staff. My prompt for the one second down in the
around with AI text-to-image, I remain elbows deep in AI art; I love it. And second column, for example, was fairly abstract:
which is such fun: ask for “a I’m actively using it in the Sound+Image magazine “Just an illusion. Super detailed masterpiece
hi-fi turntable in the style of I edit. Only a year or so ago, public versions of artwork on show in a circus.”
a da Vinci codex” and you AI art were interesting but pretty crude. By the These AI images were created using the
receive magnificent art in end of last year, however, the images became Stable Diffusion AI art engine via playgroundai.
return, albeit at the risk of enraging everyone brilliant... and startling. com. It’s free, for now.
remotely artistic.
I jested that music services will soon be
similarly AI-enabled, and we will ask (by voice, of
course, nothing so 20th-century as a keyboard)
for “Nick Cave songs in the style of Abba”, or
indeed Abba songs in the style of Nick Cave if you
like, and presto, Loverman a là Chiquitita.
‘Oh what fun we will have’, I thought, ‘what
lawsuits we will see’. What a riposte Mr Red Hand
Himself would unleash upon the world if his
vocal style and band were mimicked, rather than
merely his poetry. (Cave recently tore into some
lyrics sent to him that were composed by AI in
the ‘style of Nick Cave’. Not amused.)
I was mainly joking, but a mere few months on,
we’re actually alarmingly close. Indeed all manner
of AI has been leaping into the news, especially
the text generation of ChatGPT and its host of
rivals, able to spool out endless articles, scripts,
automated search responses and more, all on
demand, and clean enough for some websites
to have tried flooding the web with AI-generated
content, in order to pull traffic and ads and

Australian Hi-Fi 33
 Feature

with that famous monkey selfie — works created

by non-humans can’t be copyrighted.
But soon they’ll realise that such a ruling
might make it impossible to copyright, say, all
of the computer graphics ever generated, and
that machines don’t create on their own. AI art is
governed by the quality of the text prompt. One
thing I love about AI art is that the better your
language skills, the better you can make the art;
the prompts are thoroughly human and entirely
creative. But for sure this debate will run until
some court makes a call on it.

Flat chat
As for AI chatbots, you don’t need me to tell you
Uberduck allows you to style 2000+ voices on the free plan how ChatGPT et al is already changing the world.
But I’m moderately confident I won’t (yet) be
pasting any bot text into any of my publications. I
keep trying text engines and chatbots to see how
they’re going, and basically they tend toward the
wildly bland and mildly inaccurate.
And that’s exactly as one might expect from
a process which is effectively averaging the
internet, boiling it all down, so that it’s likely to
generate the text equivalent of the grey mush
into which all matter will eventually decay once
the nanobots get out of control. (Don’t worry, it
could be years away.)
The ‘mildly inaccurate’ bit has thankfully
been making headlines — not only in the rarefied
segments of Media Watch, but at the grand
launch of Google’s ChatGPT rival ‘Bard’, where
part of the demo response up on the big screen
was clearly inaccurate. This apparently surprised
a lot of people, which would suggest those
Examples of MusicLM, where descriptions of artworks have been fed into the AI to create music.
people haven’t been using much AI. AI is very
often surprising, and very often inaccurate. All
The whole idea of AI-generated art is, of upgraded overnight. Others just can’t see the this offers great hope to the humble journalist.
course, diametric. Artists and graphic folk tend point of it: the missus, for one. She fears I’m So yes, I hesitate to say ‘watch and see’,
to seethe or rage, entirely understandably. And addicted to creating stupid images, and engages because next thing you know you’re thrown to the
this isn’t helped when people sneak AI images with me like a five-year-old — “So what have you side of the road as the Next Big Thing barrels up
into photography competitions and then win made? ‘Kermit leads the Muppets into Mordor’? the highway, or you wake up with only an arm left
— as happened in Australia recently. The image Yes, it’s very nice, dear.” in a sea of grey goo. So I’m keeping my eye in.
was entered by an AI company, Absolutely AI, Sadly I can’t show you ‘Kermit leads the And my ear too, more recently, because while
as a promotional stunt to show the quality of its Muppets into Mordor’ because clearly that my AI-making time is still largely expended on the
images, and they returned the prize money. A crosses some line in copyright or trademarks or pictures, I’m actively playing with… drum roll... AI
fist-pump for AI art fans, but abject horror something. (But I can tell you that the picture sound generation.
for photographers. is awesome.)
Personally, I’m with the AI art fans. I’ve never And this is a shadow (copyright and AI sound
been able to draw, so for me it’s like I’ve been trademarks, not Mordor) which hangs over all of The AI art programmers have already introduced
AI art. These AI programs have been trained on video generators — primitive, but it’s early days.
any number of freely-available tagged images; (Although if you’re reading this in six months,
it breaks down their essences and recombines they’re probably all over the web by now.)
The potential them to deliver its response to a prompt. And yes, AI sound. It has taken significant
AI art enthusiasts point out that this is exactly strides in the past few months, with new engines
applications seem the process of a real artist, absorbing influences appearing, and existing ones suddenly boosting
endless... need a film and ideas over the years, and then drawing their quality, databases and user numbers.
something new. Whereas artists say that if any of One area recently getting publicity is text-
soundtrack? Paste in their own particular essences show up in your art, to-audio; this has been around for a long time,
your scene description they’ll sue your arse.
So who is now the artist: the prompter, the AI,
with avatar-type voices. This is now accelerating
rapidly with AI models, though it’s hard to get
and get four options or the AI’s sources? The AI art engines say you invites to some of the trials. And as with all AI, it’s

back within a minute have (shared) copyright. The US Copyright Office

recently made a ruling indicating it thinks there
getting much harder to do more than a little of it
for free.
may be no copyright possible at all, because — as So Uberduck has been around since 2020;

34 Australian Hi-Fi www.whathifi.com/australianhifi

 Feature

it’s got traction on TikTok, and it’s getting better all unpleasant, though perhaps you wouldn’t want Fraserisms, so that’s an obvious oddity, though
all the time. It can do Eminem raps and a host of a whole evening of it. some are finding them strangely beautiful.
other voices — 2000+ on the free plan — so many, Harmonai looks promising too, but goes to the The potential applications seem endless,
indeed, that there’s a voting system allowing the coding level too hard for me. especially anywhere that requires non-copyright
crowd to separate the appallingly bad from those I did score a Discord invite to Oranion’s background music. Need a film soundtrack?
that are getting there. Polymuse, which is far more musically minded. Paste in your scene description and get four
None of them is perfect, or at least none that There are no fluffy descriptions allowed here, options back in a minute. Let’s try that filter that
I tried. Of the five current Eminem variations I’d but rather the ability to combine styles from makes it sound like Nick Cave & Warren Ellis.
recommend ‘Eminem (all eras)’, but if you were an expanding list, then define key and chord (Sorry, Nick.)
being clever you’d download results from each progressions, BPM and more. Currently, MusicLM is able to “generate music
of them and cut together the best bits. Stephen The results (judging from his own samples, as at 24kHz that remains consistent over several
Fry and Shrek are pretty good. The paid plans I somehow blew my invite) are musical, diverse, minutes”. Its vocals are hilarious — all wordless
presumably access the best selections. and controllable in interesting ways. It’s currently tunes, as if Elizabeth Fraser has taken over the
But I’m more interested in sites that create a closed beta, but Delphos has posted some world. Check it out.
audio and music. And remember this is not a case Polymuse creations on Soundcloud, which you Again, of course, it’s not hard to see a
of messing with existing music or sound effects; can hear at: www.soundcloud.com/delphos- downside: for musicians, stock music companies,
it’s generating audio from diffusion models which music-612006989 everyone in lifts and supermarkets. You’d expect
remove everything and then rebuild it until it The designers of all such systems must the whole idea to be bought up and shut down by
matches the prompt to the satisfaction of the have been a bit gutted by the arrival of Google Muzak, or Neil Young, but hey, this is Google, and
engine. It’s entirely artificial, or claims to be at any Research’s MusicLM, which popped up at the end nobody is shutting down Google (except possibly
rate; who knows what creators will claim to have of January, although it has clearly evolved from ChatGPT).
had their essences misappropriated in this regard the earlier AudioLM experiment. But Google may itself be thinking hard about
down the line. It is wildly more sophisticated than the others the consequences because as yet they’re not
AudioLDM is interesting — a simple text-to- and, judging again from samples on its webpage, letting MusicLM loose; it’s just demonstration
sound engine, which is up on Hugging Face’s AI perfectly happy with abstract instructions. Here only. But really, have a look and a listen to AI
community platform. you can see examples where descriptions of music demos: https://google-research.github.io/
Its built-in suggestion reads, “A hammer is paintings have been fed into the generator. seanet/musiclm/examples/
hitting a wooden surface”, but we went a bit more And MusicLM’s music? Well, it’s low-bit for It’s certainly the AI engine I’d most like to be
abstract and requested “a woodland glade full of now, but really interesting, and complex; the prompting right now. Next month? Who the freak
fairies”. It returned a 30-second clip of mono low- engine must be very well-trained. MusicLM’s knows. But I’m ready for it! Jez Ford
bit Brian Eno with birdsong over the top — not at vocals are all wordless tunes, endless Elizabeth

F U L LY I M M ER S I V E H E A D P H O N E S
F R O M T H E C R E AT O R S O F

YH-L700A
• ADVANCED A.N.C • 3D SOUND FIELD
• HEAD TRACKING • LISTENING OPTIMIZER
• 34 HOURS PLAYBACK (ANC ON / 3D OFF)
 On Test Rega Elex Mk4 Integrated Amplifier

Rega Elex Mk4

Integrated Stereo Amplifier

• Astonishingly detailed • Needs careful system matching $2,499

• Terrific timing and agility • Some might prefer a more muscular sound
• High-quality build

t’s happened: Rega has been dragged feature from which follows this review on page 71. and a minimal redesign to match the rest of
kicking and screaming into the digital But the inclusion of a DAC isn’t the only thing Rega’s latest models, such as the new Elicit and
age. The once staunchly all-analogue that makes this Rega special. This new integrated 2019-released Aethos. It’s a sturdy, hefty build.
British hi-fi brand has slowly but surely is the successor to a universally well-reviewed The profile is streamlined and actually slightly
been introducing — gasp! — a DAC into its amplifier, the now-discontinued third-gen model slimmer than the outgoing Elex-R it succeeds.
stereo amplifiers. It first happened with ‘Elex-R’ which was knocking on for 10 years old. The all-black metal casing is of a high standard
the excellent Elicit Mk5 amplifier ($4,299) last It was due an upgrade, then — something that (and, importantly, dissipates heat better by
autumn, and now it’s the turn of Rega’s mid-tier became all the more apparent once the latest functioning as a big heat sink), with only a handful
Elex model to get the digital upgrade as it enters Elicit had revealed the company’s eventual of buttons and red LEDs adorning the fascia.
its fourth generation since its inception in 1991. willingness for digital inclusion and, indeed, Everything works smoothly and is responsive to
Will others, like the budget Brio and high-end ambition. So, the Elex Mk4 is here, and it has use, whether you’re using the on-unit volume dial
Aethos which sit on either side of these now- plenty to prove in a highly competitive market. or the simple but well-laid-out remote.
digital models, be next? I wouldn’t bet against it, Rega hasn’t entirely thrown out its own rule
not least having recently spoken to Rega about DESIGN book with this new digital-equipped amplifier.
the digitisation of its amplifiers, the interview The latest Elex has been given new casework The Elex Mk4 is still a Class A/B design, delivering

36 Australian Hi-Fi www.whathifi.com/australianhifi

 On Test

a powerful 72 watts per channel into eight sources (if that), so the Elex Mk4 should easily SOUND
ohms (or 90 watts into six ohms) — more than accommodate most traditional sources and Now, we have all learned that you should never
enough to drive most loudspeakers. For this satisfy most people’s needs. judge a book by its cover, but if you took one
new iteration, the entire circuit board has been The integrated DAC is primarily based on the glance at the smart but relatively basic-looking
re-jigged to improve performance, with special circuitry of Rega’s standalone DAC-R, (again, Elex Mk4 and from it assumed that it wouldn’t
care taken when choosing key audio components more detail on this is contained within this issue’s give off a thespian performance, you wouldn’t
in the design. Power is provided by a multi- interview feature), and the digital inputs it feeds be far off. This is not a showy amplifier; it doesn’t
stage linear supply designed to run as quietly as can handle PCM audio up to 24-bit/192kHz. For try to artificially grab your attention or hide any
possible. And with Rega’s impressive history with those worried that the analogue sound might insufficiencies behind metaphorical jazz hands.
record players, it should come as no surprise that be affected, worry not. Rega says it has taken It simply handles every element of the music in
a good-quality moving-magnet phono stage is care that the “analogue side of the circuit is not an incredibly assured and elegant manner. This is
onboard the new Elex. an amplifier that knows what it’s doing and wants
you to just sit back and listen.
FEATURES Play The Chain by Fleetwood Mac through the
The biggest evolution from the previous model is, Over to the coaxial analogue inputs, and the spread of sound from
of course, the inclusion of a DAC for the first time the Elex Mk4 is wide and open, with ample space
in the Elex range. But don’t worry, as Rega hasn’t input to try out the for every well-placed instrument to flourish.
strayed too far from its analogue heart. You only internal DAC, and the Rhythmically, it times superbly. The famous
get two digital inputs — one optical and coaxial bassline in the outro is pulled taut and tightly
apiece, just as you do on the Elicit Mk5 — and, Elex retains the same delivered — it goes deep, but there’s no flab.
for better or worse, there still isn’t any Bluetooth sonic hallmarks The way the Elex handles music, delivering
or network streaming. (For the sake of avoiding it as a cohesive whole rather than individual
repetition, you can find out why from page 71.) elements, is effortlessly done. During testing,
Around the back of the rather smart unit you’ll it’s difficult to focus on particular strands or
also find a single set of speaker terminals, four affected in any way by the introduction of digital frequencies to critique, instead much easier just
line-level inputs (plus that phono input) and both inputs”. How? The digital and analogue supply to listen to track after track and marvel at how
record and preamp outputs. Unlike the line-level rails are “galvanically isolated” — which means the Rega turns its hand to every song. It simply
connections, the digital coaxial and optical inputs this prevents any physical link between them and doesn’t impose itself on the music — and that’s
are not numbered to correspond with the input minimises the potential for signal interference. a huge accomplishment in its own right. While
selector on the front panel. A very swift process Noise from one can’t be transmitted to the this does mean it’s rather transparent to source
of elimination shows that coaxial is ‘D1’ and other, resulting in cleaner detail retrieval and low materials and recording qualities, the resulting
optical is ‘D2’, but it would’ve been nice had Rega distortion levels. experience is more enjoyable than it is analytical.
given a bit more care to the labelling. Sticking with connections, there’s another One of the Elex Mk4’s true strengths is the
At this price point, similarly priced rivals such welcome addition here — a headphone way in which it delivers vocals in such an elegant
as the Cambridge Audio CXA81 tend to tick output stage and accompanying 6.3mm way: articulate and nuanced, every intake of
more boxes in the features department. The socket, designed to work with a wide range of breath revealed, with all the emotion behind
Cambridge, after all, has a handful more inputs — headphones. During testing, everything from the lyrics and the intent of the song clearly
an extra coax, a USB input and balanced XLRs — the Grado SR325x ($419) to the Beyerdynamic communicated. Whether that’s Tom Waits’
as well as a second set of speaker terminals and T1 ($1,499) and Focal Clear Mg ($2,199) was gravelly toned rumbles, Lizzo’s sparkly attitude or
Bluetooth streaming. That’s a great spread of plugged into the front of the Elex Mk4, and each Brandi Carlile’s powerful singing — the amplifier
options for a little less money, though realistically pair was taken all in stride. translates it all without any embellishment. Make
most people don’t own more than two or three no mistake, this is an amplifier that cuts right

Australian Hi-Fi 37
On Test Rega Elex Mk4 Integrated Amplifier

through to the heart of the music. delivered in an unhurried manner by the Rega. serious about vinyl replay and getting the best
Edges of notes are crisp and precise, and However, there are times when a bit more sound, we’d always recommend an outboard
there are layers of detail and texture around the grunt and muscle wouldn’t go amiss. A switch to phono stage.
electronic piano and soft, muted vocals in Right the previous Elex-R amplifier reveals a meatier As for the variety of headphones that were
Where it Belongs by Nine Inch Nails. The dynamic sound that you can really sink your teeth into, but used to try out the Elex Mk4’s headphone stage,
shifts and change in atmosphere surrounding it is at the expense of the immense clarity, agility as mentioned earlier in this review, it is important
Trent Reznor’s voice as the song moves from a and openness you get from the newer model — to consider the Rega’s transparency with
small, intimate space to a large, live crowd are and that will almost certainly get most people’s partnering kit and source material. For example,
palpable. It’s not overly dramatic, but delivered vote. There’s no question of which amplifier is the the forward-sounding Grados, while excellent
with a delicate touch that still lands with impact. better and preferred option. That doesn’t mean headphones, aren’t ideal partners for the Rega.
Happily, none of that punch or clarity is lost the new Rega lacks energy or bite, mind you; The richer, fuller Beyerdynamics are instead a
when listening at low volume. And the Rega the sound could just be a little more grounded better match sonically and price-wise. However,
equally keeps its composure when pushed to and solid in an ideal world. This lean character pretty surprising was just how easily the Elex
party levels. What’s more, the sound is clean — typical for Rega products, really — requires paired with the much pricier Focal Clear Mg —
and easy to listen to, never sounding too loud or partnering the Elex Mk4 with care to make it music sounded clear, full of depth and not short
bright when we push it hard. sound its best. Avoid any bright or forward- of dynamic expression by any means.
Over to the coaxial input to try out the sounding kit as a rule; pairing it with loudspeakers
internal DAC, and the Elex retains the same sonic that are richer in tone — like the KEF LS50 Meta VERDICT
hallmarks. There is a touch more punch and or even, say, the Wharfedale Linton — will help All told, the Rega Elex Mk4 is a stunning amplifier.
forwardness to the sound, but comparatively ensure your system’s sound has body and weight. Revealing and faithful, it’s capable in ways far
you do lose an ounce of spaciousness, textural So how about the Rega’s performance in beyond expectations at this mid-tier level. The
layering and subtlety. the context of the wider market? Its closest addition of digital inputs and a headphone port
The Elex Mk4 does have a rather lean sound, rival is the aforementioned Cambridge Audio is a great step in the right direction for Rega
it has to be said. It’s a character that works to CXA81 and, honestly, it’s a tale of trade-offs. The amplifiers, giving customers more flexibility in
its advantage when it comes to timing. Agile CXA81 has a lively, full-bodied tone that is more how they listen.
and nimble-footed, it can be as pacy or as immediately likeable. It’s highly entertaining, It’s not perfect — a more grounded sound that
steady as needed. Radiohead’s 15 Step and with a lovely sense of weight and richness to doesn’t affect its timing would be welcomed with
Circling by Four Tet are prime examples of the cello notes in Agnes Obel’s Fuel To The Fire. open arms — but the elegant, confident way it
complex arrangements that need every element But the piano notes have so many more layers delivers music is certainly rare at this level. If you
marshalled with authority and timed to perfection and sound more realistic through the Rega amp. take the time to partner it carefully, this stereo
to make sense of the rhythm. Which the Rega Her voice, while sounding beautiful through the amplifier will work wonders.
does. Conversely, the meditative, mournful Cambridge, is ethereal through the Rega. The
melody in Nick Cave’s People Ain’t No Good is CXA81 sounds smaller in scale, too, whereas
CONTACT INFO
the Rega is expansive. Both amps time well and
Brand: Rega
perhaps many would prefer the CXA81’s friendlier
Model: Elex Mk4
approach. But the Rega communicates a song’s
RRP: $2,499
...a stunning amplifier. tempo in a more authoritative, revealing way.
Unsurprisingly but no less satisfying, the built-
Warranty: ‘Lifetime Limited’
Revealing and faithful, in phono stage performance is also in keeping
Distributor: Synergy Audio Visual
Address: 107 Northern Road
it’s capable in ways far with the Elex Mk4’s overall sound character. Nick
Cave And The Bad Seeds’ The Boatman’s Call
Heidelberg Heights

beyond expectations at record is rendered neatly through the Rega when

Vic 3081
T: (03) 9459 7474
this mid-tier level played from a Technics SL-1000R turntable fitted
with a Vertere Sabre MM cartridge. It’s a decent
E: info@synergyaudio.com
W: www.synergyaudio.com
phono stage for this price level, although if you’re

38 Australian Hi-Fi www.whathifi.com/australianhifi

 Hi-Fi Headlines April 2023

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 Editorial

FROM
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OF LEN
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ƉźƃŴáŀĩáɫɉáňĄɫĺƉźƃɫőƣĉŴɫǙʨɫ
ƃőɫűĩňűőĩňƃɫƤĥƪɫɒɫáŀŀɫƃĥĉɫŇƉźĩþɫƤáźɫƃĥĉŴĉɫ űőĩňƃɫőĞɫǔǒǓǗȶɫźőɫŇƉþĥɫźőɫƃĥáƃɫĩňɫǔǒǔǓɫźáŀĉźɫ ĩňƃĉŴňáƃĩőňáŀŀƪɊɫɒɫźŇáŀŀɫĞŴƪɫþőŇűáŴĉĄɫƃőɫ
ɉŀĉźźɫƃĥĉɫźƉŴĞáþĉɫňőĩźĉɊɫɒɫýƉƃɫƃĥĉŴĉɫƤáźɫňőɫ ĉƩþĉĉĄĉĄɫƃĥĉɫűĉáĽɫőĞɫǔǒǒǒȵɫÈĉźȶɫűáŴƃɫőĞɫƃĥĩźɫ źƃŴĉáŇĩňğȶɫƤĥĩþĥɫáþþőƉňƃĉĄɫĞőŴɫǚǘʨȵɫÁĩňƪŀɫ
ĩňƣőŀƣĉŇĉňƃȶɫáňĄɫáźɫáɫŴĉźƉŀƃɫIɫŴáŴĉŀƪɫűŀáƪĉĄɫ þáňɫýĉɫáƃƃŴĩýƉƃĉĄɫƃőɫƃĥĉɫoÁI$ɫűáňĄĉŇĩþȶɫ ŇáƪɫýĉɫğŴőƤĩňğɫáƃɫáɫĞáźƃĉŴɫŴáƃĉȶɫýƉƃɫĩƃɫźƃĩŀŀɫĥáźɫ
ƃĥĉɫáŀýƉŇɫáğáĩňȵɫ ýƉƃɫĩƃɫĥáźɫýĉĉňɫáɫźƃĉáĄƪɫáňĄɫþőňźĩźƃĉňƃɫ áɫŀőƃɫőĞɫþáƃþĥĩňğɫƉűɫƃőɫĄőȵ
eǕɫƤáźɫŴĉŀĉáźĉĄɫĩňɫƃĥĉɫĉáŴŀƪɫɡǛǒźɫýƉƃɫĄĩĄɫ ğŴőƤƃĥɫĞőŴɫáɫňƉŇýĉŴɫőĞɫƪĉáŴźȵɫɉIňƃĉŴĉźƃĩňğŀƪȶɫ ƉƃɫĄőňɢƃɫŀĉƃɫƃĥáƃɫűƉƃɫƪőƉɫőDžȺɫ]őőĽɫĞőŴɫƃĥĉɫ
ňőƃɫğáĩňɫƃŴáþƃĩőňɫƉňƃĩŀɫƃĥĉɫŴĉŀĉáźĉɫőĞɫƃĥĉɫLjŴźƃɫ ĩƃɫáűűĉáŴźɫƃĥáƃɫ
ƉźƃŴáŀĩáɫĄĩĄɫňőƃɫźĥáŴĉɫĩňɫƃĥĉɫ ĉŇőƃĩőňɫĩňɫƪőƉŴɫŇƉźĩþȶɫĩŴŴĉźűĉþƃĩƣĉɫőĞɫƪőƉŴɫ

űűŀĉɫĩőĄɫĩňɫǔǒǒǓȵɫ’ĉþőŴĄĉĄɫŇƉźĩþɫźáŀĉźɫ űĥĉňőŇĉňáŀɫğŴőƤƃĥɫőĞɫźőŇĉɫňáƃĩőňźɫĄƉŴĩňğɫ ĞőŴŇáƃɫőĞɫþĥőĩþĉȵɫ
ňĄɫĩňƣĉźƃɫĩňɫáɫźƪźƃĉŇɫ
űĉáĽĉĄɫĩňɫǔǒǒǒȶɫƤĥĩþĥɫƤáźɫáŀźőɫáŴőƉňĄɫƃĥĉɫ ƃĥáƃɫƪĉáŴɫɒɫ]áƃĩňɫ
ŇĉŴĩþáɫğŴĉƤɫǕǓʨȶɫfőŴƃĥɫ þáűáýŀĉɫőĞɫŴĉźőŀƣĩňğɫƃĥáƃɫĉŇőƃĩőňȵɫIƃɫŇáƪɫňőƃɫ
źáŇĉɫƃĩŇĉɫáźɫƃĥĉɫŴĉŀĉáźĉɫőĞɫfáűźƃĉŴȵɫőƃĥɫ
ŇĉŴĩþáɫǔǔʨȶɫ
źĩáɫǓǘʨȶɫ*ƉŴőűĉɫǓǗʨɫáňĄɫ þőźƃɫáźɫŇƉþĥɫáźɫƪőƉɫƃĥĩňĽȶɫáňĄɫƪőƉŴɫŀĩĞĉɫƤĩŀŀɫ
ƃĥĉɫáŴŴĩƣáŀɫőĞɫfáűźƃĉŴɫáňĄɫƃĥĉɫĩőĄɫƤĉŴĉɫ
ƉźƃŴáŀĩáɫǖʨȵɊ ýĉɫáŀŀɫƃĥĉɫŴĩþĥĉŴɫĞőŴɫĩƃȵ

03
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03 From the desk of Len 07 New Bowers & Wilkins $ĉźĩğňɫáňĄɫIňźƃáŀŀáƃĩőňɫ
źźőþĩáƃĩőňɊɫáƤáŴĄɫ
Len ponders what it was that made a good ʳÂɫĥáźɫýĉĉňɫáğğŴĉźźĩƣĉŀƪɫűƉŴźƉĩňğɫ ĞőŴɫɡ]ĉƣĉŀɫǓɫeĉĄĩáɫ’őőŇɫőĞɫƃĥĉɫÈĉáŴɢȵ
ĥĩɏLjɫɫźƪźƃĉŇɫáɫŇƉźƃɏĥáƣĉɫűőźźĉźźĩőňɫőĞɫƃĥĉɫ ƃĥĉɫĥĉáĄɏĞĩɫŇáŴĽĉƃȶɫáňĄɫňőƃɫŇőŴĉɫźőɫƃĥáňɫ
ĄáƪɫĄƉŴĩňğɫƃĥĉɫɡğőŀĄĉňɫƪĉáŴźɢɫőĞɫĥĩɏLjɫȶɫƃĥĉɫ ƤĩƃĥɫĩƃźɫŀáƃĉźƃɫĞŀáğźĥĩűɫƤĩŴĉŀĉźźɫňőĩźĉɏ 09 JBL Synthesis demo room
ǓǛǙǒźɫáňĄɫɡǚǒźȵɫEáƣĉɫƤĉɫźĩňþĉɫŀőźƃɫƃĥĉɫ þáňþĉŀŀĩňğɫĥĉáĄűĥőňĉźȵɫ¡ĥĉɫňĉƤɫǙǒǒɫ˜Ǖɫ ¡ĥĉɫLjɫŴźƃɫőĞɫƃĥŴĉĉɫűŀáňňĉĄɫY]ɫ˜ƪňƃĥĉźĩźɫ
áŀŀɏĩŇűőŴƃáňƃɫĉŇőƃĩőňáŀɫþőňňĉþƃĩőňɫƃőɫŇƉźĩþȶɫ ŀőƉĄźűĉáĽĉŴźɫáŀźőɫğĉƃɫáɫźĥőƉƃɏőƉƃɫĞőŴɫƃĥĉĩŴɫ ĄĉŇőňźƃŴáƃĩőňɫŴőőŇźɫĩźɫňőƤɫőűĉŴáƃĩőňáŀȶɫ
ĥĉɫ៼źȼɫoŴɫƤĉŴĉɫőƃĥĉŴɫĞáþƃőŴźɫáƃɫƤőŴĽȼ ŴĉŇáŴĽáýŀĉɫŴĉƣáŇűɫőĞɫáňɫáŀŴĉáĄƪɫĉƩþĉŀŀĉňƃɫ ýáźĉĄɫáŴőƉňĄɫƃĥĉɫ˜]ɏǘɫáňĄɫ˜]ɏǙɫĩňɏƤáŀŀɫ
áňĄɫűőűƉŀáŴɫŴáňğĉȵ źűĉáĽĉŴźɫáňĄɫŴĉűŴĉźĉňƃĩňğɫáɫƃĥĉáƃŴĉɫźƪźƃĉŇɫ
06 Bluesound streaming ĩňɫƃĥĉɫɴǖǒĽɫɏɫɴǙǗ[ɫűŴĩþĉɫýŴáþĽĉƃȵ
áňáĄĩáňɫáƉĄĩőɫýŴáňĄɫŀƉĉźőƉňĄɫĥáźɫáɫŴĩþĥɫ 08 CEDIA Award
ĥĉŴĩƃáğĉɫĩňɫňĉƃƤőŴĽɫźƃŴĉáŇĩňğȶɫƤĥĩþĥɫĩƃɫĥáźɫ YƉźƃɫáĞƃĉŴɫƃĥĉɫűŴĉƣĩőƉźɫ]ĉňɫÂáŀŀĩźɫEĉáĄŀĩňĉźɫ 10 Marantz bundles
űŀőƉğĥĉĄɫĩňƃőɫĩƃźɫƃƤőɫŀáƃĉźƃɫŇőĄĉźƃŀƪɫűŴĩþĉĄɫ ƤáźɫűƉýŀĩźĥĉĄȶɫ]ĉňɫÂáŀŀĩźɫ
ƉĄĩőɫűŴőƉĄŀƪɫ §ňƃĩŀɫƃĥĉɫĉňĄɫőĞɫ
űŴĩŀȶɫ]ĉňɫÂáŀŀĩźɫ
ƉĄĩőɫĥáźɫ
źƃŴĉáŇĩňğɫűŴőĄƉþƃźȵ þőŀŀĉþƃĉĄɫáɫ*$I
ɫɉőňźƉŇĉŴɫ*ŀĉþƃŴőňĩþɫ źőŇĉɫźűĉþĩáŀɫźƃĉŴĉőɫźƪźƃĉŇɫýƉňĄŀĉźɫƉűɫĞőŴɫ

64 Burns Bay Road, Lane Cove NSW 2066 Telephone (02) 9427 6755
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sales@lenwallisaudio.com.au
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grabs, based around Marantz electronics 18 Revival Audio newcomers the digital characteristics that tend to plague
and starting at $2,199. *ƣĉŴƪɫźőɫőĞƃĉňɫáɫğŴĉáƃɫňĉƤɫþőŇűáňƪɫ áŇűŀĩLjĉŴźɫőĞɫźĩŇĩŀáŴɫĄĉźĩğňȵɫ
ĉƩűŀőĄĉźɫőňƃőɫƃĥĉɫŇáŴĽĉƃȶɫáňĄɫƃĥáƃɫþőŇűáňƪɫ
12 MoFi vinyl releases őĞɫƃĥĉɫŇőŇĉňƃɫƃőĄáƪɫĩźɫ>ŴĉňþĥɫźűĉáĽĉŴɫýŴáňĄɫ 25 Triangle’s 40th anniversary
¡ĥĉɫŴĉþőŴĄɫŀáýĉŀɫźƉDžĉŴĉĄɫýáĄŀƪɫĄƉŴĩňğɫƃĥĉɫ Revival Audio, which has two models on sale IƃɫĥáźɫƃáĽĉňɫáɫƤĥĩŀĉȶɫýƉƃɫƤĉɫáŴĉɫLjňáŀŀƪɫźĉĉĩňğɫ
űáňĄĉŇĩþɫƤĩƃĥɫƣĩŴƃƉáŀŀƪɫňőƃĥĩňğɫþőŇĩňğɫőDžɫ now and another two arriving soon. ƃĥĉɫğőŴğĉőƉźȶɫĥáňĄɏáźźĉŇýŀĉĄɫǖǒƃĥɏ
ƃĥĉɫűŴĉźźĉźȵɫ¡ĥáňĽĞƉŀŀƪȶɫĩƃɫĥáźɫŴĉýőƉňĄĉĄɫ áňňĩƣĉŴźáŴƪɫźűĉáĽĉŴźɫĞŴőŇɫ¡ŴĩáňğŀĉɫŴĉáþĥɫ
with a number of new and returning albums. 19 Special Edition Richters őƉŴɫźĥőŴĉźȶɫáŀýĉĩƃɫĩňɫƣĉŴƪɫźŇáŀŀɫňƉŇýĉŴźȵɫÂĉɫ
Now on demonstration in our showroom are áŀŴĉáĄƪɫĥáƣĉɫƃĥĉɫ*źűŴĩƃɫźĉŴĩĉźɫőňɫƃĥĉɫljőőŴȶɫ
13 High-end Musical Fidelity ƃƤőɫýŴáňĄɏňĉƤɫ˜*ɫŇőĄĉŀźɫĞŴőŇɫƃĥĉɫűőűƉŀáŴɫ with the Magellan range due within weeks.
¡ĥĉɫűĉŴĞőŴŇáňþĉɫőĞɫeƉźĩþáŀɫ>ĩĄĉŀĩƃƪɢźɫŇĩĄɏ ’ĩþĥƃĉŴɫźƃáýŀĉɫɒɫƃĥĉɫŴĉĩňƃŴőĄƉþĉĄɫ*ƩþáŀĩýƉŴɫ
ƃĩĉŴɫáŇűŀĩLjĉŴźɫĩźɫĥĩğĥŀƪɫŴĉźűĉþƃĉĄɫƃĥĉɫƤőŴŀĄɫ áňĄɫƤĉŀŀɏĽňőƤňɫÂĩƳáŴĄɫɒɫƤĩƃĥɫĉňğĩňĉĉŴĩňğɫ 26 All-important Accessories
őƣĉŴȶɫźőɫĩƃɢźɫĥƉğĉŀƪɫĉƩþĩƃĩňğɫƃőɫźĉĉɫƃĥĉɫýŴáňĄɫ ƉűğŴáĄĉźɫáňĄɫŇáƃƃĉɫýŀáþĽɫLjňĩźĥĉźȵ ¡ĥĉŴĉɫáŴĉɫŇáňƪɫƉűğŴáĄĉɫűáƃĥźɫőňĉɫþáňɫğőɫ
áƃƃĉŇűƃɫƃőɫźĥáĽĉɫƉűɫƃĥĉɫĥĩğĥɏĉňĄɫƃĥĩźɫƃĩŇĉɫ ĄőƤňɫƃőɫĩŇűŴőƣĉɫƃĥĉĩŴɫźƪźƃĉŇɢźɫűĉŴĞőŴŇáňþĉȶɫ
ƤĩƃĥɫĩƃźɫŀáƃĉźƃɫfƉɏÁĩźƃáɫƣáŀƣĉɫŇőĄĉŀźȵ 20 Sonus faber Homage from adding isolation feets/pads and

ɫƃĥŴĉĉɏźƃŴőňğɫźűĉáĽĉŴɫŴáňğĉɫƃĥáƃɫźĥőƤźɫ upgrading power cables to giving it a new
14 Naim Classic revamps ƤĥáƃɫáɫþőŇűáňƪɫƤĩƃĥɫƃĥĉɫĥĉŴĩƃáğĉɫőĞɫ˜őňƉźɫ ŀĉáźĉɫőĞɫŀĩĞĉɫƤĩƃĥɫáňɫĉƩƃĉŴňáŀɫ$
ȵȵȵɫ
A new series from Naim is a rare thing — if faber can achieve when it is allowed the
ĉƣĉŴɫƃĥĉŴĉɫƤáźɫáɫþőŇűáňƪɫƃĥáƃɫýƉĩŀƃɫűŴőĄƉþƃźɫ budget to do so. Its new Homage models are 28 Bang & Olufsen sound lounge
to stand the test of time, it is Naim. But here pieces of art, make no mistake. Our new B&O sound lounge is now
we have modern revamps of its iconic NAP þőŇűŀĉƃĉȶɫĺƉźƃɫĩňɫƃĩŇĉɫĞőŴɫƃĥĉɫŴĉŀĉáźĉɫőĞɫƃĥĉɫ
ǔǗǒɫűőƤĉŴɫáŇűŀĩLjĉŴȶɫűŀƉźɫáɫňĉƤɫźƃŴĉáŇĩňğɫ 21 Sony projector promotion þőŇűáňƪɢźɫĉőźőƉňĄɫ¡ĥĉáƃŴĉȶɫáɫŴĉŇáŴĽáýŀĉɫ
űŴĉáŇűŀĩLjĉŴɫáňĄɫűőƤĉŴɫźƉűűŀƪɫƃőɫŇáƃþĥȵ ƉŴþĥáźĉɫáɫ˜őňƪɫÁ]ɏÇÂǗǒǒǒɫőŴɫ źőƉňĄýáŴɫƉňŀĩĽĉɫáňƪɫőƃĥĉŴȵ
Á]ɏÇÂǙǒǒǒɫűŴőĺĉþƃőŴɫýĉĞőŴĉɫƃĥĉɫĉňĄɫőĞɫ
16 A new Sonos era
űŴĩŀɫáňĄɫƪőƉɫþáňɫğĉƃɫáɫ˜ǗɫýƉňĄŀĉɫƤőŴƃĥɫ 29 Wattbox wonder
¡ƤőɫáŀŀɏňĉƤɫ˜őňőźɫƤĩŴĉŀĉźźɫźűĉáĽĉŴźȶɫƃĥĉɫ $900 thrown in for free. ÂĩƃĥɫƃĥĉɫğŴőƤĩňğɫŴĉŀĩáňþĉɫőňɫňĉƃƤőŴĽɃƤĩɏLjɫ
*ŴáɫǓǒǒɫáňĄɫ*ŴáɫǕǒǒȶɫƃáĽĉɫƃĥĉɫþőŇűáňƪɢźɫ áňĄɫźőĞƃƤáŴĉɏŴĉŀáƃĉĄɫ
ÁɫűŴőĄƉþƃźȶɫźĉŴƣĩþĉɫ
ŇƉŀƃĩɏŴőőŇɫĉþőźƪźƃĉŇɫƃőɫňĉƤɫĥĉĩğĥƃźɫɒɫ 22 Stax audition þáŀŀźɫáŴĉɫýĉþőŇĩňğɫĩňþŴĉáźĩňğŀƪɫĞŴĉųƉĉňƃȵɫ
heights that include spatial audio and an ɫIĞɫƪőƉɫƤáňƃɫƃőɫĥĉáŴɫƤĥáƃɫźƉűĉŴŀáƃĩƣĉɫ ÂáƃƃýőƩɫĩźɫőňĉɫþőŇűáňƪɫƃĥáƃɫğőĉźɫáɫŀőňğɫ
intriguing new aesthetic. headphone listening is, drop in for an ƤáƪɫƃőɫŴĉĄƉþĉɫƃĥĉɫňƉŇýĉŴɫőĞɫƃĥĉźĉɫþáŀŀźȵȵȵɫ
áƉĄĩƃĩőňɫőĞɫƃĥĉɫ’ĉĞĉŴĉňþĉɫ˜’ɏÇǛǒǒǒȶɫƃĥĉɫ
17 Rega’s timber turntable LjňĉźƃɫĥĉáĄűĥőňĉźɫ˜ƃáƩɫĥáźɫĉƣĉŴɫűŴőĄƉþĉĄȵ 30 Yamaha’s modern twist
¡ĩŇýĉŴɫĩźɫýáþĽɫĩňɫƣőğƉĉȺɫÈőƉɫþáňɫňőƤɫýƉƪɫ ¡ĥĉɫňĉƤɫ’fɏfǔǒǒǒ
ɫĩźɫýáźĉĄɫőňɫ
ƃĥĉɫĥĩğĥŀƪɫŴĉğáŴĄĉĄɫŀáňáŴɫǔɫŴĉþőŴĄɫűŀáƪĉŴɫ 23 ¡ĉþĥňĩþźɫ˜§ɏ?ǙǒǒɫeĽIIɫáŇűŀĩLjĉŴ ƃĥĉɫűŴĩňþĩűŀĉźɫőĞɫƃĥĉɫþőŇűáňƪɢźɫĥĩğĥɏ
with a timber plinth as opposed to the ¡ĥĉɫ¡ĉþĥňĩþźɫ˜§ɏ?ǙǒǒɫeĽIIɫĩźɫáɫźƉűĉŴýŀƪɫ űĉŴĞőŴŇáňþĉɫ
ɏ˜ɫáŇűŀĩLjĉŴɫźĉŴĩĉźɫɒɫýƉƃɫƤĩƃĥɫ
standard gloss black, white or red one. þŴáĞƃĉĄɫáŇűŀĩLjĉŴȶɫáňĄɫáɫƣĉŴƪɫğőőĄɏźőƉňĄĩňğɫ a modern twist. And it has something more
őňĉɫáƃɫƃĥáƃȵɫoňĉɫƃĥáƃɫĄőĉźɫňőƃɫĉƩĥĩýĩƃɫáňƪɫőĞɫ modest for benchtops too.

TRADING HOURS | Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday: 9 to 5:30 THE LATEST IS ONLINE! – www.lenwallisaudio.com
Thursday: 9 to 8; Saturday: 9 to 5; Sunday: closed
Bluesound

Bluesound
Pulse M Wireless Speaker
Bluesound has added another wireless
streaming speaker to its stable, the Pulse
eȵɫ¡ĥĉɫLjɫŴźƃɫƃĥĩňğɫƪőƉɫƤĩŀŀɫňőƃĩþĉɫáýőƉƃɫƃĥĩźɫ
wireless speaker is its design — it’s an
áƃƃŴáþƃĩƣĉɫƉňĩƃȵɫ¡ĥĉɫƉŀźĉɫeɫĥőƉźĉźɫǚǒɫƤáƃƃźɫ
őĞɫáŇűŀĩLjɫþáƃĩőňȶɫáɫǓǕȵǗþŇɫƤőőĞĉŴɫáňĄɫƃƤőɫ
ǓǛŇŇɫƃƤĉĉƃĉŴźɫɒɫáŀŀɫĄĉźĩğňĉĄɫƃőɫĄĉŀĩƣĉŴɫáɫ
ǕǘǒɏĄĉğŴĉĉɫźőƉňĄźƃáğĉȵɫ őƤĉŴfőĄĉɫ*Ąğĉɫ˜ƃŴĉáŇĩňğɫ
ŇűŀĩLjɫĉŴ
¡ƤőɫƉŀźĉɫeźɫþáňɫýĉɫűáĩŴĉĄɫĞőŴɫźƃĉŴĉőɫ ¡ĥĉɫŀƉĉźőƉňĄɫőƤĉŴfőĄĉɫňĉƃƤőŴĽĉĄɫáŇűŀĩLjɫĉŴɫĩźɫőňĉɫőĞɫőƉŴɫĞáƣőƉŴĩƃĉɫŇƉŀƃĩɏŴőőŇɫ
źőƉňĄȶɫáňĄɫŇőŴĉɫƃĥáňɫǔǒɫŇƉźĩþɫźƃŴĉáŇĩňğɫ ĄĉƣĩþĉźȵɫIƃɫĥáźɫĉňőƉğĥɫűőƤĉŴɫƃőɫĄŴĩƣĉɫŇőźƃɫźűĉáĽĉŴźȶɫĩƃɫĩźɫĄĩźþŴĉƃĉȶɫáňĄɫőĞɫþőƉŴźĉɫĩƃɫ
źĉŴƣĩþĉźɫáŴĉɫźƉűűőŴƃĉĄȵɫőňňĉþƃĩőňɫőűƃĩőňźɫ ŴƉňźɫőňɫŀƉo˜ȶɫőňĉɫőĞɫƃĥĉɫýĉźƃɫŇƉŀƃĩɏŴőőŇɫŇƉźĩþɫŇáňáğĉŇĉňƃɫűŀáƃĞőŴŇźɫőƉƃɫƃĥĉŴĉȵɫ
ĩňþŀƉĄĉɫÂĩɏ>ĩȶɫ*ƃĥĉŴňĉƃɫþáýŀĉȶɫŀƉĉƃőőƃĥɫáňĄɫ ŀƉĉźőƉňĄɫĥáźɫŴĉþőğňĩźĉĄɫƃĥáƃɫáňɫǚǒɏƤáƃƃɫáŇűŀĩLjɫĉŴɫþáňɫýĉɫőƣĉŴĽĩŀŀɫĞőŴɫźőŇĉɫźĩƃƉáƃĩőňźɫ

ĩŴŀáƪɫǔȶɫáňĄɫƃĥĉŴĉɢźɫźƉűűőŴƃɫĞőŴɫ
ŇáƳőňɫ ɒɫźűĉáĽĉŴźɫĩňɫáɫýáƃĥŴőőŇȶɫĞőŴɫĉƩáŇűŀĉɫɒɫáňĄɫĥáźɫᥥĉĄɫáɫźŇáŀŀĉŴɫƣĉŴźĩőňɫŴáƃĉĄɫáƃɫǖǒɫ
Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple’s Siri. ƤáƃƃźɫűĉŴɫþĥáňňĉŀȵɫ
The PowerNode Edge sells for $1,199 and comes with all the features that make
The Pulse M comes in black or white and, Bluesound products so desirable.
at $999, is an excellent unit.

06
 B&W

New 700 S3
speaker series now
őňɫƃĥĉɫljɫőőŴɫ
B&W’s 700 S3 speakers have been on the
market for some months now, having been
released just as our previous newsletter
was published. Nevertheless, they deserve
inclusion here, because this S3 series is
áɫĄĉLjɫňĩƃĉɫĩŇűŴőƣĉŇĉňƃɫőƣĉŴɫĩƃźɫáŀŴĉáĄƪɫ
excellent predecessor. Almost every
aspect of the speakers — the cabinet, the

Bowers crossovers, the drivers themselves etc —

has been revamped. This has resulted in

&Wilkins
more resolution, better imaging, a slight
sweetening of high frequencies and,
surprisingly given the cabinet and driver
sizes have more or less remained the same,
Px8 Headphones improved bass extension.
B&W has been aggressively pursuing This is the penultimate series from B&W,
ƃĥĉɫĥĉáĄɏLjɫɫŇáŴĽĉƃȶɫáňĄɫĩƃźɫŴáňğĉɫĩźɫ źĩƃƃĩňğɫýĉŀőƤɫƃĥĉĩŴɫĞáŇőƉźɫǚǒǒɫljɫáğźĥĩűȶɫáňĄɫ
consistently improving. The British it is obvious that some of what was learned
ýŴáňĄɢźɫŀáƃĉźƃɫőDžɫĉŴĩňğȶɫƃĥĉɫƩǚɫƤĩŴĉŀĉźźɫ during that ongoing 800 development has
noise-cancelling over-ears, bares seeped down to the 700 S3 series — so
testament to this. These are, by B&W’s much so that more than one journalist has
own admission, the best headphones it suggested that the $4,799 705 S3 bookshelf
has ever made. New driver technology speaker leaves little to be desired compared
partnered with high-resolution 24-bit to the highly respected $14,900 805 D4.
$˜ɫƃĉþĥňőŀőğƪɫáþĥĩĉƣĉźɫőƉƃźƃáňĄĩňğɫ
resolution. They can play for 30 hours • 707 S3 Bookshelf speaker $2,699pr
between charges, and the combination • 706 S3 Bookshelf speaker $3,199pr
of aluminium arms and Nappa • 705 S3 Bookshelf speaker $4,799pr
leather makes them one of the more • 704 S3 Floorstanding speaker $5,900pr
comfortable models on the market. • 703 S3 Floorstanding speaker $8,500pr
At $1,199, the B&W Px8 are not the • 702 S3 Floorstanding speaker $10,900pr
cheapest headphones going, but we • HTM71 S3 Centre channel $3,199
ýĉŀĩĉƣĉɫƃĥĉƪɫőDžɫĉŴɫğŴĉáƃɫƣáŀƉĉȵ • HTM72 S3 Centre channel $1,699
• DB4S Subwoofer $2999

07
CEDIA Award

CEDIA
AWARD
O
kay so this happened a few
months ago now, but it was
after our last newsletter was
published! At the annual
CEDIA (Consumer Electronic Design and
Installation Association) Awards, Len Wallis
Audio collected the award for ‘Level 1 Media
Room of the Year’. The project, led by Senior
Systems Integrator Christian Lambos and
supported by the entire custom division
team, has already featured in the Luxury
Home magazine.
This is the 26th CEDIA award Len Wallis
Audio has received since 2000.

08
 JBL

JBL Synthesis
Theatre System – new
demonstration room

W
e covered JBL Synthesis
theatre systems in our
last newsletter, and now
we are pleased to report
ƃĥáƃɫƃĥĉɫLjɫŴźƃɫőĞɫőƉŴɫĄĉĄĩþáƃĉĄɫ˜ƪňƃĥĉźĩźɫ
ŴőőŇźɫĩźɫĞƉŀŀƪɫőűĉŴáƃĩőňáŀȵɫɉ*ƣĉňƃƉáŀŀƪȶɫƤĉɫ
will have three operating JBL Synthesis
systems in our showroom, with the current
őňĉɫýĉĩňğɫƃĥĉɫźŇáŀŀĉźƃȵɊɫ¡ĥĉɫĄĉŇőɫŴőőŇɫ
is based around the SCL-6 and SCL-7
in-wall speakers and represents a theatre
źƪźƃĉŇɫĩňɫƃĥĉɫɴǖǒĽɫɏɫɴǙǗ[ɫűŴĩþĉɫýŴáþĽĉƃȵɫ
ƉŴŴĉňƃŀƪȶɫƤĉɫáŴĉɫĞĉáƃƉŴĩňğɫýőƃĥɫƃĥĉɫ
Sony VLP-VW5000 and VLP-VW7000
projectors in this room, along with both

ňƃĥĉŇɫáňĄɫY]ɫ˜ƪňƃĥĉźĩźɫĉŀĉþƃŴőňĩþźȵɫ
oňĉɫőĞɫƃĥĉɫýĉźƃɫƃĥĩňğźɫƃőɫþőŇĉɫőƉƃɫőĞɫ
the new room was the realization that a
good-quality, cinema-grade theatre need
ňőƃɫþőźƃɫáɫĽĩňğɢźɫŴáňźőŇȵɫ>őŴɫĉƩáŇűŀĉȶɫ
we currently have an Anthem MRX-1140

ÁɫŴĉþĉĩƣĉŴɫĄŴĩƣĩňğɫáɫþőŇýĩňáƃĩőňɫőĞɫY]ɫ
˜]ɏǘɫĩňɏƤáŀŀɫĞŴőňƃźɫáňĄɫ˜]ɏǙɫźƉŴŴőƉňĄɫ
źűĉáĽĉŴźɫƤĩƃĥɫ¡ŴĩáňğŀĉɫI¡ɏǚɫĩňɏþĉĩŀĩňğɫ
$őŀýƪɫ
ƃŇőźɫźűĉáĽĉŴźȶɫĞŴőňƃĉĄɫýƪɫƃĥĉɫ
˜őňƪɫÁ]ɏÁÂǗǒǒǒɫŀáźĉŴɫűŴőĺĉþƃőŴȵɫ
ĄĄɫáɫ
źþŴĉĉňɫáňĄɫáɫűáĩŴɫőĞɫY]ɫ
ƉĄĩőɫźƉýƤőőĞĉŴźɫ
and you have a very impressive home
ƃĥĉáƃŴĉɫĞőŴɫþőňźĩĄĉŴáýŀƪɫŀĉźźɫƃĥáňɫɴǖǒȶǒǒǒȵɫ

09
Marantz

Marantz
New Receivers Marantz has also released a new range of AV receivers — again, a niche it is
renowned for. These follow the visual guidelines laid down by the CD60, and too are expected
ƃőɫŴĉűŴĉźĉňƃɫáɫźƃĉűɫƉűɫĞŴőŇɫƤĥáƃɫƤáźɫáŀŴĉáĄƪɫáɫƣĉŴƪɫLjɫňĉɫþőŀŀĉþƃĩőňȵɫ
There are four models in the range:
Marantz is moving
further upmarket, as
evidenced by some
recent new releases...
Cinema 70 Cinema 60
A slimline, 7.2-channel, 50W/pc receiver, A 7.2-channel, 100W/pc receiver, perfect
ideal for when space is limited, or if you for environments for when performance is
simply don’t want your environment important but the environment does not lend
overpowered by electronics! $2,000 itself to multiple loudspeakers. $2,600

CD60
Marantz has a decades-long reputation for
manufacturing quality CD players, and its
new CD60 will only enhance that reputation.
A new look, even better construction and Cinema 50 Cinema 40
improved performance. At $1,950, this is an A 9.4-channel, 110W/pc receiver for when A 9.2-channel, 125W/pc statement piece
excellent choice for anyone still enjoying, or you have the luxury of accommodating and reference-level receiver with top-level
still adding to, their CD collection. multiple speakers in the room. $3,700 features and sonics to boot. $5,000

Through to the end of April (or until stocks last), we have a number of system
bundles available based around Marantz electronics...

Bundle One Bundle Two Bundle Three

• Marantz PM6007 • Marantz PM7000 • Marantz Model 30
IňƃĉğŴáƃĉĄɫ
ŇűŀĩLjɫĉŴ IňƃĉğŴáƃĉĄɫ
ŇűŀĩLjɫĉŴ IňƃĉğŴáƃĉĄɫ
ŇűŀĩLjɫĉŴ
• Marantz CD6007 • B&W 706 S3 • Marantz SACD 30n
CD Player Bookshelf Speakers (Gloss Black) CD player
$2,199 – Save $390 $5,199 – Save $400 • B&W 705 S3
Plus Bonus cable valued at $364 Plus Bonus cable valued at $625 Bookshelf Speakers (Gloss Black)
$11,900 – Save $2,897
Plus Bonus Furman AC-210 power
conditioner valued at $379

10
The world’s most
immersive sound.
AMBEO Soundbars deliver a breathtaking cinematic experience
that guarantees movie nights will never be the same again.
Experience unique immersive sound from a single device that
recreates a full home theater with the viewer right at the center
of the action. All this without any complicated setup process,
because our advanced self-calibration learns the acoustics
of the room and generates virtual speakers.

Available at Len Wallis

For more information visit

sennheiser-hearing.com/soundbars
Mo-Fi

Mo-Fi
eőɏ>ĩɫźƉDžɫĉŴĉĄɫýáĄŀƪɫĄƉŴĩňğɫ
ƃĥĉɫoÁI$ɫűáňĄĉŇĩþɫƤĩƃĥɫ
ƣĩŴƃƉáŀŀƪɫňőƃĥĩňğɫþőŇĩňğɫ
őDžɫɫƃĥĉɫűŴĉźźĉźȵɫ¡ĥáňĽĞƉŀŀƪȶɫ
ĩƃɫĥáźɫŴĉýőƉňĄĉĄɫƤĩƃĥɫ
áɫňƉŇýĉŴɫőĞɫňĉƤɫáňĄɫ
ŴĉƃƉŴňĩňğɫáŀýƉŇźȶɫ
ĩňþŀƉĄĩňğȵȵȵ

Michael Jackson
Thriller
1-Step recording
$270

Paul Simon Eagles

There Goes One Of These
Rhymin’ Simon Nights
45RPM 2LP 45RPM 2LP
Box Set Box Set
$315 $315

Crosby, Stills ELO

Nash and Young Eldorado
Self titled
45RPM 2LP
45RPM 2LP Box
Box set
Set
$315
$315

12
 Musical Fidelity

New M6x DAC and settings turn it into a powerful tool for the

Musical
experts (and the curious), elevating it into a

M
usical Fidelity announced this league of its own. Explore the soundstage

Fidelity model with the tagline ‘Rewriting

Digital History — again’. This
unit supersedes the highly regarded M6s
with upsampling to see if you are drawn
in deeper. Choose between seven digital
LjɫŀƃĉŴźɫáňĄɫáɫþőŇűŀĉƃĉɫőƣĉŴźáŇűŀĩňğɫýƪűáźźɫ
DAC and has been designed with the most ɉĄĩźáýŀĩňğɫƃĥőźĉɫLjɫŀƃĉŴźɊȵɫ>Ɖŀŀɫe‘
ɫĄĉþőĄĩňğɫ
fastidious of music lovers in mind. There was is performed on the M6x DAC hardware, too.
a time when a DAC was a ‘plug and forget’ The USB 2.0 input takes PCM sample rates
component, and in many cases this is all up to 32-bit/768 kHz, while DSD support
that is required here. In fact, Musical Fidelity goes up to DSD256 (via DoP) and DSD512
suggests that with the M6x DAC, you do (native). The S/PDIF inputs accept PCM
just that. Initially, anyway. It then suggests audio up to 24-bit/192 kHz and include full
that, as you get reintroduced to your music e‘
ɫźƉűűőŴƃɫƃőőȺ

M6x 250.7 library, you might at some point want to

discover what else is possible. It is at this
This is a very impressive component,
now manufactured in the EU, and at $4,200
The performance of Musical Fidelity’s point when the M6x DAC’s customisability represents excellent value.
áŇűŀĩLjɫĉŴźɫĩźɫĥĩğĥŀƪɫŴĉźűĉþƃĉĄɫƃĥĉɫƤőŴŀĄɫ
őƣĉŴȶɫáňĄɫĩƃźɫeǘ˜ĩɫĩňƃĉğŴáƃĉĄɫáŇűŀĩLjɫĉŴɫĩźɫáɫ
standout. So when the company puts seven
þĥáňňĉŀźɫőĞɫűőƤĉŴɫáŇűŀĩLjɫþáƃĩőňɫýáźĉĄɫőňɫƃĥĉɫ
Nu-Vista
OK, now we are getting serious. Musical
Nuvistor tubes were invented in the ‘50s
to solve the many shortcomings of the
M6Si in one chassis, you know it’s going to >ĩĄĉŀĩƃƪɫĩźɫLjɫŴŇŀƪɫĉźƃáýŀĩźĥĉĄɫáźɫƃĥĉɫğőɏƃőɫ conventional tubes of that time. Unlike them,
be something special. $6,750 mid-market electronics brand in our market, fƉƣĩźƃőŴɫƣáŀƣĉźɫőDžɫĉŴɫƣĉŴƪɫĥĩğĥɫŴĉŀĩáýĩŀĩƃƪȶɫ
sitting comfortably between the NADs and low microphony, low noise, consistency
the Marantzs of our world and the more from batch to batch, small size, relatively
ĉźőƃĉŴĩþɫőDžɫĉŴĩňğźɫƃĥáƃɫáýőƉňĄȵɫEáƣĩňğɫ low power consumption and great technical
conquered this market segment, it has now performance. While Nuvista valves have
decided to shake up the high-end. And if previously been exclusive to Musical
anyone can do it, Musical Fidelity can. Fidelity’s best models, the company has now
decided to take this technology to another
Introducing Nu-Vista Pre and PAS level, producing a cost-no-barrier, reference
Musical Fidelity resurrected the use of range in which it invested around $1.5m
Nuvista valves around 15 years ago. to develop.
MX-Stream
The MX series from Musical Fidelity has
long represented quality performance at
áDžɫőŴĄáýŀĉɫűŴĩþĉźȶɫáňĄɫƤĩƃĥɫĩƃźɫňĉƤɫeÇɏ
Stream the company has excelled itself.
This is a universal transport-only network
device that can take any network or online
źƃŴĉáŇĩňğɫźĉŴƣĩþĉɫƃőɫƪőƉŴɫáŇűŀĩLjɫĉŴɫőŴɫ$
ɫ
— all it requires is an existing USB Class 2.0
audio input. Nu-Vista PAS & Nu-Vista PRE &
The design architecture is ‘open’, hopefully Nu-Vista PAS PSU Nu-Vista PRE PSU
making the product futureproof, and it is also A fully balanced, discrete Class A stereo A fully balanced, discrete Class A
Roon-Ready. űőƤĉŴɫáŇűŀĩLjɫĉŴɫƤĩƃĥɫáɫźĉűáŴáƃĉɫűőƤĉŴɫźƉűűŀƪȶɫ űŴĉáŇűŀĩLjɫĉŴɫáňĄɫźĉűáŴáƃĉɫűőƤĉŴɫźƉűűŀƪȶɫ
The MX-Stream sells for $2,100 and is an rated at 300 watts into eight ohms, and with 12 inputs (six RCAs and six XLRs),
excellent way to introduce streaming to a utilising eight Nuvista tubes in the balanced and utilising eight Nuvista tubes in the
ğőőĄɏųƉáŀĩƃƪɫĥĩɏLjɫɫźƪźƃĉŇȵɫ ýƉDžɫĉŴɫĩňűƉƃɫþĩŴþƉĩƃȵ ýƉDžɫĉŴĉĄɫĩňűƉƃɫþĩŴþƉĩƃȵ

13
Naim

Naim Audio: new NSC 222 Streaming

ŴĉɏáŇűŀĩLjɫĉŴ $13,500
¡ĥĩźɫƤĉŀŀɏĉųƉĩűűĉĄɫƉňĩƃɫőDžɫĉŴźɫŇƉŀƃĩűŀĉɫźƃŴĉáŇĩňğɫ

Classic Series űŀáƃĞőŴŇźȶɫĩňþŀƉĄĩňğɫ˜űőƃĩĞƪȶɫ¡ĩĄáŀȶɫ‘őýƉƳɫ

áňĄɫ
űűŀĉɫeƉźĩþȶɫűŀƉźɫáɫƣĉŴƪɫŀáŴğĉɫňƉŇýĉŴɫőĞɫ
őňŀĩňĉɫŴáĄĩőɫźƃáƃĩőňźȶɫáňĄɫĥáňĄŀĉźɫýĩƃŴáƃĉźɫƉűɫƃőɫ
ǕǔɏýĩƃɃǔǚǖĽEƳȵɫIƃɫáŀźőɫĞĉáƃƉŴĉźɫáɫűĥőňőɫĩňűƉƃɫáňĄɫáɫ
A new series from Naim is a rare thing — if ĥĩğĥɏűĉŴĞőŴŇáňþĉɫĥĉáĄűĥőňĉɫáŇűŀĩLjɫĉŴȵɫ
One of Naim’s strong points is its dedicated
ever there was a company that built products fáĩŇɫ
űűȵɫeáňƪɫƣĉŴƪɫLjɫňĉɫňĉƃƤőŴĽĉĄɏĉňáýŀĉĄɫ
pieces have failed because they have been
ƃőɫźƃáňĄɫƃĥĉɫƃĉźƃɫőĞɫƃĩŇĉȶɫĩƃɫĩźɫfáĩŇɫ
ƉĄĩőȵɫIƃźɫ þƉŇýĉŴźőŇĉɫƃőɫþőňƃŴőŀɫƣĩáɫƃĥĉĩŴɫáűűȶɫýƉƃɫfáĩŇɢźɫ
models tend to remain in production for a long þőŇűáňĩőňɫáűűɫĩźɫőňĉɫőĞɫƃĥĉɫýĉźƃɫáŴőƉňĄȵɫ˜őɫňőƃɫ
őňŀƪɫĩźɫƃĥĉɫűĉŴĞőŴŇáňþĉɫőĞɫƃĥĉɫf˜ɫǔǔǔɫźƉűĉŴýȶɫ
ƃĩŇĉȶɫáňĄɫőňŀƪɫğĉƃɫƉűğŴáĄĉźɫĞőŴɫğőőĄɫŴĉáźőňźȵ ýƉƃɫĩƃɫĩźɫáŀźőɫĉáźƪɫáňĄɫĩňƃƉĩƃĩƣĉɫƃőɫƉźĉȵ

NPX 300 Power Supply $13,500

f
ɫǔǗǒɫőƤĉŴɫ
ŇűŀĩLjɫĉŴɫ$13,500
This revamped classic features trickle-down technology from Naim’s ¡ĥĉɫfÇɫǕǒǒɫĄĉáþƃĩƣáƃĉźɫƃĥĉɫĩňƃĉŴňáŀɫűőƤĉŴɫźƉűűŀƪɫőĞɫƃĥĉɫ
˜ƃáƃĉŇĉňƃɫáŇűŀĩLjɫĉŴȵɫfőƤɫŴáƃĉĄɫáƃɫǓǒǒɫƤáƃƃźɫűĉŴɫþĥáňňĉŀȶɫáňĄɫƤĩƃĥɫ þőŇűőňĉňƃźɫĩƃɫĩźɫþőňňĉþƃĉĄɫƃőȶɫŴĉĄƉþĩňğɫňőĩźĉɫáňĄɫűŴőƣĩĄĩňğɫáɫ
ƃőňźɫőĞɫþƉŴŴĉňƃɫƃőɫýőőƃɫɉʍɃɏɫǔǚɫáŇűźɫűĉáĽɊȶɫƃĥĩźɫáŇűŀĩLjɫĉŴɫƤĩŀŀɫĄŴĩƣĉɫáŀŀɫ źƉűĉŴĩőŴȶɫþŀĉáňĉŴɫűőƤĉŴɫźƉűűŀƪȵɫ¡ĥĉɫfÇɫǕǒǒɫňőƃɫőňŀƪɫƤőŴĽźɫƤĩƃĥɫ
ýƉƃɫƃĥĉɫŇőźƃɫĄĩdžɫɫþƉŀƃɫőĞɫŀőƉĄźűĉáĽĉŴɫŀőᥟȵ the new Classic Series components but is also compatible with
őƃĥĉŴɫĉŀĉþƃŴőňĩþźɫĩňɫƃĥĉɫfáĩŇɫźƃáýŀĉȶɫĩňþŀƉĄĩňğɫƃĥĉɫǔǒǒɫ˜ĉŴĩĉźȶɫƃĥĉɫ
f$ÇǔɫáňĄɫƃĥĉɫf
ɏfɫǔǙǔȵɫ

14
DCD-900NE CD Player and
PMA-900HNE Amplifier

A MATCH MADE
IN HEAVEN

Silver finish shown, also

available in Black

DENON.COM/EN-AU Contact us for your nearest Denon Dealer: sales.au@soundunited.com

03 8542 1111 | /DenonAustralia
Sonos

New Sonos models

announced
Sonos has launched two all-new wireless speakers, the
Era 100 and Era 300
W Era 100ɫ¡ĥĩźɫŇáŴĽźɫáɫźĩğňĩLjɫþáňƃɫ S Era 300 This has all the features of the
ĩŇűŴőƣĉŇĉňƃɫőňɫƃĥĉɫ˜őňőźɫoňĉȶɫƤĩƃĥɫƃĥĉɫ Era 100, except that it has four tweeters (one
introduction of an additional tweeter and a ƉűƤáŴĄɫLjɫŴĩňğɊɫáňĄɫtwo woofers. The end
ŀáŴğĉŴɫźƉýƤőőĞĉŴȵɫ¡ĥĉɫűŴőþĉźźĩňğɫźűĉĉĄɫĩźɫ ğőáŀɫĥĉŴĉɫĩźɫƃĥáƃɫĩƃɫĄĉŀĩƣĉŴźɫɡźűáƃĩáŀɢɫáňĄɫŇőŴĉɫ
áŀźőɫźĩğňĩLjɫþáňƃŀƪɫĞáźƃĉŴȶɫáňĄɫĩŇűőŴƃáňƃŀƪɫƪőƉɫ ĩŇŇĉŴźĩƣĉɫáƉĄĩőȶɫáňĄɫƃĥĩźɫĩňþŀƉĄĉźɫƉźĩňğɫƃƤőɫ
þáňɫňőƤɫźƃŴĉáŇɫƃőɫƃĥĉɫ*ŴáɫǓǒǒɫƣĩáɫŀƉĉƃőőƃĥȵɫ őĞɫƃĥĉɫ*ŴáɫǕǒǒźɫáŀőňğźĩĄĉɫáɫ˜őňőźɫ
ŴþɫĞőŴɫáɫ
¡ĥĉŴĉɫĩźɫáŀźőɫáɫ§˜ɏɫĩňűƉƃɫĞőŴɫþőňňĉþƃĩňğɫ ǙȵǓȵǖɫźƉŴŴőƉňĄɫźĉƃɏƉűȵɫYƉźƃɫĄőňɢƃɫĉƩűĉþƃɫĩƃɫƃőɫ
ĉƩƃĉŴňáŀɫĄĉƣĩþĉźȵɫ$399 źőƉňĄɫŀĩĽĉɫƃĥĉɫY]ɫźƪźƃĉŇɫőňɫűáğĉɫǛȺɫ$749

16
 Rega

Rega
New timber
Ljňĩźĥ
Rega turntables have been a staple
part of our product mix since we
opened. We can recall when Rega
featured a timber border around
its plinths (which is something of a
collector’s item these days!)
Well, timber is now back in
vogue. You can buy
the Rega Planar 2
($999) with a timber
plinth as an alternative to the
gloss black, white or red one.

17
Revival Audio

Revival Audio
E
very so often a great new speakers from Scan-Speak and turned them of the two models that I would encourage
company explodes onto the ĩňƃőɫƃĥĉɫŇƉǔȶɫźƃĩŀŀɫőňĉɫőĞɫƃĥĉɫLjɫňĉźƃɫýőőĽźĥĉŀĞɫ ƪőƉɫƃőɫŴĉáĄɫáƃȷɫƤƤƤȵƤĥáƃĥĩLjɫȵþőŇɃŴĉƣĩĉƤźɃ
market, and that company of speakers on the market. revival-audio-atalante-3. Jez concludes his
the moment is French speaker But this was not to be the road travelled review with: “So is there room in the market
manufacturer Revival Audio. Yes, the last for Revival, who has designed its speakers for a new loudspeaker brand? When it arrives
thing this industry needed was another from the ground up. It started with building with a derrière-kicking debut performance
speaker brand, but when a brand makes an its own drivers, and even heavily researched like this, we can only say ‘Mais bien sûr!’”
impact on us like this one has, after only 18 the materials used to develop these drivers. There is no speaker that has universal
months since inception and with only two For example, its bass drivers are a unique appeal; everyone has their own take on what
models, we are happy to make an exception. źáňĄƤĩþĥɫþőňLjɫğƉŴáƃĩőňɫɉáɫþőňþĉűƃɫŇáĄĉɫ they want from one. But if you are in the
While Revival Audio was only launched popular at Daniel’s old stamping ground market for a pair costing less than $12,000,
in 2021, the people behind the company >őþáŀɊɫþőŇűŴĩźĩňğɫáɫýáźáŀƃɫLjɫýĉŴɫĞáýŴĩþɫ the Revival Audio Atalantes should at least
have a solid background in the industry. topcoat, with a polymer glue and felt middle be on your audition list.
Co-founder Daniel Emonts has spent time layer, and a foam-based cone bottom layer.
with Altec Lansing and Focal-JM Lab, and Revival also took the approach of sound The two available models are:
his most recent role was as a senior R&D þőŇĉźɫLjɫŴźƃȶɫáňĄɫĞőŴŇɫŇƉźƃɫĞőŀŀőƤȵɫ¡ĥĩźɫ Atalante 3ɫɴǖȶǕǒǒɃűáĩŴ
engineer at Dynaudio. His partner, Jacky has resulted in a speaker that looks very Atalante 5ɫɴǚȶǗǒǒɃűáĩŴ
Lee, also worked for Dynaudio, as Chief much like the great designs of 50 years ago
őŇŇĉŴþĩáŀɫodžɫɫþĉŴɫĞőŴɫLjɫƣĉɫƪĉáŴźȵɫ ɉŀƉþĽĩŀƪɫƃĥĉŴĉɫĩźɫáňɫĩňþŴĉáźĩňğɫĩňƃĉŴĉźƃɫĩňɫ Matching stands for both models sell
Revival Audio has gone right back to the retro designs at the moment). The cabinets ĞőŴɫɴǙǗǒɃűáĩŴȵɫ
roots of speaker manufacturing, deciding themselves are beautifully constructed, too,
to design and build all of the essential and again reminiscent of a craftsmanship STOP PRESS!
components used in their loudspeakers. long discarded. Revival has also announced the
The usual pathway for most speaker Irrespective of the company’s approach, release of two new models, doubling
manufacturers — particularly start-ups — the results speak for themselves. There may its catalogue. This new Sprint Series
is to select what they consider to be the őňŀƪɫýĉɫƃƤőɫŇőĄĉŀźɫőňɫźáŀĉɫɉþƉŴŴĉňƃŀƪɊȶɫýƉƃɫ will initially consist of a bookshelf and a
most appropriate drivers available from the they are both exceptionally enjoyable for the ljɫőőŴźƃáňĄĩňğɫŇőĄĉŀȶɫýőƃĥɫőĞɫƤĥĩþĥɫƤĩŀŀɫ
plethora of specialist manufacturers, and money. It is so refreshing to sit in front of a be priced beneath the Atalante series.
then work out how to best put them together speaker and realise that you are listening to We have yet to listen to this range but
in a box to produce their desired results. the music and not the speaker itself. are very much looking forward to the
opportunity. More on these in our next
This approach sometimes reaps excellent There is an excellent in-depth review from
newsletter!
ŴĉźƉŀƃźȵɫ˜ĉŴĥáňɫ˜ƤĩĞƃɫƃőőĽɫƃƤőɫőDžɫɏƃĥĉɏźĥĉŀĞɫ Jez Ford for Sound & Image on the smaller

18
 Richter

Richter
T
o celebrate over 35 years of
producing some of Australia’s
most awarded loudspeakers,
Richer has released the Special
Edition Black Series speakers, which are
now on demonstration in our showroom.
This is not simply a facelift of existing
models; this is a complete overhaul. Both
ŇőĄĉŀźɫáŴĉɫLjɫňĩźĥĉĄɫĩňɫáɫňĉƤɫĥĩğĥɏųƉáŀĩƃƪɫ
Gloss Black. They utilise a new, more
ĉdžɫɫþĩĉňƃɫǔǗŇŇɫźőĞƃɫĄőŇĉɫƃƤĉĉƃĉŴɫƤĥĩþĥɫĩźɫ
þőŇűŀĉŇĉňƃĉĄɫýƪɫĥĩğĥɏűőƤĉŴĉĄɫǘȵǗɏĩňþĥɫ
ĄŴĩƣĉŴźɫƃĥáƃɫáŴĉɫƉňĩųƉĉɫƃőɫƃĥĉźĉɫŇőĄĉŀźɫáňĄɫ
feature larger voice coils housed in a rigid
basket with dual magnets.

ňɫĉňƃĩŴĉŀƪɫňĉƤɫþŴőźźőƣĉŴɫĄĉźĩğňɫþáűźɫőDžɫɫ
the hardware upgrades.
This new SE Series comprises two
ŇőĄĉŀźȵɫ>ĩŴźƃŀƪȶɫáĞƃĉŴɫáňɫáýźĉňþĉɫőĞɫǔǗɫ
ƪĉáŴźȶɫƤĉɫźĉĉɫƃĥĉɫŴĉɏĩňƃŴőĄƉþƃĩőňɫőĞɫƃĥĉɫ
*ƩþáŀĩýƉŴȶɫáňɫĩŇűŴĉźźĩƣĉɫLjɫƣĉɏĄŴĩƣĉŴȶɫĞőƉŴɏƤáƪɫ
ljɫőőŴźƃáňĄĩňğɫźűĉáĽĉŴɫƉƃĩŀĩźĩňğɫáɫ$ɢ
űűőŀĩƃőɏ
inspired MTM symmetrical array for the mid/
ĥĩğĥɏĞŴĉųƉĉňþƪɫĄŴĩƣĉŴźȶɫĥőƉźĉĄɫĩňɫƃĥĉĩŴɫőƤňɫ
ýáźźɏŴĉljɫĉƩɫþĥáŇýĉŴȵɫ
The Wizard — without doubt the most
widely recognised speaker in the Richter
stable — has also been given the SE
treatment. As good as the traditional Wizard
is, the SE version is on another level.

Excalibur S6SE Black $5,899

Wizard S6SE Black ɴǕȶǘǛǛɫ

19
Sonus Faber

Sonus faber
T
here are many companies that make
great-sounding speakers, and there
are some companies that make good-
looking speakers. Few manage to do
both, but one company that has nailed it is Italian
manufacturer Sonus faber.
Firstly, its speakers are some of the most
ɡŀĩźƃĉňáýŀĉɢɫőňɫƃĥĉɫŇáŴĽĉƃȵɫIƃɫĩźɫĄĩdžɫɫþƉŀƃɫƃőɫűĩňűőĩňƃɫ
what it is that makes them so enjoyable, but you
ĩňƣáŴĩáýŀƪɫLjɫňĄɫƪőƉŴźĉŀĞɫĄŴáƤňɫĩňƃőɫƃĥĉɫŇƉźĩþɫáźɫ
opposed to evaluating the speaker, and that should
be what it music reproduction is all about.
Secondly, these speakers are obviously the work
őĞɫáŴƃĩźáňźȵɫ¡ĥĉɫĄĉźĩğňɫáňĄɫLjɫňĩźĥɫĩźɫLjɫŴźƃɏþŀáźźȸɫƃĥĉƪɫ
are real pieces of art.
Sonus faber’s penultimate range is their Homage
series, and in the middle of last year we were
informed that it was due to be updated. We are now
starting to see this come to fruition, and it has been
worth the wait. We already have the top-of-the-range

Ňáƃĩɫ?ǗɫőňɫƃĥĉɫljɫőőŴȵɫ¡ĥĩźɫĩźɫáɫźĩğňĩLjɫþáňƃɫǓȵǔŇɏƃáŀŀɫ
ljɫőőŴźƃáňĄĩňğɫźűĉáĽĉŴɫƤĥĩþĥɫĞőŴɫŇáňƪɫűĉőűŀĉɫĩźɫƃĥĉɫ
speaker Sonus faber is most famous for. And with
good reason — it really is an excellent performer.
At the time of writing we have not received the
ňĉƩƃɫŇőĄĉŀɫĄőƤňȶɫƃĥĉɫ˜ĉŴáLjɫňőɫ?ǔȶɫýƉƃɫƤĉɫƤĩŀŀɫĥáƣĉɫ
ƃĥĉŇɫőňɫƃĥĉɫljɫőőŴɫýƪɫƃĥĉɫƃĩŇĉɫƪőƉɫŴĉáĄɫƃĥĩźȵɫ¡ĥĉɫ
smaller bookshelf speaker, the Guarneri G5, is not
due until May/June.
This is a range that shows what a company with
the heritage of Sonus faber can achieve when it
is allowed the budget to do so. The new Homage
models may be priced at the higher end of the
market, but trust us, they are worth it.

Amati G5 $59,995/pair
˜ĉŴáLjɫňőɫ?ǔɫɴǖǔȶǛǛǗ/pair
Guarneri G5ɫɴǕǓȶǛǛǗ/pair (with stands)
Guarneri G5ɫɴǔǗȶǛǛǗ/pair (without stands)

All models come in Graphite, Wenge and Red Violin

þőŀőƉŴɫLjɫňĩźĥĉźȵ

20
 Promotion

Sony projector promotion

Through to the end of April (unless sold out prior), you can receive
a Sony PS5 Horizon Forbidden West bundle valued at $900 with
the purchase of either the Sony VPL-XW5000 or VPL-XW7000
projector. We have both projectors on display in our new theatre
room, so drop in to have a look and prepare to be impressed.

21
Stax

Stax
T
he Stax Reference SR-X9000
have been on the market for a
considerable time, but only now has
production been able to catch up to
ĄĉŇáňĄɫɒɫáňĄɫƤĉɫLjɫňáŀŀƪɫĥáƣĉɫáɫűáĩŴɫ
for demonstration.
Stax arguably represents the pinnacle of
headphone design, and the SR-X9000 are the
LjɫňĉźƃɫĥĉáĄűĥőňĉźɫɉőŴɫĩňĄĉĉĄɫɡĉáŴźűĉáĽĉŴźɢȶɫ
as Stax prefers to call them) the company has
ever produced.
If you want to hear what superlative
headphone listening is, drop in for an audition.

CAUTION: Many Stax headphones owners

ŀĩźƃĉňĉĄɫƃőɫƃĥĉĩŴɫLjɫŴźƃɫűáĩŴɫőƉƃɫőĞɫþƉŴĩőźĩƃƪɫáňĄȶɫ
followed by the inevitable, they cannot be
unheard!

22
 Technics

Technics
` Spotlight on the Technics
áɪŴĉźƈŀƂȵɪƂĥĉɪĩňLjɪƈĉňþĉɪőĞɪƂĥĉɪĩŇűĉĄáňþĉɪ
characteristics of the connected loudspeaker
o[ȶɫźőɫƃĥáƃɫĩźɫźőŇĉƃĥĩňğɫőĞɫáɫŇőƉƃĥĞƉŀȶɫýƉƃɫ
ƃĥĉɫƉňĉáźƪɫŴĉŀáƃĩőňźĥĩűɫýĉƃƤĉĉňɫáňɫáŇűŀĩLjɫĉŴɫ
ĩźɪŇƈþĥɪźƂŴőňğĉŴȴɪ
ŀƂĥőƈğĥɪƂĥĉɪáŇűŀĩƂƈĄĉɪ and the speakers connected to it has
SU-G700 MkII Grand
þĥáŴáþƂĉŴĩźƂĩþźɪőĞɪþőňƢĉňƂĩőňáŀɪŀőƈĄźűĉáĽĉŴźɪ ŀőňğɫýĉĉňɫŴĉþőğňĩźĉĄɫźĩňþĉɫƃĥĉɫLjɫŴźƃɫáƉĄĩőɫ
ŀáźźɫáŇűŀĩLjɫĉŴɫ þáňɪýĉɪþőňƂŴőŀŀĉĄɪýƩɪŇĉáňźɪőĞɪňĉğáƂĩƢĉɪ playback systems were developed. This is
feedback, it is not possible to optimize the Technics’ attempt to overcome this problem

T
echnics is best known for its phase characteristics. Therefore, Technics — and it seems to work.
turntables, both past and current. ĄĉƢĉŀőűĉĄɪáňɪáĄáűƂĩƢĉɪőűƂĩŇĩƲáƂĩőňɪ There has also been a considerable
When designing its matching algorithm for the loudspeaker impedance. amount of work done on the power supply,
range of electronics, the company It corrects the impulse response of the áňĄɫĉƣĉňɫƃĥĉɫĩňƃĉŴňáŀźɫőĞɫƃĥĉɫáŇűŀĩLjɫĉŴɫĥáƣĉɫ
has been able to visually produce a blend of loudspeaker using digital signal processing. been divided into three compartments to
ýőƃĥɫƃĥĉɫŇőĄĉŴňɫáňĄɫƃĥĉɫőŀĄɫƤőŴŀĄȵɫ¡ĥĉɫLjɫňĩźĥɫ To do this, it measures the amplitude- isolate the digital, power and phono inputs.
áňĄɫĄĉźĩğňɫőĞɫĩƃźɫáŇűŀĩLjɫĉŴźɫĩźɫþőňƃĉŇűőŴáŴƪɫ űĥáźĉɪþĥáŴáþƂĉŴĩźƂĩþźɪőĞɪƂĥĉɪáŇűŀĩLJɪĉŴɪƣĩƂĥɪ Build quality is as good as you will see at this
minimalism, with oversized meters harking the speakers connected. This new method űŴĩþĉɫɉáňĄɫĥĩğĥĉŴɊȶɫƃőőȵɫ
back to years gone by. enables the frequency response of the ¡ĥĩźɫĩźɫáɫźƉűĉŴýŀƪɫþŴáĞƃĉĄɫáŇűŀĩLjɫĉŴɫáňĄɫ
However, there is nothing vintage about amplitude and phase to be smoothed, which áɫƣĉŴƪɫğőőĄɏźőƉňĄĩňğɫőňĉɫáƃɫƃĥáƃȵɫoňĉɫ
their internals; these are very modern pieces ĩźɪňőƂɪűőźźĩýŀĉɪƣĩƂĥɪþőňƢĉňƂĩőňáŀɪáŇűŀĩLJɪĉŴźȴɪ that, despite expectations given the design
of kit. As expected from Technics, the ¡ĥĉɪþőŴŴĉþƂɪƂĩŇĩňğɪőĞɪƂĥĉɪŴĉźƈŀƂĩňğɪáŇűŀĩLJɪĉŴɪ philosophy, does not exhibit any of the digital
SU-G700 features a phono input... but only signal leads to a sound image that is þĥáŴáþƃĉŴĩźƃĩþźɫƃĥáƃɫƃĉňĄɫƃőɫűŀáğƉĉɫáŇűŀĩLjɫĉŴźɫ
őňĉɫőƃĥĉŴɫáňáŀőğƉĉɫĩňűƉƃȵɫ¡ĥĉɫőƃĥĉŴɫLjɫƣĉɫ precise spatially’. of similar design.
inputs are digital. While some may consider
this to be heresy, the two analogue inputs
are converted to digital post switching, and
all source inputs remain in the digital mode
ƉňƃĩŀɫƃĥĉɫLjɫňáŀɫőƉƃűƉƃɫźƃáğĉźȵɫ¡ĥĉɫ˜§ɏ?Ǚǒǒɫ
is rated at 70 watts into eight ohms and 140
watts into four ohms, utilising a variation on
Class D topography.
This purely digital signal path allows
the introduction of some unique Technics
ƃĉþĥňőŀőğĩĉźȵɫ¡ĥĉɫLjɫŴźƃɫĩźɫY*foɫ*ňğĩňĉɫ
ɉYĩƃƃĉŴɫ*ŀĩŇĩňáƃĩőňɫáňĄɫfőĩźĉɫ˜ĥáűĩňğɫ
oűƃĩŇĩƳáƃĩőňɊȶɫƤĥĩþĥɫĩźɫáűűŀĩĉĄɫƃőɫáŀŀɫźőƉŴþĉźȶɫ
and then there’s LAPC (Load Adaptive
ĥáźĉɫáŀĩýŴáƃĩőňɊȵɫ¡ĥĉɫĉƩűŀáňáƃĩőňɫőĞɫ]
ɫ
on Technics’ website is: ‘The impedance of a
speaker changes with frequency. The power
áŇűŀĩLJɪĉŴɪŇƈźƂɪĄŴĩƢĉɪƂĥĉɪźűĉáĽĉŴźɪŴĉğáŴĄŀĉźźɪ
őĞɪƂĥĉĩŴɪźűĉþĩLJɪþɪþĥáŴáþƂĉŴĩźƂĩþźȴɪőňƢĉňƂĩőňáŀɪ
ĄĩğĩƂáŀɪáŇűŀĩLJɪĉŴźɪþőňƂŴőŀɪƂĥĉɪŀőƈĄźűĉáĽĉŴźɪ
ƢĩáɪáɪŀőƣɪűáźźɪLJɪŀƂĉŴɪĩňɪƂĥĉɪőƈƂűƈƂɪźƂáğĉȴɪ
źɪ

23
Triangle

24
 Triangle

Triangle –
40th edition
I
ƃɫĥáźɫƃáĽĉňɫáɫƤĥĩŀĉȶɫýƉƃɫƤĉɫáŴĉɫLjňáŀŀƪɫ
źĉĉĩňğɫƃĥĉɫǖǒƃĥɏáňňĩƣĉŴźáŴƪɫŇőĄĉŀźɫ
ĞŴőŇɫ¡ŴĩáňğŀĉɫŴĉáþĥɫőƉŴɫźĥőŴĉźȶɫáŀýĉĩƃɫĩňɫ
ƣĉŴƪɫźŇáŀŀɫňƉŇýĉŴźȵɫ¡ĥĉɫŇőźƃɫźƃŴĩĽĩňğɫ
ƃĥĩňğɫáýőƉƃɫƃĥĩźɫŀĩŇĩƃĉĄɫŴáňğĉɫőĞɫźűĉáĽĉŴźɫ
ĩźɫƃĥĉɫLjňĩźĥɫɒɫĩƃɫĩźɫŇĉƃĩþƉŀőƉźȵɫ˜ĉþőňĄŀƪȶɫ
áňĄɫĩŇűőŴƃáňƃŀƪȶɫƃĥĉƪɫáŴĉɫźőňĩþáŀŀƪɫŇƉþĥɫ
źƉűĉŴĩőŴɫƃőɫƃĥĉɫŇőĄĉŀźɫƃĥĉƪɫáŴĉɫýáźĉĄɫ
őňȵɫ¡ŴĩáňğŀĉɫĥáźɫňőƃɫźĩŇűŀƪɫƃáĽĉňɫĉƩĩźƃĩňğɫ
ŇőĄĉŀźɫáňĄɫğĩƣĉňɫƃĥĉŇɫáɫňĉƤɫƣĉňĉĉŴɫáňĄɫ
áɫþőŇŇĉŇőŴáƃĩƣĉɫýáĄğĉȸɫƃĥĉƪɫĥáƣĉɫýĉĉňɫ
þőŇűŀĉƃĉŀƪɫƃŴáňźĞőŴŇĉĄȵɫ
ňĄɫĩƃɫźĥőƤźȵɫ
¡Ŵĩáňğŀĉɫýĉŀĩĉƣĉźɫƃĥáƃɫƃĥĉɫ
ňƃáŀɫáňĄɫ
őŇĉƃĉɫźűĉáĽĉŴźɫĞŴőŇɫĩƃźɫ*źűŴĩƃɫŴáňğĉɫ
ŴĉűŴĉźĉňƃɫƃĥĉɫĉŇýŀĉŇáƃĩþɫŇőĄĉŀźɫőĞɫƃĥĉɫ
ýŴáňĄȶɫáňĄɫźőɫĥáźɫþĥőźĉňɫƃĥĉźĉȶɫáŀőňğɫƤĩƃĥɫ
ƃĥŴĉĉɫŇőĄĉŀźɫĞŴőŇɫĩƃźɫeáğĉŀŀáňɫźĉŴĩĉźȶɫƃőɫýĉɫ
ŴĉŀĉáźĉĄɫƃőɫþĉŀĉýŴáƃĉɫĩƃźɫǖǒƃĥɫáňňĩƣĉŴźáŴƪȵɫ
Âĉɫĥáƣĉɫƃĥĉɫ*źűŴĩƃɫźĉŴĩĉźɫőňɫƃĥĉɫljőőŴȶɫƤĩƃĥɫ
ƃĥĉɫeáğĉŀŀáňɫŴáňğĉɫĄƉĉɫƤĩƃĥĩňɫƤĉĉĽźȵɫ

Esprit Antal 40th: $6,000

Esprit Comete 40th: $3,000
ɉ*źűŴĩƃɫǖǒƃĥɫŇőĄĉŀźɫáŴĉɫáƣáĩŀáýŀĉɫĩňɫ
˜áňƃőźɫ’őźĉƤőőĄɫáňĄɫŀőňĄɫ˜ƪþáŇőŴĉɊɫ

Magellan Quatuor 40th: $28,000

Magellan Cello 40th: $22,000
Magellan Duetto 40th: $11,000
ɉeáğĉŀŀáňɫǖǒƃĥɫŇőĄĉŀźɫáŴĉɫáƣáĩŀáýŀĉɫĩňɫ
?őŀĄĉňɫoáĽȶɫŀáþĽɫáňĄɫÑĉýŴáňőɊ

ŀŀɫǖǒƃĥɫŇőĄĉŀźɫáŴĉɫĥáňĄɏáźźĉŇýŀĉĄɫĩňɫ
>Ŵáňþĉȵɫ

25
Accessories

IsoAcoustics
GAIA series
The GAIA speaker isolation devices from GAIA 1
IsoAcoustics will improve the performance Designed for speakers or subwoofers
of any loudspeaker or subwoofer. They weighing up to 100kg.
replace the existing feet or spikes, $1,099/pack 4
isolating the speaker from the surface it is GAIA 2
sitting on as much as possible. For speakers or subwoofers up to 55kg.
There are three models... $499/pack 4
GAIA 3
For speakers or subwoofers up to 32kg.
$349/pack 4

IsoTek power cables

eőźƃɫűőƤĉŴɫþáýŀĉźɫƃĥáƃɫþőŇĉɫƤĩƃĥɫĥĩɏLjɫɫ
components are inadequate. They are
not built to maintain the electrical integrity
to the standard required, and most act as
an aerial to EMI/RFI. We recognise that
this part of our industry is controversial,
with many dismissing it as snake oil.
>őŴɫƃĥáƃɫŴĉáźőňɫƤĉɫáŴĉɫĥáűűƪɫƃőɫőDžɫĉŴɫ
a money back guarantee on all IsoTek
power cables. If you purchase one and
are not convinced, simply send it back for
a refund. One word of warning, though:
returns almost never happen, but it does
lead to our clients purchasing additional
cables for their system!
The range is extensive, so please give
us a call to discuss what we believe would
be the best option for your system.

FLUX-Sonic
stylus cleaner Project Vinyl Clean
This ultrasonic stylus cleaner is without
doubt the best styli cleaner we have seen.
Sometimes the simplest of ideas work —
and this is a good example. There is no
Ortofon DS-3
The amount of gunk that can accumulate
on your styli is surprising, and it will have shortage of vinyl cleaners available, but one If you are a serious about your vinyl, we’d
an impact of the music you are listening to. of the persistent problems is how to actually point you to the Ortofon DS-3, a high-
The FLUX-Sonic does an amazing job of remove dust from the record once you have precision digital stylus pressure gauge.
removing it. $279 moved/dislodged it. $19 $269

26
 Accessories

Chord Mojo 2
DAC
Chord claims that the British
designed and built Mojo 2 is
‘the most advanced portable
$
ɫáňĄɫĥĉáĄűĥőňĉɫáŇűŀĩLjɫĉŴɫ
in the world today’. It may just
be right, but even if it isn’t,
this is an exceptional product
— good enough to give many
more expensive desktop DACs
a run for their money. $999

Les Davis Audio 3D-2

Kirmuss KA-RC-1 The Les Davis Audio 3D-2 vibration

ultrasonic record isolation pads have been a favourite of

őƉŴźɫĞőŴɫźőŇĉɫƪĉáŴźɫňőƤȵɫ˜ĩŇűŀƪɫűƉƃȶɫƃĥĉƪɫ
restoration system involve the process of having a viscoelastic
There are a number of motorised record ɉŇĉáňĩňğɫɡljɫĉƩĩýŀĉɢɊɫŇáƃĉŴĩáŀɫűŴĉźźĉĄɫ
þŀĉáňĉŴźɫőňɫƃĥĉɫŇáŴĽĉƃȶɫýƉƃɫňőňĉɫĄőɫƃĥĉɫ between two layers of a more sturdy
job that the Kirmuss does for the price. ŇáƃĉŴĩáŀȶɫƤĥĩþĥɫƉŀƃĩŇáƃĉŀƪɫŴĉğƉŀáƃĉźɫƃĥĉɫ
This cleaner is so good that we (and vibration output of the target component.
many others) advocate that you even §ňáźźƉŇĩňğɫáňĄɫĩňĉƩűĉňźĩƣĉȶɫýƉƃɫƃĥĉƪɫ
clean brand new records prior to their work. $129/pack 8
LjɫŴźƃɫűŀáƪȵɫ$2,200

Flux Brush – the new record

cleaner from Flux
To say that the FLUX-Sonic ultrasonic dirt out of the groove but then presents
stylus cleaner (which we covered in our ƃĥĉɫĩźźƉĉɫőĞɫğĉƃƃĩňğɫĩƃɫőDžɫɫƃĥĉɫŴĉþőŴĄɊɫőŴɫƃĥĉɫ Spinclean
last newsletter) was a hit would be an velvet pad type (which is great for getting The Spin Clean is a manual yet simple way
understatement — it was necessary to ƃĥĉɫĄĩŴƃɫőDžɫɫƃĥĉɫŴĉþőŴĄɫýƉƃɫĥáźɫĄĩdžɫɫþƉŀƃƪɫ to rinse stubborn dust and grime from your
ƉŴğĉňƃŀƪɫljɫƪɫáňőƃĥĉŴɫźĥĩűŇĉňƃɫĩňɫĞŴőŇɫ ğĉƃƃĩňğɫĩňƃőɫƃĥĉɫğŴőőƣĉźɊȵɫ¡ĥĉɫ>ŀƉƩɫŴƉźĥɫ records. Just mix some Spin Clean washer
Germany (have you seen the prices of uses both technologies. The carbon ljɫƉĩĄɫĩňɫƃĥĉɫýáźĩňɫƤĩƃĥɫĄĩźƃĩŀŀĉĄɫƤáƃĉŴȶɫűőűɫ
airfreight lately?!) LjɫýŴĉɫýŴƉźĥɫŴƉňźɫĄőƤňɫƃĥĉɫþĉňƃŴĉɫźűĩňĉɫőĞɫ ĩňɫƃĥĉɫźőĞƃɫýŴƉźĥĉźȶɫáňĄɫƪőƉɫþáňɫźűĩňɫƪőƉŴɫ
We also took that opportunity to try ƃĥĉɫþŀĉáňĉŴȶɫƤĩƃĥɫƃĥĉɫƣĉŀƣĉƃɫűᥟɫźĩƃƃĩňğɫ ŴĉþőŴĄźɫþŀĉáňɫĩňɫŇĉŴĉɫŇőŇĉňƃźȵɬ
őƉƃɫĩƃźɫŴĉþőŴĄɫþŀĉáňĉŴȶɫƃĥĉɫ>ŀƉƩɫŴƉźĥȵɫ őňɫĉĩƃĥĉŴɫźĩĄĉɫőĞɫĩƃȵɫ¡ĥĉɫþáŴýőňɫLjɫýŴĉźɫŀĩĞƃɫ Spin Clean gets rid of the dirt and grime
EĩźƃőŴĩþáŀŀƪȶɫƃĥĉɫýĉźƃɫŴĉþőŴĄɫýŴƉźĥĉźɫĥáƣĉɫ ƃĥĉɫĄĩŴƃɫĞŴőŇɫƃĥĉɫğŴőőƣĉȶɫáňĄɫƃĥĉɫƣĉŀƣĉƃɫ trapped in the grooves that dry brushes
ýĉĉňɫýáźĉĄɫĉĩƃĥĉŴɫőňɫƃĥĉɫþáŴýőňɫLjɫýŴĉɫ ŴĉŇőƣĉźɫĩƃɫĞŴőŇɫƃĥĉɫŴĉþőŴĄȵɫŴĩŀŀĩáňƃȺ áňĄɫźűŴáƪɏþŀĉáňĩňğɫĺƉźƃɫþáňɢƃɫğĉƃɫáƃȶɫáňĄɫ
design (which does a great job of lifting The Flux Brush sells for $89 it does both sides of your record at once.
$149

27
Bang & Olufsen

Bang & Olufsen – our new display room

O
ur new B&O sound lounge is now
complete, and just in time for the
company’s Beosound Theatre
release. For some time now, B&O
has marketed one of the best soundbars on
the market — the Stage. And it has just raised
the bar (no pun intended) with its Beosound
Theatre. This is a remarkable soundbar in its
own right, though given that it is priced around
ɴǓǕȶǒǒǒɫɉĄĉűĉňĄĩňğɫőňɫLjňĩźĥɫĉƃþɊȶɫƃĥĩźɫĩźɫƃőɫýĉɫ
expected. What also sets it aside from the rest
ĩźɫĩƃźɫĩňźƃáŀŀáƃĩőňɫljĉƩĩýĩŀĩƃƪȵɫ
Like all soundbars, the Theatre can be
wall-mounted or benchtop-mounted with any
existing TV. It can also be incorporated into
áɫþőŇűŀĉƃĉŀƪɫňĉƤɫ¡ÁɫźőŀƉƃĩőňɫƤĩƃĥɫLjƩĉĄɫőŴɫ
ŇőƃőŴĩƳĉĄɫljőőŴɫźƃáňĄźȶɫőŴɫLjƩĉĄɫőŴɫŇőƃőŴĩƳĉĄɫ
wall brackets. Unlike previous B&O TV
systems, if you change your TV screen the
Theatre can be incorporated into the new
upgrade. The Theatre is designed to match
55-inch, 65-inch and 75-inch screens — and
naturally, we would recommend LG as the TV
of choice in each instance.

28
 Bang & Olufsen

Wattbox
W
ĩƃĥɫƃĥĉɫğŴőƤĩňğɫŴĉŀĩáňþĉɫőňɫňĉƃƤőŴĽɃƤĩɏLjɫáňĄɫ
źőĞƃƤáŴĉɏŴĉŀáƃĉĄɫáƉĄĩőɃƣĩźƉáŀɫűŴőĄƉþƃźȶɫƤĉɫáŴĉɫLjňĄĩňğɫ
ƃĥáƃɫźĉŴƣĩþĉɫþáŀŀźɫáŴĉɫýĉþőŇĩňğɫĩňþŴĉáźĩňğŀƪɫĞŴĉųƉĉňƃȵɫ
oňĉɫþőŇűáňƪɫƃĥáƃɫğőĉźɫáɫŀőňğɫƤáƪɫƃőɫŴĉĄƉþĉɫƃĥĉɫ
ňƉŇýĉŴɫőĞɫƃĥĉźĉɫþáŀŀźɫĩźɫÂáƃƃýőƩȵɫ
ÂáƃƃýőƩɫűőƤĉŴɫźƉűűŀĩĉźɫőDžĉŴɫŇőŴĉɫƃĥáňɫűőƤĉŴɫþőňĄĩƃĩőňĩňğɫáňĄɫ
źƉŴğĉɫűŴőƃĉþƃĩőňȵɫ¡ĥĉƪɫáŴĉɫáŀźőɫňĉƃƤőŴĽĉĄɏĉňáýŀĉĄȶɫƤĥĩþĥɫáŀŀőƤźɫ
]ĉňɫÂáŀŀĩźɫ
ƉĄĩőɫƃőɫŇőňĩƃőŴɫŇƉŀƃĩűŀĉɫáźűĉþƃźɫőĞɫƪőƉŴɫźƪźƃĉŇɫĞŴőŇɫőƉŴɫ
ődžþĉȵɫÂĉɫþƉŴŴĉňƃŀƪɫĩňþŀƉĄĉɫáɫÂáƃƃýőƩɫűőƤĉŴɫĄĉƣĩþĉɫĩňɫáŀŇőźƃɫĉƣĉŴƪɫ
þƉźƃőŇɫĩňźƃáŀŀáƃĩőňɫƤĉɫĄőȶɫźőɫĩĞɫƪőƉŴɫ>őƩƃĉŀɫýőƩȶɫŇőĄĉŇȶɫáƉƃőŇáƃĩőňɫ
őŴɫźŇáŴƃɫþőňƃŴőŀɫĥőźƃɫŀőþĽźɫƉűȶɫƤĉɫþáňɫŴĉýőőƃɫĩƃɫĞŴőŇɫőƉŴɫődžþĉȶɫ
ĉŀĩŇĩňáƃĩňğɫƃĥĉɫňĉĉĄɫƃőɫźĉňĄɫáɫƃĉþĥňĩþĩáňȵ

Wattbox WB-250I-IPW-2: $440

Wattbox WB-800-IPVM-6: $995

29
Yamaha

Yamaha
R-N2000A áɫűőűƉŀáŴɫƃőűĩþȶɫźƃŴĉƃþĥĩňğɫýáþĽɫƃőɫĩƃźɫĥőŇĉɫ
ƃĥĉáƃŴĉɫűŴőĄƉþƃźɫĞŴőŇɫĄĉþáĄĉźɫáğőɊȵɫ
high-performing, simple to use and relatively
ƉňőýƃŴƉźĩƣĉɫźƪźƃĉŇȵɫ
źɫƪőƉɫƤĩźĥɫƃőɫᥥɫ

I
t is now many years since Yamaha IƃɫĥáźɫáɫűĥőňőɫĩňűƉƃȶɫŇƉŀƃĩűŀĉɫĄĩğĩƃáŀɫĩňűƉƃźȶɫ ᥥĩƃĩőňáŀɫźőƉŴþĉźɫɒɫƣĩňƪŀȶɫ$źɫɉƪĉźɫƤĉɫáŴĉɫ
released its Premium Series (A-S) áňĄɫáɫźƉýƤőőĞĉŴɫőƉƃűƉƃȶɫáňĄɫĩźɫþőŇűáƃĩýŀĉɫ źĉĉĩňğɫáɫźŀőƤɫŴĉƃƉŴňɫƃőɫ$ɊɫĉƃþɫɒɫĩƃɫĩźɫźĩŇűŀƪɫ
áŇűŀĩLjɫĉŴźȵɫ¡ĥĉźĉɫáŇűźɫáŴĉɫáɫƃĥŴőƤýáþĽɫ ƤĩƃĥɫýőƃĥɫŀƉĉƃőőƃĥɫáňĄɫ
ĩŴŀáƪɫǔȵɫ áɫŇáƃƃĉŴɫőĞɫűŀƉğğĩňğɫƃĥĉŇɫĩňȵɫ¡ĥĉɫýĉáƉƃƪɫőĞɫ
ƃőɫƃĥĉɫğŀőŴƪɫĄáƪźɫőĞɫĥĩɏLjɫɫɒɫĥĩğĥɫ ¡ĥĉɫþőňþĉűƃɫőĞɫɡĺƉźƃɫᥥɫźűĉáĽĉŴźɢɫźƃĉŴĉőɫ ƃĥĉɫ’ɏfǔǒǒǒɫɉáňĄɫáɫĥáňĄĞƉŀɫőĞɫűŴőĄƉþƃźɫŀĩĽĉɫ
űĉŴĞőŴŇĉŴźȶɫýĉáƉƃĩĞƉŀŀƪɫýƉĩŀƃɫáňĄȶɫþőŇűáŴĉĄɫ áŇűŀĩLjɫþáƃĩőňɫþőňƃĩňƉĉźɫƃőɫğáƃĥĉŴɫűáþĉȵɫ
ňɫ ĩƃɊɫĩźɫƃĥáƃɫƪőƉɫáŴĉɫňőƃɫźáþŴĩLjɫþĩňğɫűĉŴĞőŴŇáňþĉɫ
ƃőɫźőŇĉɫőĞɫƃĥĉĩŴɫőűűőźĩƃĩőňȶɫáDžɫőŴĄáýŀĉȵɫ¡ĥĉƪɫ ĩňþŴĉáźĩňğɫňƉŇýĉŴɫőĞɫűĉőűŀĉɫáŴĉɫþőňƃĉňƃɫ ĞőŴɫþőňƣĉňĩĉňþĉȵɫ
áŴĉɫĉƣĉňɫĄĉźĩğňĉĄɫƃőɫŀőőĽɫŀĩĽĉɫűŴőĄƉþƃźɫőĞɫ to listen to all of their music via streaming ¡ĥĉɫ’ɏfǔǒǒǒɫƃĩþĽźɫáŀŀɫƃĥĉɫýőƩĉźȷɫğŴĉáƃɫ
ƪĉźƃĉŴƪĉáŴȶɫĥĉáƣĩŀƪɫýőŴŴőƤĩňğɫƃĥĉɫĄĉźĩğňɫ ɒɫáňɫőýƣĩőƉźɫƃŴĉňĄɫňőƤɫƃĥáƃɫĥĩğĥĉŴɏ sound, functional, meticulous construction
from the company’s products from the ųƉáŀĩƃƪɫźƃŴĉáŇĩňğɫĩźɫŴĉáĄĩŀƪɫáƣáĩŀáýŀĉɫɉáňĄɫ ɉƤĩƃĥɫőňŀĩňĉɫŴĉğĩźƃŴáƃĩőňȶɫĩƃɫþőŇĉźɫƤĩƃĥɫLjɫƣĉɫ
ɡǚǒźȵɫ¡ĥĉƪɫźĩƃɫĩňɫƃĥĉɫƃŴáĄĩƃĩőňáŀĩźƃɫĥĩɏLjɫɫþáŇűȶɫ þőňƣĉňĩĉňƃɊȵɫ˜ĩŇűŀƪɫᥥɫáɫűáĩŴɫőĞɫųƉáŀĩƃƪɫ years warranty!) and, considering all the
ĩňƃĉňĄĉĄɫáźɫźƃĉŴĉőɫáŇűŀĩLjɫĉŴźɫőňŀƪȶɫáňĄɫáňƪɫ źűĉáĽĉŴźɫƃőɫƃĥĉɫ’ɏfǔǒǒǒɫáňĄɫƪőƉɫĥáƣĉɫáɫ áýőƣĉȶɫƤĉŀŀɫűŴĩþĉĄȵɫ$4,999
sources you use (streaming, vinyl, CD etc)
ňĉĉĄɫƃőɫýĉɫáƃƃáþĥĉĄȵɫɫ
Yamaha recently released the R-N2000
ŴĉþĉĩƣĉŴȶɫáɫűŴőĄƉþƃɫýáźĉĄɫőňɫƃĥĉɫűŴĩňþĩűŀĉźɫ
TSX-B237D
of the A-S series (high performance and ¡ĥĩźɫŇőĄĉŀɫĄĩźáűűĉáŴĉĄɫĞŴőŇɫƃĥĉɫÈáŇáĥáɫŀĩňĉƉűɫĞőŴɫőƣĉŴɫáɫƪĉáŴɫĄƉĉɫƃőɫűáŴƃźɫźƉűűŀƪɫ
ŴĉƃŴőɫĄĉźĩğňɊɫɒɫýƉƃɫƤĩƃĥɫáɫŇőĄĉŴňɫƃƤĩźƃȵɫ¡ĥĩźɫ űŴőýŀĉŇźȶɫýƉƃɫƤĉɫáŴĉɫűŀĉáźĉĄɫƃőɫźĉĉɫĩƃɫýáþĽɫőňɫőƉŴɫźĥĉŀƣĉźɫőňþĉɫŇőŴĉȵɫ
ĩźɫƣĉŴƪɫŇƉþĥɫáɫűŴőĄƉþƃɫĄĉźĩğňĉĄɫĞőŴɫƃőĄáƪȵɫ ¡ĥĉɫ¡˜ÇɏǔǕǙɫŇƉźƃɫýĉɫőňĉɫőĞɫƃĥĉɫýĉźƃɏƣáŀƉĉɫýĉňþĥƃőűɫźƪźƃĉŇźɫőňɫƃĥĉɫŇáŴĽĉƃȵɫ
Behind the old-school fascia lays a plethora ¡ĥĩźɫƉňáźźƉŇĩňğɫűĩĉþĉɫĞĉáƃƉŴĉźɫ$ȶɫ>eɫáňĄɫ$
ʍɫŴáĄĩőȶɫŀƉĉƃőőƃĥȶɫáɫ§˜ɫĩňűƉƃɫáňĄɫ
of technology covering almost every wish a áňɫáŀáŴŇɫĞƉňþƃĩőňȵɫĉźƃɫőĞɫáŀŀȶɫƃĥĉɫűĉŴĞőŴŇáňþĉȶɫğĩƣĉňɫĩƃźɫźĩƳĉɫáňĄɫűŴĩþĉȶɫĩźɫĉƩþĉŀŀĉňƃȵɫɫ
ŇőĄĉŴňɫƉźĉŴɫƤőƉŀĄɫĥáƣĉȵɫ At $699, the TSX-B237 is welcomed back with open arms
>ĩŴźƃŀƪȶɫƤĥĩŀĉɫƃĥĩźɫŀőőĽźɫŀĩĽĉɫáɫþőňƣĉňƃĩőňáŀɫ
áŇűŀĩLjɫĉŴȶɫĩƃɫĩźɫĩňĄĉĉĄɫáɫŴĉþĉĩƣĉŴȶɫƤĩƃĥɫ>eɫ
áňĄɫ$
ʍɫŴáĄĩőɫőňýőáŴĄȵɫIƃɫáŀźőɫĞĉáƃƉŴĉźɫ
ÈáŇáĥáɢźɫźƃŴĉáŇĩňğɫźƪźƃĉŇȶɫeƉźĩþáźƃȶɫ
providing access to high-res music
źƃŴĉáŇĩňğɫƣĩáɫ
ŇáƳőňɫeƉźĩþɫE$ȶɫ
űűŀĉɫ
eƉźĩþȶɫ˜űőƃĩĞƪȶɫ¡ĩĄáŀɫáňĄɫ‘őýƉƳɫĉƃþȵɫIƃɫ
includes a high-performance USB DAC
áňĄɫáňɫE$eIɫ
’ɫþőňňĉþƃĩőňɫƃőɫþőňňĉþƃɫ
ƪőƉŴɫ¡Áȵɫ¡ŴĩþĽƪɫŴőőŇɫáþőƉźƃĩþźɫþáňɫýĉɫ
treated with the Parametric Room Acoustics
Optimiser (Yamaha was playing around with
ŴőőŇɫőűƃĩŇĩźáƃĩőňɫƤáƪɫýĉĞőŴĉɫƃĥĩźɫýĉþáŇĉɫ

30
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 Interview

REGA TALKS
by the company announcing at the UK’s Bristol
Hi-Fi Show the creation of the Naia turntable, a
production-ready version of the no-compromise,
no-expense-spared (literally) Naiad deck the
Digitising amplifiers, the product it has been company set out to make from 2009. But
perhaps just as (if not more of) a defining point
happiest with for years, and what the next 50 holds in Rega’s recent history is its adoption of digital
connectivity in its Elex and Elicit stereo amplifier
n its 50th year, the revered British hi-fi seeming contentment, with the British hi-fi designs within the last 12 months. I sat down with
brand is still nailing its niche brand turning 50 this year (alongside fellow Gandy, designers and engineers Terry Bateman
“For the past 10 years, I’ve been Brits Naim, Linn and QED, by the way; was and Ashton Wagner, and sales and marketing
planning for dying,” says Rega co-founder there something in that early ’70s air?). The
Co-founder and owner Roy Gandy (left); and chief
and owner Roy Gandy, both amusingly occasion has already been honourably marked
electronics designer Terry Bateman (right)
bluntly and quickly in response to me
asking what will define the company’s
next 50 years. It isn’t Gandy being
facetious, or indeed existentially bleak from
having woken up that morning of the interview
on the wrong side of the bed (though his follow-
up remark of “it could be tomorrow” may have
been…), but more a reflection of his dedication
to democratising the company so that it will
seamlessly continue after he’s gone.
“That’s a major part of my life at the moment.
Trying to set up a company that has the
same ability to carry on making unusual niche
products,” he explains. “We’ve been trying, for
getting on for 30 years, to be a company that’s
got a different sort of management profile, i.e.
no management. It didn’t work for many years,
and then for the last 10 it has clicked. We don’t
know why, but we do have a company now that is
unusually collaborative… as close as you can get
with zero hierarchy and zero authority.
“I think if Rega had been a difficult company
now, I could have easily walked away and left it to
the people at Rega. But it’s become the opposite.
For me, it’s just the best time of my life.”
It’s a fitting time to celebrate the business’s

Australian Hi-Fi 71
 Interview

co-ordinator Simon Webster, to talk about that connectivity in this day and age has often been of work was done on that circuit. There are a lot
long-awaited transition, and the future of Rega called out. But it seemed we couldn’t have of DACs now that, looking at the bare metrics,
(which I promise is not all about death). possibly had both… until now. distortion and noise continue to go down. But
“Rega’s predominant concept that we nearly from a musical performance standpoint, we still
GOING DIGITAL all agree on is that sound quality is the major part feel that’s the best we can do; the performance
Asking the Rega team what made it decide of our being, and there are always the possibilities of the DAC circuit in the DAC-R is superlative.”
to eventually ‘go digital’ was initially met with of a digital input affecting sound quality,” explains Bateman expands: “The DAC-R was a digital
reminders that Rega has been ‘in digital’ for a Gandy. “One of the reasons we have been able milestone for us, as we were working directly
while. Indeed, it dabbled with digital audio as far to do it now is that Terry and Ashton have worked with Wolfson when they were in Edinburgh, and
back as the early ’90s when it was in preparation out a way where it hasn’t affected quality at all.” with my analogue expertise and mojo, the DAC
for designing the first CD players that same Retaining sound quality was one thing — a real was developed. The core circuitry is essentially
decade, had produced the standalone io DAC by priority for Rega — but it was abundantly clear the same as the DAC-R, albeit with just one
1998, and has occupied both of those product how determined the company was to also offer DAC IC [integrated circuit].” IC count is the main
categories ever since, with the third-gen Saturn digital without increasing the end cost to the differential between the digital circuits in the
CD player (2022) and the DAC-R (2014) the most customer. “Most of our customers are buying amplifiers and those in the DAC/CD players,
recent entries in those respective fields. Bateman equipment because of the sound quality and the with the latter products (save for the cheaper
remembered how he worked with chipset cost, and we too enjoy value and quality,” Gandy Apollo player) having two DAC ICs that operate
manufacturer Burr-Brown on ‘digital’ in that same continued. “After many years of working in the in parallel.
period, when they were in the UK and before they digital domain, we are now able to produce a “[That] does improve the performance,” says
were bought by Texas Instruments. digital input that has hardly affected the overall Wagner. “A single DAC IC is a slightly cheaper
Naturally, my wayward question was intended cost [of the amplifier].” implementation, and it may lose just a little bit
solely within the realm of amplifiers! But Wagner explains how that was able to be of the sound quality, but it’s about providing a
nevertheless, it served as a good reminder of the achieved by taking some money out of the product that gives you the best performance at
company’s digital heritage, not least as, it turns casework while making it look and feel better. that price level.”
out, it played a hugely influential role in the Elex “That budget was then able to be allocated to the Bateman also flagged that the analogue-only
and Elicit digitisation. digital components,” he said. As well as budget amplifiers do, of course, already have digital
But first and foremost, why only integrate (and development time) constraints, Bateman inside them — the PIC microprocessor that
digital now, when amplifier manufacturers have and Wagner also worked hard to overcome controls the input selection, volume control
routinely included digital connections for years? limited space on the board and were careful not and remote. And he was able to apply that
While Rega amplifiers have received their fare to detrimentally cramp the analogue circuitry. implementation to that of the DAC circuit.
share of glowing reviews over the years for As for customer demand — something He clarifies: “When I fitted digital control
their stunning performance, their lack of digital I presumed would have played a big part — to the analogue amplifiers as far back as the
Webster confirms that the demand actually mid-1990s, I made sure it was separated as
came mostly from the retailers and distributors. best I could from the analogue circuitry, with
isolated separate power supplies with their own
DAC DESIGN
“None of us has felt And so to the DAC design, which is a hybrid
winding on the mains transformer, so that there
was minimal interaction between the digital
that there’s a Class design that primarily borrows aspects from the power supplies and the analogue circuitry. Input
company’s well-respected standalone DAC-R, switching is done by relays, and volume control
D circuit we’ve heard as well as its Apollo and Saturn CD players. The by a motorised potentiometer which, by nature
that can better a good DAC-R is getting on for 10 years old, but the of how they work, ‘isolate’ the digital control
company believes it was a very solid foundation circuitry and the analogue signal path. When
Class A/B or Class A... to implement digital into its amplifiers. I asked I designed the combined DAC and analogue
they just don’t cut the how close the process was to lifting the DAC-R amplifier circuitry, I took the same direction,
design and dropping it in. where it has its own isolated digital supply. I used
mustard in the end” “It’s closer to lifting than not,” says Wagner. the same microprocessor [that controls the input
“But we view that as a good thing because a lot selection etc] to control the digital inputs.”

72 Australian Hi-Fi www.whathifi.com/australianhifi

 Interview

relatively bigger,” replies Gandy. And Wagner you start to get into the streaming and wireless
NO USB… agrees: “As you go further down the ladder, world, because of the software, all these different
Both the Elicit and Elex offer ‘only’ coaxial and your budgets get tighter, things do get more parts of the puzzle are constantly changing — for
optical on the digital side — there’s no USB input challenging. I don’t want to say we’re gonna stop reasons outside of manufacturers’ control. The
in sight. But it is a connection that many enjoy there and be done with it so we’ll have to see how upkeep is a nightmare. We don’t want to put a
using on amplifiers. And as USB is part of Rega things unfold… lot of expensive pieces into products that are
products such as the Saturn player and DAC-R, “For the io, trying to get as much of the Brio’s not going to work in five, 10 or 20 years because
it’s hardly new ground for the company. So why is sound quality into something that was almost half technology has moved on.”
it a no-show? the price… that was where all the time and effort When customers ask about Bluetooth,
Wagner first noted that the historic went. Into taking money out of the casework Webster tells them that Bluetooth adapters
complications around USB and Windows no and making the assembly process more work perfectly OK and can plug straight into the
longer being an issue would certainly help straightforward. It almost didn’t have a remote back of an amplifier, for £30 on Amazon — about
overcome some previous obstacles, now that actually, we were that serious about trying to get $60 here. Or as low as “£8.99” ($15), as Gandy
Windows natively supports hi-res audio, but that the most sound quality we could at that price.” chimes in.
there’s still more work — and cost — involved in
getting USB onboard. …AND CERTAINLY NO CLASS D(UNCE)
“You’ve got another complicated IC or a BLUETOOTH Another trend that has emerged in entry to mid-
microcontroller,” he explains. “You’ve got to have At this point of the interview, asking ‘why no range amplifier designs is a growing acceptance
the isolation between the USB and the rest of the Bluetooth?’ felt a bit like putting my head into the and adoption of Class D as opposed to traditional
products so that the noise from the computer lion’s mouth, but I had to know… Class A/AB. Generally applauded for its notable
power supply doesn’t come into the product And yes, it is a cost thing, says Wagner: efficiency albeit rebutted for its comparatively
through there. So it’s more components, more “It’s expensive to implement, and not just on poorer sound quality, Class D has progressed in
cost, more complexity.” the hardware side, because you’ve got radios the latter department in recent years. And given
Going necessarily back to that all-important and antennae and very specialised ICs that the world’s increasingly stringent legal demands
price factor, Webster adds: “We purposefully perform all that functionality, but then you also over things like power consumption, a fair few
really aggressively priced the Elex, it should have have the regulatory side. Anytime you have a manufacturers are turning to Class D circuits. So
been a couple of hundred pounds more really. radio transmitter in a product, that brings up is Rega looking to do the same?
But we decided to bring it out at that price, its own slew of problems with approvals of “We have a prototype product at the moment
considering the times we’re living through, and certifications everywhere… and we export to that uses Class D… but it’s an acoustic guitar
we wanted to maximise sales. And USB would be over 50 countries.” But even more so, it is a amplifier,” Gandy replies. “All of the things we
a step too far, to be honest. How many people sound quality thing. “When I listen to Bluetooth don’t use, we keep an eye on. We as a company
would use it versus not buying it because it was a on a hi-fi [system], I can hear the compression have been looking at Class D amplifiers for
couple of hundred pounds more? That is always artefacts,” he continues. “It’s a convenient getting on for 30 years, since they first started
a consideration.” feature, but I would rather go take my phone and appearing. But ultimately it comes down to
Perhaps the next generations of the higher- plug my phone in via USB cable to the DAC and one thing: optimum sound quality. If it’s able to
ranging Aethos or Osiris amps will include USB get uncompressed audio. It’s a compromised produce a sound quality that’s as good as we
if they too are digitised, but that in turn had me medium. In its current guise, we’ve struggled to could make then of course we will use it. It’s not
thinking about the other end of the company’s find the motivation to put it in. Now, the cost- about the tool; it’s about the end result.”
lineup. Will a future Brio or even the entry-level io performance ratio for us is not right.” When Rega started the io as a concept,
get a DAC? And then you get into what Wagner refers to Gandy’s perception was that Wagner was
“It gets more difficult if we come back down as the ‘codec of the week’ issue. “We like to make certain it would be a Class D product. But then
to the lower-cost amplifiers because then a products that work for decades, that people can Wagner changed his mind. “None of us has
small increase [in manufacturing price] becomes use their whole life, and pass down even. When felt that there’s a Class D circuit we’ve heard

Australian Hi-Fi 73
Interview

that can better a good Class A/B or Class A While perhaps an ironic statement to follow THE NEXT 50
implementation,” he says. And Bateman feels that reveal, Rega clearly knows its niche and is And so I come back full circle to Rega’s future,
the same way: “I’ve heard some cracking Class proud of it. Webster puts the company’s success the more immediate of which will be somewhat
D circuits, but they just don’t cut the mustard in down to its ability to “stick to what you are good defined by its launches during this anniversary
the end. You can take a traditional Class A [A/B] at”. “We’ve always stayed focused on what we’re year. Perhaps the biggest has already been
circuit and fettle and improve it — however, in best at: two-channel audio,” he says. “When 5.1 revealed (or not, who knows!) — the Naia
my opinion, this can’t really be done to a Class came along, we were told many a time that we’ll turntable. “It’s one of the products that the whole
D circuit in the same way. A traditional Class A be out of business if we don’t do a processor, company is happiest with for many, many years,
circuit is organic in nature, whereas Class D can centre channels… so we made a big decision to so we’re very, very happy,” says Gandy. Not a
be seen as synthetic. Just look at the popularity avoid that, and that’s why we’re still here and bad start to a milestone year then! The company
of the ‘old-school’ analogue amplifiers!” doing really well.” may well add DACs to other amplifier models
Bateman suggests this Class D shift could Gandy offers his own rumination on Rega’s as the time comes for them to enter their next
have an impact on the readiness of analogue niche position. “Most people in the world would generation. And I’d love to see an even better
amplifiers and the ability to continue their think we’re crazy, most people in the world RP3. Maybe it will even launch the world’s most
progression in the future. “‘Modern’ analogue probably wouldn’t hear a difference between effective and user-friendly corkscrew. But in the
semiconductor amplifier design is now 60 years a phone and a hi-fi system,” he says. “We’re longer term, over Rega’s next 50 years, what will
old and what can be done has been done,” he talking about very, very subtle differences define the company is ultimately, it would hope,
tees up. “But saying that, there are nuggets to success. Wherever that indeed comes from.
be found in designs that never came to fruition “The thing that defines people always
as far back as 50 years ago, though the ‘nugget’ comes once they’ve done it,” says Gandy. “It’s
cupboard is getting decidedly bare. The ‘old’
designs can be improved upon using ‘modern’
“After many years of retrospective, and it’s not always possible to plan.
So we don’t know what will define us. And what’s
components, but the downside to this is that the working in the digital defining us now isn’t a marketing plan, it’s what’s
commercial semiconductor industry is moving
away from traditional semiconductors for the
domain, we are now come about because of all of our personalities
and taking opportunities.
analogue amplifier industry and focusing on able to produce a digital “We certainly have the right management
semiconductors for Class D topologies. Some set-up now. What we need is a lot of the younger
semiconductors are getting as hard to find as
input that has hardly people like Ashton, who are really taking a lot
some valves!” affected the cost. [Or] of responsibility and coming up with some
Bateman’s comments serve as a good wonderful design projects. I think we need them
reminder that some manufacturing decisions the quality at all” to also be able to see outside of the box because
are indeed out of hi-fi companies’ control due hi-fi could just finish. Just like that. The concept
to a lack of parts — something that might well of turntables can finish just like that. There
determine how long we see Rega produce CD are so many things that could stop turntables
players for, for that matter. that they would perceive between two high- happening. There are so many things that could
“We would like to carry on making CD players quality amplifiers. We’re saying there are huge stop amplifiers as we make them happening.
if we can make one or some as good as what differences, and I think you do as well. But there And in the past we’ve made all sorts of other
we’ve made before,” says Gandy. “But there’s are people who don’t see a difference. products, we have proved we can do it. But we
a problem: we had an exclusive chip and we’re “It’s about certain people’s perception need people in the company that are flexible
getting close to running out of that in the next of quality, and I fully understand that it’s not enough to find niche products that we can
few years. And [it depends on] if we can still get important to many people. Some people eat food make better than other people at lower prices
transports. We couldn’t make one — no one can just to fill themselves up; for me I feel unpleasant using their abilities. We have extreme abilities
make a transport apart from a large multinational. if the food doesn’t taste nice, and I feel elated if in engineering, and cost-effective engineering.
We’re very much in the hands of computer chip it’s just nice-tasting food, and that can create And we’ve got some extreme brains within
manufacturers. It’d be very easy for us just to a mood change in me. And music is the same. Rega. It’s just being able to be flexible enough
make another CD player the same as everyone Most music is banal — there’s lots of it, anyone so that within months they could come up with
else’s, but we don’t want to do that.” can just plug away and play something. But that’s something different.
not a communication of their feelings or their “All I can do is try and create the best possible
NICE & NICHE souls. When someone can start to communicate scenario for the longest possible life as I see it
If regulations, parts accessibility or indeed how they’re feeling, using music in a way that now. But once I’m dea…”
anything else does force Rega’s hand, it will they can’t do in words or painting, and that No, we promised no more talk of demise!
do the best with what it can. Or, as Gandy communicates something to me or some people, So let’s instead conclude with the quote from
suggests, it could venture down a different path that’s the bit of music I’m looking for. our talk with Rega that is perhaps closest to the
entirely — a different market altogether. “We’re “And all reproduced music can’t do company’s mantra over its past, present and,
trying to make a nice corkscrew,” he declares, that. It’s much easier to get that little bit of most likely, future, as expressed by Wagner: “We
before continuing in advance of any eyebrow- communication from live music than from make stuff here in the UK that offers the absolute
raising reaction: “That could be a much bigger reproduced music, though there’s still a lot of most sound quality we can give you for a given
market than amplifiers! Anyone who has used really banal live music and there’s mostly banal budget — at the expense of all else. I’ve always
a corkscrew knows there is no such thing as a reproduced music. But there is this little tiny seen that as Rega’s defining characteristic. I think
perfect corkscrew. There are always problems percentage that has the ability to move people that’s what differentiates us from some of the
with every type. We have a little idea that maybe, – the ability to cover, in both a recording and competition.” Becky Roberts
if we can get everything together, could pull the in reproduction, that little something that a
cork out a bit better…” So there you go, Rega in musician is trying to convey. I guess that’s the
2024: a manufacturer of hi-fi and corkscrews. area that Rega is in.”

74 Australian Hi-Fi www.whathifi.com/australianhifi

 Hi-fi Primer

How to get the best sound

from your turntable
inyl is the format that just other formats. Unlike the digital alternatives, for As ever when choosing and setting up an
refuses to die. It looked the most part, a lack of care in installation can audio component, the proof is in the listening.
mortally wounded from the really cripple the final sound. Whether it’s choosing the turntable you like
mid-80s CD revolution until There are some undeniably great ‘plug and or fiddling with fractions of grams of tracking
the turn of the century, but play’ record players on the market and, when weight, it’s the sound you like that really matters.
since then sales have risen it comes to more complex decks, a number of
and are now steady. And that’s something to be dealers who will help you set them up correctly. How do vinyl records work?
celebrated! It’s a hugely likeable format capable But if you’re prepared to get your hands a little Have a close look at a record. That spiralling
of terrific sound, provided a bit of care is taken dirty, there’s a lot you can do yourself to ensure groove is packed with tiny bumps causing
with it. And this is where vinyl is different from your turntable is performing to its full capability. the cartridge stylus (sometimes called the

Australian Hi-Fi 75
Hi-fi Primer

needle) to move. This movement is converted hi-fi components. Even the best are easily upset isolation, the less fussy the deck will be about
into an electrical signal by an electromagnetic by inconsiderate positioning, poor adjustment or its support. But even the most sophisticated
mechanism inside the cartridge body. inadequate support. So the first thing to get right designs will perform better with careful
Remember the tiny diamond tip of the is not the turntable but the support it sits on. placement and a good support.
cartridge is trying to trace bumps as small as a The ideal support is perfectly level, low
micron (1000th of a millimetre) and you’ll get an resonance and positioned as far away from How to level a turntable
idea of just how difficult the task is. Any external sources of vibration as possible — and that Once you’ve identified the ideal place to put
vibration will degrade the cartridge’s ability to includes your speakers. your record player, the next step is to set it up
track the groove accurately. On a hard concrete floor, a floorstanding properly. This is all about getting the basics right.
These disturbances can be caused by many support will work fine — but the same support Everything should be level: it’s important in order
different sources: the sound coming from the to ensure the stylus tip sits properly in the record
speakers, footfall transmitted through the floor, groove. Use a small, light spirit level to check.
and even passing traffic sending vibration energy Start with the plinth. If your support is already
through the structure of your house. Yes, really. level — and it should be at this point — there
As an experiment, place the cartridge on a A good phono stage shouldn’t be much to do here. But if for some
record but don’t start it spinning. Turn the volume
up on your amplifier and try tapping (lightly) on
will let your record reason you need to make adjustments, many
turntables have adjustable feet to help you get
the support, the deck itself and maybe even player shine; a poor one things spot-on.
walking near where the player is positioned. The
thumping sound you hear through your speakers
will have you wondering Next, check the platter is level. On most
decks the platter position is fixed relative to
is the mechanical energy picked up by the record what all the vinyl fuss is the plinth and should be parallel to start with,
player. Loud, isn’t it? unless something’s gone seriously wrong in
When you’re playing a record, this unwanted manufacture. Suspended designs will allow a
energy is still being fed into the structure of degree of adjustment.
your deck, not only making its life more difficult will emphasise footfall on a suspended wooden Usually, the levelling can be done in situ,
but also imposing itself on the sound of the floor. If you have such a floor construction, but some decks do require a specific jig — that
record. The result? At best, there will be a slight perhaps invest in a dedicated wall shelf. This kind means a trip to the dealer.
degradation of performance. At worst, awful of support avoids the footfall issue totally. Just
feedback that spoils everything. make sure you use proper heavy-duty mounting How to adjust tracking force
That’s why a decent turntable support is screws and fixings, or the consequence could be Back in vinyl’s heyday, it was common for people
essential if you really want to hear how good your somewhat expensive! to mix and match decks, arms and cartridges.
records can sound. Most record players have some sort of Today, while it’s still possible to take that
isolation built in. At its simplest, this could be approach, it’s more common to see deck/arm
Where to position a turntable something like rubber feet, or it could go all the packages on sales instead, with the choice of
Record players are the most temperamental of way to a fully suspended design. The better the cartridge left open. The story is different at the

76 Australian Hi-Fi www.whathifi.com/australianhifi

 Hi-fi Primer

more affordable prices, mind: the cartridge tends the box. This usually consists of two points, each record player shine; a poor one will have you
to be included, which makes life easier. You’ll still surrounded by printed parallel lines. wondering what all the vinyl fuss is about.
have to do some set-up, though... The idea is to get the cartridge body square All but the most basic of phono stages can
Arm and cartridge adjustments are usually to the lines while the stylus tip is placed on each usually cope with both moving-magnet (MM)
performed together. If your cartridge is pre- point. This takes a bit of patience, but once the and moving-coil (MC) cartridges. The former
fitted then it is relatively simple: all you have cartridge is aligned properly the stylus top will designs are usually more affordable and produce
to do is set the tracking force. This is done by sit at the proper angle in the record groove, a higher output. This is good news for the phono
moving the counterweight on the back of the and consequently distortion levels will drop and stage, as the signal requires less amplification
arm and adjusting the bias (sideways force) to record wear will be minimised. and so any of the circuitry’s shortcomings are
compensate for the natural inward pull of the Take your time to get this right. Errors as small less magnified.
record groove. as a degree can lead to large rises in distortion. Before going any further with phono stages/
The cartridge manufacturer will recommend preamps, it’s important to understand the
a suitable range of downforce, usually between How to pick the right phono differences between moving-magnet and
1.5g and 2.5g, with a specific weight listed preamp moving-coil cartridges...
somewhere in the accompanying paperwork as Get all these things right and your deck will So, it’s the job of the cartridge to track the
the most suitable. That weight is a solid starting perform well, though that’s not the end of the groove. More specifically, it is the job of the
point but, with production tolerances and the story. One of the side-effects of the move to stylus tip to do so. The tip is made of a very hard
use of different arms, it is sometimes possible to digital music was the loss of a phono stage (also substance, normally diamond (the industrial
get better sound with a bit of experimentation. known as a phono preamp) from many amplifier diamond rather than the really valuable stuff!)
You should always stay within the recommended designs (though this has once again become a This diamond tip is usually shaped into a small
range, though. typical inclusion in recent years). point that sits in the record groove and follows
If the sound is a bit dull and lifeless you’ve Even if such a circuit is included, as it is in the wiggles as the record turns.
gone too heavy, while a thin or aggressive quite a few plug-and-play turntables, it’s often an The nature and degree of the stylus’s
presentation means the tracking weight is a little afterthought, with little care taken to maximise movement is what translates into the varying
too light. If you overdo the lightness, perhaps in sound quality. frequencies and volume that you hear through
an attempt to reduce record wear, the cartridge What does a phono stage do? It provides the speakers. This movement is carried through
will mistrack, damaging the record grooves in extra amplification — the output of a cartridge the cantilever — the shaft to which the stylus tip
the process. Counterintuitively, if in doubt go can be in the order of a thousand times less than is attached — and into the cartridge body.
a touch heavier — the stylus tip will sit in the a typical CD player — and equalises tonal balance. Both types of cartridges — moving magnet
record groove with more stability, produce less Vinyl isn’t physically able to accept large and moving coil — both work on the principle of
distortion and cause less damage. amounts of bass during cutting, so the tonal using movement to induce current thanks to
Most arm weights come with markings to range of the music has to be skewed heavily magnetic fields. But, as the names imply, in one
help, but if you really want to be accurate it towards the higher frequencies to make things the magnet moves to induce current, while in the
makes sense to buy dedicated cartridge scales. work. On playback, the phono stage’s job is to other the coil does so and the magnet is fixed.
While there are expensive — and very accurate rebalance this. A good phono stage will let your Let’s take a moving-magnet cartridge. In the
— digital options out there, there are also plastic
alternatives that do the job well enough and can
cost as little as $10.

How to adjust arm height and

cartridge alignment
Many upmarket turntables allow the user to
adjust tonearm height. Usually, the arm is set to
be parallel with a record when playing, though
sometimes a cartridge may have a particular
preference depending on its design. Generally,
if the arm is too high you’ll get a bright, forward
sound, and the opposite if the arm is too low.
If the cartridge isn’t pre-fitted, then you have
a bit more work to do. Most cartridges are held
on with a pair of bolts, and these are small and
easy to lose, so take care. Some have captive
nuts built into the cartridge body, which makes
things less fiddly. (Looking to change cartridges?
That’s coming shortly.) Once it’s mounted, you’ll
need to connect the thin, fragile arm wires to
the cartridge. These are colour-coded but there
isn’t much space to work with here, so you’ll need
small long-nose pliers to help attach them. Be
careful when doing this: it doesn’t take much to
damage the connectors or even break the wires.
Next up is cartridge alignment, and you’ll need
a gauge to do this. While you can get all prices
of metal gauges, many manufacturers supply a
simple but effective card-based alternative in

Australian Hi-Fi 77
Hi-fi Primer

How to change a cartridge

Installing a new cartridge is something of a rite
of passage for turntable owners, a skill that once
was common but now seems to be considered
some kind of black art by many.
In reality, it’s not such a hard thing to do
provided you have the appropriate tools, a
reasonably steady hand and some patience.
So what tools are you likely to need? Typically,
cartridge bolts need a 2mm Allen key or a small,
flat-bladed screwdriver depending on the type
of fixing used. Unless you have unusually thin
fingers, reach for that long-nose plier again.
Unless this is your turntable’s first cartridge,
you’ll need to start by removing the old one.
In this case, make sure you fit the stylus guard
before you do anything else to prevent damage
to the old cartridge.
Then, using the pliers, disconnect the four
lead-out wires from the cartridge as carefully as
you can. These colour-coded leads are fragile, so
only pull them from the metal connector at the
cartridge end rather than the wire itself. Once
that’s done it is a simple matter of undoing the
mounting bolts and taking the cartridge off.
Once you’ve got the new cartridge out of the
box, it’s worth checking that the stylus cover is
still properly mounted. Cartridges are immensely
fragile and any lack of care will usually result in
catastrophic damage.
No matter how careful you are, there are
times when accidents will happen. If you have a
case of our example, a tiny magnet is attached means that adjustable gain in the phono stage moving-magnet design, it’s usually possible to
to the hidden end of the cantilever; as the stylus is desirable to optimise the sound in terms of get a replacement stylus assembly. This won’t be
tip moves around, it does too. The magnet’s signal-to-noise ratio. While 40dB of gain is fine cheap though, typically costing around 60% of
varying field causes current to flow in the tiny for most moving magnets, moving coils can need the total cartridge price. If you damage a moving-
coils positioned close by, and this is the signal anything from around 50dB to 70dB. coil cartridge, there’s no cheaper way back:
that comes out the back of the cartridge to be Moving coils also vary in their requirements of you’ll typically have to buy another one or get it
fed into your amplifier or phono stage. resistance, capacitance and inductance, all three repaired at a great cost. In short, try not to break
Any electrical interface — in this case, of which add up to make the overall impedance. it in the first place!
that between the cartridge and phono stage Get these things right and the interface between Start by mounting the new cartridge onto
— requires each to have specific electrical the cartridge and phono stage will be better, the arm first using the supplied fixings. This can
parameters (things such as gain and impedance) leading to improved sound. be a bit fiddly, particularly if the cartridge body
for maximum information transmission. Moving- Most moving-coil manufacturers will suggest doesn’t have captive nuts. Take your time and
magnet cartridges tend to be consistent in terms suitable values for these parameters but, once don’t overtighten things; just do the bolts up
of their electrical requirements, so phono stage again, feel free to experiment. In the context enough so that the cartridge body doesn’t move
manufacturers can design a single circuit that of your system, it’s possible slightly different around. Don’t worry about alignment at this point.
will suit (almost) all. Things aren’t so simple with values may work better. Generally, the lower the Next, connect the four (red, blue, green and
moving coils... resistance value, the more solid and tonally dull white) lead-out wires. You’ll find corresponding
High-output MC designs aren’t far off their the sound gets. Typical values will be in the region markings next to each of the four pins on the
MM cousins in terms of level, while low-output of 100 to 500 ohms. back of the cartridge.
variants produce just a fraction of that. This Capacitance values will normally be from If the connectors are a little loose on the pins
around 200pF (picofarad) to 1nF (nanofarad) then you can use the pliers to squeeze them a
— the higher the value the more high treble is little tighter. With care.
filtered. If your system is transparent enough, Once this is done, it’s time to put the tracking
these changes will be easily heard. weight onto the rear of the arm and align the
Installing a cartridge is Generally, it’s easier to find a good-sounding cartridge, as discussed above. When the
moving-magnet cartridge on a budget, so there’s cartridge is in its correct cartridge position,
something of a rite of little point switching yours out unless you are tighten the mounting bolts fully without

passage for turntable getting a proper upgrade with an MC version —

and, importantly, one your turntable can justify.
overdoing it, just enough so that it doesn’t move.
Yes, this is a hassle to get right — but you
owners... considered Either way, you’ll need to double-check that only have to do it once (or once in a blue moon,

some kind of black art your phono stage is compatible with the kind of
cartridge you choose.
perhaps). And it’s well worth it to have minimal
distortion, reduced record wear and optimal
cartridge performance.

78 Australian Hi-Fi www.whathifi.com/australianhifi

 No 93. March/April 2023

Ultrafidelity Power
Purity, faithfulness and constancy embodied

Audio Connection’s
new chapter
Refurbished Sydney store
wants to build hi-fi’s future
Sound Travels

Audio Connection
Maggie in the early 90s, who used to treat me as
a son. She babysat me a lot when I was young, so
I got very close to her and Joe.
My earliest memories were of Bankstown,
where Joe had a shop then. It wasn’t the biggest
Director Nigel Ng strives for the newly refurbished Sydney shop, but I do remember just how much stuff was
retailer to be where “everyone goes to for hi-fi information” in there. I was only maybe seven or eight [years
old] at the time, but I remember thinking it was
so much fun climbing over all these amps and

M
ost Australian Hi-Fi readers Since Josef’s passing it has no doubt been hard running between speakers.
will know that the late Josef for you — he was very cherished and respected Around the late 90s was when Joe and
Riediger founded Audio by all. Could you tell us a bit about how and when Maggie moved to Leichhardt, in the shop just up
Connection and Advance Audio Connection started. the road from there, and after a few years they
Audio, all three names very Firstly, thanks for taking the time. I never expanded to the premise next to them as well,
much household ones in the country’s hi-fi thought I’d be in a position where I’d be giving you taking up the entirety of 455-461 Parramatta
industry. Since Riediger’s passing in 2020, his my thoughts! The story of how Audio Connection Road. That was when I started working there
nephew Nigel Ng has been ably continuing the came to be is now fairly well documented, during my school holidays, originally helping
legacy of the Leichhardt-based store. particularly in the articles that came out after Maggie do admin work and then progressing to
Australian Hi-Fi’s Tom Waters sat down Josef passed away, but perhaps the insight I can working in all areas — on the sales floor, repairing
with Ng, who revealed himself to be a humble, give is one from my perspective... hi-fi components, soldering cables and going out
knowledgeable and generous facilitator and Audio Connection started in 1987 and on the road to do installations.
collaborator within his newly embraced business. Advance Audio in 1995. Josef had met my aunt Audio Connection stayed at that address until

80 Australian Hi-Fi www.whathifi.com/australianhifi

 Sound Travels

2015 or so, when Josef decided to move into the on a portable MP3 player at the time, I wasn’t
current place we are in today. prepared for what happened. I remember
listening to the track, absolutely blown away by “High-end systems
What got you personally interested in hi-fi?
What gear did you have in your first system?
the quality. I remember thinking, ‘wow, that guitar
actually sounds like the guitar I play at home. I can
give people the best
Initially, I didn’t care about hi-fi. Working here hear... everything.’ The impact of the voice was chance of being able
since I was 14, to me they were all just things that
made noise — just things I had to install or carry
just as powerful when Carol was singing as when
she wasn’t. I actually had a tear in my eye while
to experience the
or clean. I didn’t really appreciate that what I was listening to it. emotion behind music”
dusting was worth what they are, and so over After that, it was very hard to listen to music
time I just grew a bit blasé about being in a room on my MP3 player!
with hi-fi systems worth hundreds and thousands
of dollars. Growing up at that age, none of my What is the key to being a successful dealer? guy who everyone goes to for hi-fi information”,
peers knew what hi-fi was; it wasn’t “cool”. I was Ha! I don’t think I can tell you what the ‘key’ is. I and as cheeky as it sounds, I was always more
blissfully happy with my Walkman and MP3 files! can only tell you what we’re doing, which appears knowledgeable from a technical standpoint than
That blasé stuck with me until 2011 really, when to be working, but I would never be so bold to say Josef. Still, I wasn’t Josef! He had a lot more
I was setting up for a hi-fi show. It was the year “this is the key”. I think that’s reserved for people charisma and charm, and obviously decades of
that Dan D’Agostino was coming down to launch with a bigger ego than mine! retail experience that I didn’t have.
[his now highly reputable brand], and we had four When Josef passed away, I had been a bit out So I went about changing the reputation.
rooms at the show. I tasked myself with setting of touch with the retail space. When I had joined Rather than Josef being “the guy who everyone
up one of the rooms, where we were showing the company full-time back in 2011, I was working goes to for hi-fi information”, what we are doing
off an entry set of Martin Logan electrostatics predominantly in the distribution company, and now is making Audio Connection the place that
powered by Audio Research electronics. I although we interacted with dealers, it is not everyone goes to for hi-fi information.
distinctly remember thinking to myself — you the same as being on the floor, day in and day I’ve taken the role of facilitator of processes;
know, I really should try to appreciate what we’re out. So when I was tasked with running Audio I’m working to get the company foundation right
selling here. So I connected up the system, put in Connection, it was a huge shock to me — for and setting the groundwork so that the sales
a Carol Kidd CD and put on Alfie. I picked up my personal reasons, of course, but also from the people can do what they do best. I freely admit
coffee, sat down in the hot seat and hit play. business side of things. that I’m not a sales person. To help them, I also
With most of my music listening being done Josef had built a reputation for being “the built a small database of information based on

From left to right: Arthur

Petrides, Jojo Fernandez,
Janson Lau and Michael Rams
from Audio Connection.

Australian Hi-Fi 81
Sound Travels

many years of previous sales of equipment, so

they can use that as a reference to gauge what
some second-hand gear might be worth.
We have an amazing team of people
— a collective 140 years of experience is not
something to be taken for granted. We’ve
revamped all of our online channels, with one
about to be deployed, all with the goal of building
community, relationships and empowering
people to make informed decisions. We recently
held a Chinese New Year celebration in our shop
just last week, and I said to the team, ‘even if we
don’t sell a single thing from the event, that’s fine deployment of systems from all manufacturers I really have to thank the team during this
— it’s more important that we build community, — even ones I don’t represent — I’m happy. It’ll be period. They were very flexible with working
free from ego’. We’re building the future, and the a better result for the dealer, the manufacturer, hours and working with customers over the
fear of no short-term sales shouldn’t get in the and the customer who ends up with the system. phone and email. They responded very well to
way of that. The way I view being a director is that I’m only the disruption.
Something else that is important for me the director for this period of time in history. It’s
is collaborating with other dealers. Of course important for me that if/when I go, tomorrow or As well as hi-fi sales, your business does
everyone has their own bills to pay, but we’re all in years to come, the business continues. The systems design, custom installs and home
part of the same industry. Open idea sharing, company is bigger than any one person; it’s about theatre. Tell us a bit about all that.
collaboration, programs and events — all our the team of people who make it up. So, as I did Having worked in two-channel hi-fi for a big
goals are the same, i.e. to create and curate the for the distribution company when I started to chunk of my life, it’s been a pleasure seeing
best hi-fi systems we can to meet a budget. run it in 2018, Audio Connection should have its it evolve from simply a secret hobby that our
If Audio Connection has something that will processes, foundation and reputation long outlive customer has to hide from their partners due to
obviously produce a better end result for another me. Especially considering its 35-year history. how ugly some of the designs were, to beautiful
dealer’s clients, isn’t it better for both the end After all, if a business dies when its director or statement pieces that people are proud to
user and the reputation of the manufacturers if owner does, what sort of legacy is that? have on display. Wilson [Audio] and Estelon are
the two dealers work together? It happens in just two contrasting but equally beautiful designs.
about every other industry — building, fashion, Has the Covid pandemic been a huge challenge This has really pushed the desire to have them
technology. There just seems to be a “my client, for you? How has it affected sales? integrated into the home, which then leads
your client” divide. It was a challenge. But a manageable one. to questions around full home installations
On my travels to visit other dealers, I’ve always I’m always a ‘problems present opportunities for incorporating music, video and automation.
been open with information. We recently finished solutions’ kind of guy. We’re about to launch a new initiative
our renovations, and a number of dealers were Having said that, we did notice a drop in with an architecture and an interior design
asking for some suggestions when performing sales during this period. We don’t have a lot of firm, which means we will be able to cover
their own. I’m only too happy to share the cheap, emotionless boxes of specifications audio, visual, automation, architecture plans,
information — not just the successes but also and frequencies — what we are known for is interior design, DA [development application]
the mistakes I made so that they don’t have to reconnecting people to the emotion behind approvals — basically taking a customer’s dream,
repeat them. One of the other hats I wear is a music, and that can be hard to do if people can’t documenting it and giving them plans ready to
product trainer for our distribution brands, and experience it in person! approach a builder.
when I run these sessions I’m always peppering it As soon as the lockdowns lifted, though, we We’ve gone heavier into home theatre than
with real-life lessons learned from my time on the bounced back harder than before, and since then we ever have before, too. Our new cinema is
retail floor. If I can do my small part to improve the have been going well. something you have to experience as, honestly,

82 Australian Hi-Fi www.whathifi.com/australianhifi

 Sound Travels

in all my travels, I can say that it’s performing at speakers. After an hour, the speakers were receive the performance they should.
the very top of what’s possible. And we’re about sounding amazing and the customer was If a customer purchases a $10,000 pair of
to kick off a collaboration with another home extremely happy. He didn’t buy it from us, but loudspeakers from anyone — especially if it’s
theatre dealer in Australia. We share a lot of that was secondary — it was more important to their first-time purchase of what represents a
systems, knowledge and ethos around customer me that a brand I love was represented properly. significant investment — and it doesn’t perform
service, so it only makes sense. There are a bunch of new products coming to the level they expect, there is no chance they
out this year that are all exciting... but I obviously will ever buy something that costs $11,000, let
What kinds of products are your customers can’t tell you about them! alone $50,000 or a $100,000. This is what I say
interested in mostly? to dealers in my training sessions; why it’s so
Streamers and music servers are mostly the What are the greatest challenges for the high- important they put as much effort into installing a
choice of source these days. The convenience end hi-fi market today? $5,000 speaker pair as a $50,000 one. We have
and quality you can get these days are very I don’t think the appetite for high-end hi-fi to make the effort to show younger customers
good. Having said that, turntables — particularly will ever go away. Music is the main reason why what is possible, and that means taking the time
the [Linn] LP12 — are still very popular. There’s customers purchase these systems. There are to connect with them and play the music that
something about vinyl that streaming just can’t other things too obviously — bragging rights, they want to hear.
compete with: the tactile experience and the aesthetics, status, ‘just coz I can’ — which are In the Australian landscape, there is luckily
analogue, live sound that they produce is truly all fine. But at the core of it, the reason why only a handful of cowboys, by which I mean
special. We’ve just started collaborating with a someone purchases a high-end system over dealers and distributors that place monetary
local record store, Crosstalk Records, so having a a mid-tier system is simply because when you concerns above all else. They make a quick buck
local store nearby where we can send customers play music through a high-end system, you just on this sale or this brand, and in doing so destroy
seeking the best vinyl is a blessing. hear more — more detail, more quality and, most the integrity of the brand over time. And when
Home theatre is a funny one. It was huge in importantly, more emotion. Music is an art form, they can’t sell any more of that brand because it
the 2000s and then started slowing down around created by human beings to express emotion. is so devalued in the market, they move onto the
2010, but now it has come back again. There’s a Rewind back to before we could record music and next victim, often at the valuable cost of
very healthy appetite out there for performance another industryman.
beyond what ‘simple’ AV receivers can give them. We shouldn’t be doing this. I completely
People want to experience something truly understand the drive to want to improve our own
special — even better than what you can get in monetary positions. Who doesn’t want to be
commercial cinemas! “If I can do my small wealthy! But we should never do it at the cost of

You’ve got some great high-end brands, but

part to improve the someone else. Bettering ourselves by diminishing
others is abhorrent.
what are the best-selling? And do you have new deployment of systems We should be respecting the hundreds and
products coming in the future that excite you?
We do certainly have some great high-end
from all manufacturers thousands of engineers, designers and founders
of these companies, who collectively spend
brands. It’s something I view as an honour, not a ... I’m happy” millions of hours and dollars — their livelihoods
right, and that drives us to ensure every system — producing the incredible products that we
we deploy is the best we can possibly do. I don’t have. I pinch myself every day that I get to walk
know if any one product excels in raw dollars into a showroom with millions of dollars’ worth of
more so than the others, and for me I don’t like the only way to experience it was to watch a live equipment; products that have taken decades
viewing it like that. Of course, the numbers performance. Talk to any high-end manufacturer of effort from people, past and present, and
matter for commercial reasons, but our primary and their goal is to produce systems that can that perform to such a high level for our own
focus is that every customer who decides to recreate the artist’s performance as accurately enjoyment. It’s such an honour to represent these
purchase a Wilson, a Gryphon, a D’Agostino, a as possible. Of course, there’s now the digital brands, and one I’ll never take for granted.
Nordost, gets the full value of their purchase. age of music production, much to the chagrin
That means spending the time at the customer’s of the analogue enthusiasts. But if you’ve ever Outside of audio, what do you do for fun?
place, tuning, tweaking and adjusting to make watched a digital music producer or artist work, I love to cook, it’s a great outlet for creativity.
sure that the products are deployed to their you’ll see there’s just as much emotion that goes My mother taught me how to cook when I was
fullest potential. into creating the music, and that the digital tools younger, and it’s something I have really gotten
Nothing drives me crazier than when we have now are just that — a tool to express into over the years. I auditioned for MasterChef
someone purchases a high-end loudspeaker and creativity and emotion. a while back and got into the top 200, two years
it is just dumped in the room — 99% of the time, High-end systems give people the best in a row! I love having people over to cook for, it’s
it’s not going to be performing at its best. Last chance of being able to experience that emotion a very rewarding feeling seeing them enjoy the
year, we got an enquiry from someone who had behind the music, and as human beings we need food I’ve made them.
purchased a second-hand pair of Wilson Audio that emotional connection with other people. So I’m at the gym several times a week — it’s
Sabrinas in Queenstown, New Zealand, saying for that reason I believe the appetite for high-end the only time I don’t think about work! — and
that they didn’t sound as good as he was hoping. will continue. I’m working on a few different projects in the
Now, that hurts me personally, as I’m a huge The greatest threat to the industry is us, i.e. background around whisky, photography,
Wilson Audio fanboy! the dealers and distributors that are responsible content creation and fashion. I’m quite a restless
So on my next trip down to NZ, I went to for deploying the products into customers’ person so always need things to work on.
Queenstown, hired a car, drove out to the homes. As I said earlier, there is a skillset which And of course, my family. We have a two-
client’s place and spent an hour there measuring experienced dealers possess so that when a year-old daughter who is growing up fast and
his room and adjusting the positioning of the customer buys into a product and a brand, they certainly keeps us on our toes.

Australian Hi-Fi 83
On Test OAD Ultrafidelity Vajra Power Amplifier

84 Australian Hi-Fi www.whathifi.com/australianhifi

 On Test

OAD Ultrafidelity Vajra

Power Amplifier

• Splendid sound • Soft clipping not switchable $14,999

• High power output • No standby option
• Very low noise • Wobbly meter button

A
lthough the Australian-made But even if the meters were brightly lit, the What I would actually have preferred to see
OAD Ultrafidelity brand is new to information on them would not really be useful on the front of the OAD Ultrafidelity Vajra is a pair
the country, its founder, owner anyway. Like all such meters, they only give truly of clipping indicators, to indicate when you’re
and designer, Jon De Sensi, is accurate readings when your loudspeakers delivering so much power to your loudspeakers
an old hand in the high-end hi-fi present a pure resistive load of exactly eight that you’ve reached the absolute limit and it
business, having been designing and building ohms at every frequency across the audio might be time to back off the volume a bit. If it
high-end audio equipment for several decades, band — and there isn’t a single loudspeaker were a question of cost, I think I would’ve installed
most recently under the MusicLabs Australia on the planet that presents such a load. Also, these indicators rather than the meters, but since
brand name. He is also well-known for his the meters are only truly accurate at a single cost obviously wasn’t a factor here, I’d want them
willingness to help out other Australian audio frequency and when the signal being measured is in addition to the meters.
designers, such as Redgum’s Ian Robinson, a sine wave, neither of which really occurs when One reason De Sensi may have chosen not to
for whom he designed the digital-to-analogue you’re playing music. include clipping indicators in the Vajra is because
stages for the Redgum RGCD2 CD Player. To its eternal credit, OAD recognises this and he has included in it a special circuit specifically
De Sensi is also well-known for “thinking presents you with this exact information in the designed to prevent such clipping in the first
outside the box”, which may very well be why he Vajra’s user manual, where you will find the words: place — or to at least prevent hard clipping.
is using slit-foil capacitors in the Vajra’s power “Meter readings are only accurate for a sinusoidal Indeed, when the amplifier is about to go into
supply (a first for any power amplifier anywhere signal into a pure 8 ohm resistive load.” So why hard clipping, a ‘soft clipping’ circuit ‘rounds off’
in the world, he says) as well as a very unusual the audio signal by limiting the voltage on either
transistor topology in the output stage that is side of the signal peak. This circuit type was
rarely encountered in the world of high-power invented by NAD designer Bjørn Erik Edvardsen
audio amplifiers. for his famous 3020 integrated amplifier, which
“Vajra is Sanskrit was so low-powered that it was easy to overdrive
THE EQUIPMENT and cause output stage clipping, resulting in
As you can see from the image on the left, the for something that excessive distortion and a hard sound in the bass.
OAD Vajra is the very model of a model power has diamond-like The problem with such soft-clipping circuits is
amplifier, in that its front panel has only one real that when they activate, they introduce distortion
control — the power button. There is no ‘main’ attributes... purity, into the audio signal. This is a fact that OAD
power button on the rear of the unit, either; that
front-panel on/off key is all you get. That means
faithfulness...” Ultrafidelity makes clear in the manual, which
states: “The activated soft clip circuit may distort
there’s no standby function — the OAD is either the output signal significantly, thereby causing a
on or off. And because it’s a completely linear reduction in sonic performance.”
design — De Sensi is obviously having no truck would a designer include power output meters at As for the distortions introduced by soft-
with either switch-mode power supplies or Class all, knowing full well that they are inaccurate when clipping circuits, the perverse fact is that
D output stages (and I totally agree with him playing music through loudspeakers? some listeners actually prefer the sound of the
regarding both these design choices) — it’s going The obvious answer is that the meters don’t particular distortions introduced by hard-clipping
to pull quite a few ergs from your 240V mains have to be particularly accurate to give you over those introduced by soft-clipping circuits
supply whether it’s playing music or not. an idea of what power levels the amplifier is — which is one of the reasons why Edvardsen
If you are wondering about that second front- delivering to your loudspeakers. A less obvious allowed owners to choose between having his
panel button you spy on the image, it actually answer is that power meters look great on the soft-clipping circuit switched on or off. Such a
has nothing much to do with the operation of the front of an amplifier, to the point where it could switch would have been a nice addition to the
Vajra: it simply increases the sensitivity of the swing a buying decision in the desired direction Vajra’s circuitry.
two ‘output power’ meters by a factor of 10. You for a manufacturer. One reason I suspect De Sensi did not include
need this magnification factor because unless Another less obvious reason is that many this switch is that the Vajra’s power output is
you listen to your music really loudly, the needles of the world’s most desirable and expensive so high (180 watts per channel into eight ohms,
on these two meters will be bumping around at power amplifiers (here I am thinking specifically and 360 watts per channel into four ohms) that
the bottom of the scale where they’re really hard of models from McIntosh and Audio Research, it is very, very unlikely anyone using it will ever
to read. That legibility is not at all helped by the though there are literally dozens of other brands use enough power to cause the soft-clipping
display’s low-light level, which may be tastefully I could have mentioned) have power meters on circuit to activate… even if they play their music
ambient but doesn’t throw much light on the their front panels, and it’s always a good idea to extremely loudly and pair the Vajra with extremely
meter calibrations. do what the famous are doing. inefficient loudspeakers.

Australian Hi-Fi 85
On Test OAD Ultrafidelity Vajra Power Amplifier

However, in the event that you do manage unbalanced (i.e. single-ended) signal wires from being used in the Vajra.
to exceed the maximum capability of the your preamplifier, and a pair of gold-plated XLR De Sensi told us that the OAD Vajra uses a
amplifier, even with the soft-clipping circuit terminals to which you could connect balanced Complementary Feedback Pair topology which
engaged, De Sensi has provided a second line cables. There’s a switch to shift between the two, “makes it different to most — or possibly all —
of defence against amplifier damage in the form and OAD warns in the manual that you should amplifiers”. Pressed for a reason for using such
of an over-current protection circuit that trips connect using only one of the two options at one an unusual circuit, he said: “The advantage of
automatically if the output current exceeds 15 time, not both at the same time. (Some people this type of topology is that it is generally more
amps. This threshold level is so high that you’d tend to connect different front-end components linear than your more typical Emitter Follower
be hard-pressed to exceed it under any normal to the different terminals.) topology. Especially large signal non-linearity is
listening situation, so it’s not likely to trigger in There is also a remote input on the rear significantly lower than Emitter Follower output,
any circumstance short of a short-circuit (such panel that, if the Vajra is connected to OAD where the non-linearity of a diode junction plays a
as if you were to accidentally touch the positive Ultrafidelity’s Padma preamplifier, allows you to significant part.”
speaker wire to the negative). switch both amplifier units on and off together If this all sounds a bit technical, it might
The rear of the OAD Vajra is almost as sparsely via the Padma’s remote control. help to explain that for non-Class D amplifiers,
equipped as the front. There is a pair of gold- The speaker terminals on the Vajra are labelled almost all of them use one of three different
plated RCA terminals to which you could connect ‘+’ and ‘–’ but come accompanied by a warning topologies. The oldest of the three is the
label that reads: ‘Do not connect any speaker quasi-complementary symmetry output stage,
terminal to ground.’ I was a bit dismayed that this developed to get around the problem that the
warning did not appear in the manual and that PNP output transistors available at the time

The real advantage of there was no explanation of why such a warning

had been included in the first place.
were not good matches for the NPN transistors
available back then. Once semiconductor
the Vajra being so quiet The usual reason for not connecting the manufacturers developed matched NPN/PNP

is the contribution to negative terminal to ground is that the amplifier

is using a bridged output stage, where two
transistor pairs, most audio amplifier designers
started using them in full complementary
dynamics when you’re amplifier sections are used for each channel and symmetry output stages using Darlington pairs
each of the pairs is tied together. Since there (the second of the three topologies).
playing music is no mention of this in any of OAD’s literature, But some designers — an elite group that
I asked De Sensi if this was indeed a technique now includes De Sensi — use the third type

86 Australian Hi-Fi www.whathifi.com/australianhifi

 On Test

of output stage, which is full complementary doesn’t take long to warm up, after all, thanks to The way too that the Vajra delivered Danny
symmetry using compound pairs. Why? Due to it operating in pure Class A mode up to 15 watts Harle’s bass on Bunny Rider was stupendously
the low distortion, extreme linearity and superior before switching to Class A/B. effective. Listen to the depth of that oh-so-
thermal stability of this topology. As to how large The real advantage of the Vajra being so quiet stringy sound. Also admire how completely
a group of designers this may be, I am unsure, is the contribution to dynamics when you’re separate the acoustic of the high-frequency
but I reckon there must be some — not least as playing music, particularly as the amplifier is so synthesised ‘ting’ is from the overall acoustic.
an amplifier designed by Sir Clive Sinclair that powerful. When an orchestral crescendo ceases, Then there’s the way you can correctly hear
used this circuit delivered such an impressive the following silence is total; when there’s a rest the sounds of the two guitars of Marc López
performance that the topology was likely to be in the score during a piano sonata, you’ll hear Fernández and Samuel Organ on Sunset
copied… or emulated. nothing until the pianist plays the next note; (incidentally one of my favourites on this superb
It seemed to make sense at this juncture to and between the notes of a melody, there’s album, not least because of the quality of
ask De Sensi about his use of slit-foil capacitors that beautiful nothingness that only serves to Polachek’s vocals on it.)
in the Vajra’s power supply. “The continuous foil highlight the melody itself. The bagpipes are instruments you don’t often
used in normal electrolytic capacitors allows I found myself entranced like never before hear on an album that identifies as alt or art-pop,
eddy currents to circulate in the foil,” he said. by Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 29 in B major, so it’s a joy when Brìghde Chaimbeul chimes in
“By using a slit foil electrolytic capacitor, these Op. 106 (Hammerklavier). Although I prefer the with hers on Blood and Butter. I would’ve preferred
eddy currents cannot circulate and the result interpretation delivered by Solomon back in 1952, her to have been given a little more time to shine,
is cleaner, more natural midrange and high the sound quality of that old recording leaves though. The studio sound FX on Butterfly Net was
frequencies. It is definitely a world-first and is quite a bit to be desired, which meant I was delivered ethereally by the Vajra, too, to the point
possibly the only power amplifier that uses slit- listening to Vladimir Ashkenazy’s interpretation where it really made my listening room sound like
foil electrolytic power capacitors.” (on Decca, with the Waldstein). He extracts the Chartres Cathedral!
It also seemed like a good time to ask about maximum power from the bottom octaves of If you want to hear Arctic Monkey’s ‘The Car’
the unusual name of De Sensi’s new amplifier. the Steinway, and the Vajra delivered them with album better than you’ve ever heard it before,
“Does the name Vajra mean anything?” I something approaching its maximum power – do yourself a favour and listen to it via the Vajra,
asked. “Vajra is Sanskrit for something that has despite the extremely high volume I was listening connected to a pair of loudspeakers that have
diamond-like attributes,” he replied. “In spiritual at, the Vajra obviously still had some power in plenty of bass and can handle the Vajra’s power!
Sanskrit traditions, the diamond-like properties reserve. But it wasn’t just the power on tap that I guarantee you’ll be impressed… and not only
most usually attributed are those of purity, impressed me: the trills at the end of the first because I think it was the best album to come
faithfulness and constancy.” movement Allegro were marvels of clarity — again out of last year. Alex Turner’s musical vision is far-
proving the importance of circuit quietness. seeing, and his musicianship, along with that of
LISTENING SESSIONS This was also demonstrated in the echoed the rest of the band, is revealed in all its glory. The
Since a power amplifier requires a preamplifier, repeated staccato of the Scherzo, where lavishness of the layering and the intertwining of
OAD loaned me one of its Padma preamplifiers Ashkenazy’s left hand mirrors his right. The multiple musical strands were handled holistically
to use to drive the Vajra for my listening sessions. musical tension was conveyed perfectly by the by the Vajra, to the benefit of the songwriting and
The most obvious advantage of using it with Vajra. When Ashkenazy then sustains some of the performances.
the Vajra was that I was able to switch the Vajra the notes a little longer, the gorgeous resonances
on and off remotely (not possible if the Vajra is of the Steinway filled my listening room with CONCLUSION
paired with something else). sound. There was also another telling reveal Would you believe I’ve left one of the best things
I have already mentioned the Vajra’s power of the Vajra’s lack of background noise: before until the last, and that is that the OAD Ultrafidelity
meters, so I won’t rehash their usefulness or starting in on the Adagio, Ashkenazy takes a Vajra looks like a million dollars. The finish is
readability, but I should say that although the x10 longer-than-his-usual pause, and in the silence extraordinarily good. But of course, it’s the sound
meter sensitivity button on my review sample I could hear his breathing, controlled though quality that counts, and the Vajra is flawless in
worked perfectly, it did seem to be a bit wobbly it was — something I can’t recall having ever this regard, across all the yardsticks that could be
when I switched it in and out. This was probably heard before. The sonorities of the Adagio were used to measure it — particularly those of purity,
an isolated condition, but it’s something you delivered to perfection by the Vajra, as were the faithfulness and constancy. Yes, please! I want
might want to check if you think it will bother you micro-variations in Ashkenazy’s finger-touch… one. Greg Borrowman
(it didn’t me). and yet again, those trills!
What was most immediately noticeable from The primal scream that kicks off Welcome To
the get-go was the extreme quietness of the My Island, on Caroline Polachek’s fabulous album
Vajra. Most amplifiers make a bit of a noise when ‘Desire, I Want To Turn Into You’, was made even
you switch them on, and then when there is no more achingly primal by the OAD Vajra, leaping
CONTACT INFO
audio signal and the volume is high there can from the silence like a cry for help. Then, when
Brand: OAD Ultrafidelity
sometimes be the faintest of circuit noises. Not the electronica kicks in, it was syncopated
Model: Vajra
with the OAD Vajra: it was as silent as the grave — perfectly with Polachek’s staccato vocal delivery,
RRP: $14,999
so silent I wasn’t even sure I’d successfully turned while in the background her guitar screamed in
Warranty: Three Years
the amplifier on in the first place! (I had.) concert with her voice.
Distributor: OAD Ultrafidelity Pty Ltd
The only downside I can see of this is that you On Pretty in Possible, I first admired Polachek’s
Address: Lawson Way, Endeavor Hills
won’t have any audible cues in the event you’ve wordless vocalise, and then the way the Vajra
Vic 3802
accidentally left your Vajra switched on. You can clearly delineated between the left and right
T: (04) 6847 3229
leave it switched on permanently, of course, but channels, while positioning the vocal exactly
E: info@openaudiodesigns.com
given the lack of a standby mode I’d recommend where she wanted it to go — sometimes left of
W: www.openaudiodesigns.com
switching it off whenever you’re not using it. It centre, sometimes right, sometimes centred.

Australian Hi-Fi 87
Laboratory
Test
Report
Newport Test Labs measured the power output plan to convert Australia from the nominal 240
of the Vajra using an eight-ohm non-inductive volts grid to a nominal 230 volts grid in order
laboratory test load as 180 watts per channel to align with European Standards.) Or it could
at all three frequencies tested — 20Hz, 1kHz be a combination of both. Either way, it’s of no
Readers interested in a full technical appraisal and 20kHz, which matched OAD’s specification practical significance whatsoever, because the
of the performance of the OAD Ultrafidelity
exactly. When using a four-ohm non-inductive differences amount to only 0.4dB in output for
Vajra power amplifier should continue on
and read the LABORATORY TEST REPORT laboratory test load, Newport Test Labs measured the eight-ohm results and 1.2dB for the four-ohm
published on the following pages. Readers power output at exactly 360 watts per channel results, both differences that are far too small to
should note that the results mentioned in the at 20Hz, 1kHz and 20kHz. These results are be audible.
report, tabulated in performance charts and/
or displayed using graphs and/or photographs
tabulated below and shown graphically as a 3D The Vajra has a very extended frequency
should be construed as applying only to the bar chart on the next page. response, with Newport Test Labs reporting that
specific sample tested. When the lab switched from single-channel under its test conditions, it extended from 1Hz
testing to driving both channels simultaneously, to 148kHz –1dB, and from 1Hz to 290kHz –3dB.
the lab measured output at 162 watts per channel Across the audio band the response was even
into eight ohms for all three frequencies tested, flatter, as you can see from Graph 7, where the
and 272 watts per channel into four ohms for all response into a non-inductive eight-ohm test
three frequencies tested. These results are also load (the black trace) is just –0.1dB at 5Hz and
tabulated below and shown graphically as a 3D 0dB at 20Hz, and just 0.05dB down at 20kHz and
bar chart on the following page. 0.18dB down at 40kHz. This means that when
The difference between the two sets of normalised, the audio-band frequency response
results could be because of the increased is 20Hz–20kHz ±0.025dB.
demand placed on the Vajra’s power supply, or The red trace on Graph 7 shows the Vajra’s
that Newport Test Labs did not maintain the mains frequency response when it’s driving a test load
voltage at 240 volts, which it has ceased doing that simulates a load presented by a typical
now that the Australian standard is 230 volts, two-way sealed enclosure loudspeaker. Newport
and the voltage supplied at the mains is always Test Labs uses the same test load as Stereophile
slightly higher than this. (If you’re one of the magazine, a circuit that was originally developed
many who thinks it’s 240V, you’re mistaken: back by Ken Kantor (NHT) and subsequently modified
in 1983 Standards Australia adopted a 20-year by John Atkinson by the addition of a Zobel

88 Australian Hi-Fi www.whathifi.com

 On Test

in the performance shown in Graph 2. You can

see that the second harmonic has remained
at –102dB (0.00079%) but the third harmonic
has increased a little in level to be –92dB
(0.00251%), where it would still be inaudible. The
lower impedance has also caused the odd fifth,
seventh and ninth harmonics to increase in level,
all to around –105dB (0.00056%). Even higher in
frequency, some distortion components are now
above –120dB (0.0001%).
Graph 3 shows the performance of the Vajra
when it’s delivering 20 watts of power into a non-
inductive eight-ohm load with a 1kHz test signal.
The most obvious difference is the lack of noise
in the output — noise between 3kHz and 20kHz
is all more than 140dB down, which is an
amazingly good result. (Note that this means
noise at each frequency, not overall noise!) Note,
too, that the noise associated with the power
supply (mains hum and harmonics) has also
dropped, so that the highest peaks are now
at around –105dB, though this is of course to
be expected, given that the top of the graph
(0dBFS) is now 20 watts (12.6 volts).
You can also see on Graph 3 that the second
harmonic is at –100dB (0.001%), the third and
fourth harmonics are both at around –110dB
(0.00031%), and the fifth and seventh harmonics
are both at around –105dB (0.00056%), with
the sixth at –120dB (0.0001%) and the eighth at
–130dB (0.00003%). An excellent performance.
network (a resistor and capacitor in series) across in Graph 1. The test signal at 1kHz is at the left of When the load impedance was halved to four
the input terminals. If you’re interested in what the graph. You can see that the related harmonic ohms, using a 1kHz test signal at 20 watts, the
the circuit looks like and the load it presents, you distortion components are all more than 100dB result was as shown in Graph 4. The noise floor
can find both here: https://tinyurl.com/Kantor1z down, so overall distortion is less than 0.001%. across most of the audio band has remained
As you can see, the Vajra’s response into this As for the individual harmonic components, much the same as with an eight-ohm load (a very
simulated loudspeaker load tracks its response the second harmonic (at 2kHz) is around –102dB slight increase) and the power supply noise has
into a resistive load almost perfectly out to 4kHz, (0.00079%), and the third (at 3kHz) is at –104dB also increased very, very slightly. The primary
after which it drops to 0.1dB below it out to (0.00063%). Even though these levels are difference is that most of the harmonic distortion
30kHz, and after which again it is slightly higher too low to be audible, they are benign in that components have increased in level with all of
out to the graphing limit. This slight drop is too they’re ‘good sounding’ distortions due to being the odd-order components out to 9kHz sitting at
small to be audible. The normalised response harmonically euphonious with the fundamental around –100dB (0.001%).
with this load is still 20Hz – 20kHz ±0.04dB. (that is, they’re the octave and the fifth). The Intermodulation distortion (CCIF twin-tone,
Channel separation was outstandingly fourth and fifth harmonics are down at –118dB using 19kHz and 20kHz test signals of equal level)
good at 1kHz, with Newport Test Labs reporting (0.00012%). As you can see, other harmonic into eight ohms is shown for a one-watt output
a measurement of 113dB at this frequency. and non-harmonic distortions are visible above in Graph 5, and for a 20-watt output in Graph 6.
Separation diminished at the frequency the noise floor higher up in frequency, but all are At one watt, you can see an excellent result, with
extremes, as you can see for yourself from the more than 125dB down, and so would contribute only two significant signals either side of the test
tabulated chart, but results of 71dB at 20Hz and less than 0.00005% to the overall THD (which, tones, with the 18kHz signal at –92dB (0.00251%)
71dB at 20kHz are still figures that will guarantee as you can see from the tabulated results, was
perfect stereo imaging and no audible bleed from measured as being 0.007%).
one channel to the other. Channel balance was a On Graph 1, the noise floor is very, very low,
brilliantly good 0.016dB at 1kHz, demonstrating
both excellent design and quality control.
at around 140dB down referenced to just a one-
watt output, except at low frequencies, where
Overall, a superb
Interchannel phase accuracy was also some power supply noise is visible at the extreme performance... a quiet,
outstandingly good, with the OAD Vajra returning
errors of just 0.07 degrees at 20Hz, 0.05 degrees
left of the graph. It appears that there is some
50Hz signal that is 90dB down (0.00316%), after
high-powered,
at 1kHz, and 1.05 degrees at 20kHz. which the harmonics are mostly more than 100dB ultra-linear and low-
Newport Test Labs measured distortion at 1kHz down (0.001%).
at an output of one watt into an eight-ohm non- Reducing the load impedance whilst still
distortion amplifier
inductive load, the result of which test is shown maintaining the output level at one watt resulted

Australian Hi-Fi 89
On Test OAD Ultrafidelity Vajra Power Amplifier

and the 20kHz signal at –88dB (0.00398%). The commendably low. Although there are more to-noise ratios of the OAD Vajra referenced to
other high-frequency sidebands are more than high-frequency sidebands, their level is still very a one-watt output as being 85dB unweighted
110dB down (0.00031%). There is a difference low, with all except one being more than 110dB and 92dB IHF A-weighted. Referenced to
signal at 1kHz, but it’s sitting way down in level, at down (0.00031%) and the exception being at rated output (the more usual measurement),
–98dB (0.00125%). –105dB (0.00056%). The regenerated 1kHz the lab reported signal-to-noise ratios of 97dB
At the higher power level of 20 watts, the signal is slightly higher in level, but still more unweighted and 105dB A-weighted.
18kHz and 20kHz sidebands have increased than adequately low at –92dB (0.00251%). Given the flat and extended frequency
in level to –80dB (0.01%), which is still Newport Test Labs measured the signal- response of the OAD Vajra, we were expecting to

90 Australian Hi-Fi www.whathifi.com/australianhifi

 ÁRE LAÁESÁ XN RX‫ٳ‬IXً
HOME CINEMA AND
v

TECH NEWS & REVIEWS

ALL IN ONE PLACE

Visit ɯɯɯِɯǝƏɎǝǣˡِƬȒȅٖƏɖ
 On Test OAD Ultrafidelity Vajra Power Amplifier

dBr
1.00 .EWPORT 4EST ,ABS Graph 7. Frequency
response at 1-watt into
0.80 an 8 ohm resistor (black
trace) and simulated
0.60 loudspeaker load (red
trace).
0.40

0.20

0.00

-0.20

-0.40

-0.60

-0.80

-1.00 10.00 Hz 100.00 1000.00 10000.00

see very well-formed square waves resulting Input sensitivities were very close to those
from the square wave testing, and our specified by OAD, with Newport Test Labs
expectations were met in spades. reporting that using the unbalanced inputs, you’d
As you can see for yourself, the 100Hz square need 152mV to result in an output of one watt
wave is textbook — the perfect square wave, into eight ohms, and 1.93Volts to deliver rated
looking as though it came straight from Newport output. Via the balanced inputs, you’d need
Test Labs’ square wave generator, rather than via 304mV to deliver a one-watt output, and 3.86
the Vajra. volts to deliver rated output. This puts overall gain
The 1kHz square wave is also a perfect at 25.6dB, a fraction less than the specification
representation, as you can see. Both the verticals of 27dB.
and the horizontals track the relevant graticules Output impedance was measured as 0.3
of the oscilloscope. An outstanding performance ohms at 1kHz, which gives a damping factor of
yet again. 266 — somewhat less than the “greater than
The OAD’s performance with a 10kHz square 500” claimed by OAD, but at the same time far,
wave was exceptionally good, to the point of far more than the DF of 50 that Floyd E. Toole
very likely being the best we’ve ever seen from says “is more than sufficient to properly control
any amplifier. The rise time is exceptionally fast, the back-EMF from any loudspeaker”.
with only the very slightest curve at the top of the The OAD Vajra will draw just under 80 watts
leading edge. A superb performance. from your mains power supply whenever it’s
The Vajra also excelled itself when driving switched on, even if you’re not using it to listen
the very difficult and complex load presented to music (and a bit over when you are). If you’re
by an eight-ohm resistor in parallel with a 2µF playing at its maximum output, it will be pulling a
capacitor, which is the fourth oscillogram shown shade under 500 watts from your mains.
in the series. The amplifier is not only completely Overall, a superb performance from the OAD
stable into this demanding load, the overshoot is Ultrafidelity Vajra. It is a quiet, high-powered,
less than one-quarter amplitude and the output ultra-linear and low-distortion amplifier.
settles completely in just two cycles. Yet again, Steve Holding
superb performance!

SPECIFICATIONS
Frequency Response:
0Hz–100kHz (–3dB)
Power Output (81):
180 watts per channel
Power Output (41):
360 watts per channel
Gain: 27dB
Input Sensitivity:
4V/2V (Balanced/Unbalanced)
Input Impedance:
24k1/12k1 (Balanced/Unbalanced)
Damping Factor: >500
Noise Out: <–100dBu (0–22kHz/Rs=50R)
THD: 0.005% (@1kHz)
Dimensions (HWD): 160 x 430 x 360mm
Weight: 30kg

92 Australian Hi-Fi www.whathifi.com/australianhifi

 MARKET PLACE

to buy at a Hi-fi Shop

Your local hi-fi shop is passionate about sound.
Why risk your music with anyone else?

The Hi-Fi Shop The Chain Store The Internet

1 Talk to people with years or

decades of hi-fi knowledge
Talk to people with days or
even weeks of hi-fi knowledge No people

2 Receive reliable personal advice Bit of a lottery on the advice front No advice

3 Expect to be asked about

your needs and music
Expect to be asked about
your budget No filtering questions

4 Listen in a room environment

before you buy
Listen over a noisy shop floor
if you can listen at all No listening

5 Have a nice coffee There’s a coffee shop three doors

down in the Mall, mate Make your own

6 Purchase with pride Purchase in ignorance Purchase with fear

7 Get a full warranty with

local return point
Be offered an extended warranty
you probably don’t need
Warranty possibly void
in Australia

8 After-sales service After-sales what? After-sales what?

9 Have an ongoing relationship Rarely the same staff twice No contact with staff

10 Relax and enjoy fine music Relax and enjoy your

mass-market bargain Purchase and pray

LOCAL HI-FI SHOPS. The right place for the right

FORWARD THINKING FOR EXCELLENCE
IN AUDIO. MARCH AUDIO.
P421 P422 SOINTUVA WG
MONO POWER AMPLIFIER STEREO POWER AMPLIFIER LOUDSPEAKERS

The P421 is March Audio’s first Like its P421 sister, March Audio’s first Our design objective was to produce
Purifi-based mono-block amplifier. Purifi-based stereo amplifier, the P422 a speaker that is moderate in size
Milled from solid aluminium with a (formerly the award-winning P452), yet possessed exceptionally deep
tough anodized treatment, it features has all these key qualities in stereo, and warm bass, with sweet crystal
the new Purifi 1ET400A technology, packed into a beautifully built, high clear high frequencies and very low
Bruno Putzeys’ development of his quality cabinet with balanced Neutrik distortion. Sointuva is a Finnish word
previous Hypex Ncore designs, XLR inputs (compatible with single meaning “musical harmony” and
enabling extraordinarily low noise ended RCA), and heavy-duty tellurium this aptly describes the Sointuvas’
and distortion with further improved copper silver plated ETI Research performance, supported by a beryllium-
refinement in subjective audio quality. speaker binding posts. High quality dome tweeter and Purifi’s extraordinary
Fully 2 ohm capable with ultra-low Canare speaker cable and Mogami long-throw 6.5 inch woofer, plus
output impedance, the P451 can deliver signal cable is used internally for signal twin passive radiators on the back.
up to 450 watts and 25 amps, ensuring integrity and shielding. As the P452, These speakers will bring you closer
tremendous grip and drive even with this model won a 2022 Sound+Image to the music, and their beautiful solid-
the most challenging of speaker loads. Amplifier Award. wood cabinets enhance any home.
Hand-built and individually tested,
both the P421 and P422 are backed
with March Audio’s 5 year warranty.

W www.marchaudio.com E alan@marchaudio.com P +61 (0)447 946 771

 HeyNow Hi-Fi by Geoff Haynes

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CONSULTATION | SALES | DESIGN | INSTALLATION

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Music Reviews Top Picks

Babymetal percussion, glitchy electronics — she’s been the band’s most-improved

element on each successive release.
The Other One COOKING VINYL
Once that’s done, though, it’s time to bite your tongue lest your gubbins
Babymetal are hilarious, wonderful and be melted by the sheer heaps of sugar careering down your throat. Divine
downright endearing delirium. Heavy music Attack – Shingeki – packs a downtuned post-chorus riff that’d make Mick
meets J-pop: a bug-eyed happy-slap Thomson quiver, its grubby double-bass evoking Iowa. But as soon as they
rending the biggest cultural divide since rip into that refrain? Pure elation, the feeling more Scooter than Slipknot.
Crazy Frog. Nine years and three records It’s weird to think of a time when you could pigeonhole Babymetal, batty
on from their debut, the Japanese troupe having long shaken off the as they are. In the mid-2010s, you could’ve broadly described them as
‘novelty’ tag. But does their shtick still work? The synchronised dance hyperpower metal. Now, though? To paraphrase Stewart Lee: there are
moves, the fever-dream concepts about an imaginary Fox God, the maps but no borders. Time Wave’s just Basshunter plus metal. Metalizm
audible rustlings of caution hurled into the wind? Obviously, it still works. is an unhinged, rubber-stamped club tune, blending snappy snare and
If Babymetal’s fourth release were a movie, the tagline would read: ‘They synth with melismatic Arabic vocalisation and that ye-olde guitar scalery
ain’t babies no more.’ Vocalists Su-metal and Moametal are 25- and Trivium so excellently wrangled on Shogun. Even the final run of — gasp —
23-years-old respectively, guiding you through 10 songs plucked from midtempo songs bangs.
their bespoke, all-caps METALVERSE, each pedaling a specific theme. Babymetal will forever polarise, but that doesn’t mean they can’t change
Immediately, Metal Kingdom establishes a stately, grown-up Babymetal. your mind. Now they’re not shoved down your gullet on every festival stage
The orchestral preamble recalls that eat-the-world urgency Crossfaith or website available, it’s easier to appreciate them for what they are: an
once had, giving way to Su-metal’s domineering, controlled delivery. experiment that has gotten out of hand. The Other One is nigh-on no-filler,
The way she grapples this song, dodge-duck-dip-dive-and-dodging the and unquestionably their strongest compendium of delirium to date.
peaks and troughs, etching her mark across the gang vocals, cinematic

You Me At Six King Tuff

Truth Decay UNDERDOG/AWAL Smalltown Stardust SUB POP

You Me At Six have been ringing the changes Part of Witch (who also feature J Mascis)
since the lukewarm reception to 2017’s Night and Ty Segall’s backing band, Kyle Thomas
People brought them up short and they has been King Tuff for the best part of two
realised they didn’t like it much either. They decades, refining a sound that began with
started asking questions about themselves, meandering garage and has now evolved
and while Suckapunch at the start of 2021 into something more harmonically complex.
found them battling through the pandemic, These days he’s based in Los Angeles, but
there was no guarantee they’d make another this album oozes nostalgia — there’s even A
album. But it’s too late to stop now, and they’ve decided to grow up Meditation, a home recording of the eight-year-old Thomas attempting
and carry on, shedding the “toxic masculinity” they believe was holding meditation — for a smalltown upbringing. In Thomas’s case, Brattleboro,
them back. This doesn’t mean there’s any loss of musical vitriol on Truth Vermont. So from the moment Love Letters To Plants kicks in like a 1940s
Decay, but there is a different direction about the band now. The single big band, to the closing The Wheel, which evokes the lush minimalism
Mixed Emotions (I Didn’t Know How To Tell You What I Was Going Through) of late-period John Lennon, there’s an intricate tenderness that Sufjan
is the album’s manifesto, the chiming opening riff breaking into a wall of Stevens would surely approve of. He duets with himself on the road-
sound while singer Josh Franceschi howls his failure to communicate song title track, while Rock River thunders along while recalling childhood
into the gale. And the onslaught rarely falters. romance: ‘Jump in the river, never get old.’ Uplifting and lovely.

Yo La Tengo Civic
This Stupid World MATADOR Taken By Force ATO

Almost 40 years after they formed, Yo La Tengo Like many of their contemporaries, Melbourne
have only intensified rather than showed signs quintet Civic’s rise was stalled somewhat by
of abating with their latest album. The title sum- global events, but the delay in releasing last year’s
marises aptly the existential predicament facing debut album Future Forecast made its potent
all of us, and there are sombre allusions to mor- blast of old-school punk energy even more
tality (‘Prepare to die while there’s still time’ on Until refreshing to receive. The immediate follow-up,
It Happens). But there is, about Ira Kaplan’s guitars Taken By Force, is no less fiery, with the buzz-saw
particularly, a raging and unearthly defiance: guitars of Fly Song satisfyingly sharp, and the
filthy, dirty, churning and avalanching on Sinatra Drive Breakdown, plough- snotty, 90mph riposte Time Girl demanding to be greeted by a pogoing
ing breakneck on Brain Capers, or with throbbing, concussive, My Bloody moshpit. Civic’s mode of attack is hardly one-dimensional, though. Trick
Valentine-style molten-ness on the title track. Counterpointing, underpin- Of The Light resembles something The Stooges might have done had they
ning this is the rhythm section of Georgia lasted a couple more albums after splitting in the 70s — dark, nihilistic talk
Hubley and James McNew, lending a Neu!-like sense of motorik purpose of self-laceration and bad trips scowl over wah-wah-soaked guitar twang
to these tracks, ticking over purposefully stoically as Kaplin rages and and are punctuated by pounding riffs. But when Born In The Heat reverts to
scratches and tears a new arsehole in the cosmic fabric above and beyond, pure ‘77-style punk that would have graced a Saints album (and could well
travelling to the similar, dark waters the Düsseldorf duo were wont to head be inspired by them), it’s their conviction — and instant, hook-filled tunes —
for. Despite comparisons, Yo La Tengo are a force unto themselves, like that ultimately win through.
nothing else on the planet.

104 Australian Hi-Fi www.whathifi.com/australianhifi

 Rock Rippers Music Reviews

Haken The central thematic conceit on Fauna is, as the title might suggest,
animals. Specifically, each track takes an animal as its jumping-off point,
Fauna CENTURY MEDIA RECORDS
though the songs aren’t merely straight descriptions. The lyrics are layered
The only problem with successfully scaling in such a way that the animal in question might be used metaphorically
an epic peak is deciding what the next or allegorically to further explore some aspect of the world around us
challenge should be. That’s the dilemma — environmental concerns, the human condition or, in many cases, the
Haken faced after delivering the ambitious, personal stories of members of the band.
expansive and breathlessly complex one- Thus, the eight-minute Eyes Of Ebony acts as both a poignant salute
two of 2018’s Vector album and its 2020 sequel Virus. However, as to the near-extinct white rhino and a powerful eulogy to guitarist Richard
singer Ross Jennings observes during The Alphabet Of Me, one of the Henshall’s late father, with more than one reference to his unfailing support
standout tracks on the British band’s seventh album, ‘It’s time to wake up in the band’s journey to the mountaintop.
and die or regenerate’. And regenerate is what Haken have done. Some of the album’s lyrics will have listeners striving to discern meaning.
Which isn’t to say that Fauna is a complete overhaul of who Haken are. Possibly one of the strongest songs on the album, both melodically and
Rather, it marshals many of the elements that make them so eminent structurally, Sempiternal Beings is a case in point, using double meanings
among their peers while simultaneously reaching for even greater stylistic for names of various species of jellyfish to look at the ultimately temporary
diversity and sound combinations. Add to this the departure of longtime nature of human existence.
keyboardist Diego Tejeida at the end of 2021. Fauna shouldn’t scare any existing fans — Haken haven’t become a
A major factor in the sound department is the return of founder dedicated oompah/Mongolian throat-singing crossover act, at least not
member Peter Jones on keyboards, whose contributions here are arguably yet. But they’re clearly allowing even more influences to infuse their work.
more central, more prominent and more varied than Tejeida’s work on the This is an album that embraces more of everything, while allowing the band
previous couple of releases. to exercise their undeniable virtuosity and creativity.

Gaz Coombes Brian Jonestown Massacre

Turn The Car Around HOT FRUIT/VIRGIN Your Future Is Your Past A

In the five years since his last solo album Thirty-two years on from BJM’s debut single
World’s Strongest Man, Gaz Coombes has She Made Me, Anton Newcombe’s one-man
revived Supergrass, suggesting that Britpop’s mission to convert the world to the joys of
finest 90s trio might be unfinished business. lysergic shoegaze shows no sign of letting
But new material wasn’t part of the agenda, up. Written and recorded in Berlin during The
the band content to enjoy a run of live shows Great Pause, their twentieth studio album
that culminated in last September’s Taylor continues where 2022’s excellent Fire Doesn’t
Hawkins tribute at Wembley. Their erstwhile Grow On Trees left off, its anthemic feel a
leader was instead keeping his powder dry for Turn The Car Around, creative response to news feeds mainlining war and crisis. ‘Give it all
which continues his maturation into a thoughtful and eloquent singer- you’ve got, it’s the only way to live,’ he advises in Do Rainbows Have Ends,
songwriter. There’s less zing and immediacy to Coombes’s songs a moving missive to his son Wolfgang. The Light Is About To Change is a
nowadays, replaced by textural layers that crest into shimmery art-rock pile-driving ode to self-assertion in which he growls: ‘Everybody’s lost
and faintly psychedelic pop. He can still set the heart pumping, though, their minds’. Throw in blasts of shimmering Madchester-era power-pop
particularly on This Love, with a muted bass riff that feels like a cousin (Your Mind Is My Cafe), Farfisa organ-assisted balladry (As The Carousel
of World’s Strongest Man standout The Oaks. His trusted helpers (Garo Swings) and, naturally, a large dash of vitriol (the thunderous The Mother
Nahoulakian, Nick Fowler, Piney Gir, The Roxys) are here too, plus Ride Of All Fuckers), and you’ve got another classic BJM album.
drummer Loz Colbert. A rewarding journey.

Laura Cox Oiapok

Head Above Water EARMUSIC Oisolün ORIGNAL MUSIC RECORDS

With Head Above Water, Anglo-French Oiapok’s composer Pierre Wawrzyniak

former YouTube star has delivered an album was once part of oddball psych-rockers
of bracing trad-rock. From the opening, Camembert, but here he’s united with vocalist
title track (with its rather awkward mixed Mélanie Gerber and a collective of musicians
metaphor of running away while keeping playing trombones, charp, xylophones and
your head above water), it’s clear that Laura vibraphones. Together, they imbue clever
Cox is a guitarist who’s seeking to push the tunes with proggy Canterbury sounds, modern
rock envelope into the 21st century. The jazz elements and breezy chanson stylings.
unpolished but proficient rock dynamic of, say, One Big Mess would have While Gerber’s vocals draw on retro, chansonnière textures on the title
been in its element 50 years ago, while Set Me Free’s bottleneck stylings track, the moody Summer 19 also shows her Björk-y, avant-pop side.
are reminiscent of Led Zeppelin’s When The Levee Breaks. Time was when And she’s just one part of a larger tapestry here. The parpy trombones
this mode of playing was suffocatingly dominant, but not so today; as and tight, bright xylophone/vibes parts inevitably evoke Zappa (the busy,
Cox says, her style of rock isn’t so popular in France these days, and dazzling Les Grands Equipages), but Matthieu Lenormand’s snappy drum
getting a hearing hasn’t been easy. But it’s genuinely nice that someone work and Wawrzyniak’s exuberantly clever bass grooves give Oisolün less
is bothering to preserve the craft of yesteryear. That said, Seaside and a passé feel and a more contemporary, jazzy one. Gerber’s tones, the
Glassy Day, with their clever use of mandolin and slide, do represent a exotic instrumentation, the beautifully nuanced, melodic writing and tight
hint at evolution. musicianship all gel on this delightful first offering.

Australian Hi-Fi 105

Music Reviews Reissues

Genesis as Twilight Alehouse) have popped up on archives. So any buzz or thrill

here comes with the ’78 Knebworth tracks, the ‘80 Lyceum show, and
BBC Broadcasts UMR/EMI
the formative John Peel/Night Ride sessions. The underexposed, sub-
During a touching 1972 rendition of The three-minute nugget Harlequin (’72 Peel session) quivers with beauty, the
Musical Box, the song in which a girl harmonies cherubic.
decapitates a boy with a croquet mallet, only Between those much-debated ‘earlier’ and ‘later’ poles there exists,
for him to be resurrected for a short time logically enough, Genesis’s ‘middle’ period. While its neighbours have
during which he begs for sexual intercourse duked it out for decades, there’s a growing sense that in fact this might
until his nurse kills him (again), Genesis, moving fluidly from restraint to be their happiest, most productive phase of all. The stirring Lyceum show
explosions, play with the confidence of a veteran band, although they focuses on that era when Collins had acclimatised to taking over the mic
had only just entered their twenties. from Gabriel and they’d found the sweet spot marrying prog and pop. Their
What’s gratifying about this sumptuous set, a heartening addition to the creative odyssey from A Trick Of The Tail through to Duke sees a band
group’s legacy, is how it honours those early years as they sought identity, making gently exploratory music without straining. They’re comfortable,
tangled up in vaguely kinky fables and fairytales, and laid slabs of different in the right ways. The splendour of One For The Vine or Burning Rope here
genres side by side. While late-career anthologies (and farewell tours) melts your resistance, and this section of this collection constitutes their
have tended to favour their subsequent stadium-appeasing music, BBC finest live recording outside ‘77’s Seconds Out, no less.
Broadcasts, curated by keyboard player Tony Banks, redresses the balance. So while the sheer scale of 80s Wembley and 90s Knebworth
In the context of this sweeping collection of intimate BBC sessions and necessitates compromises, it’s the nooks and crannies, trips and treats of
massive live shows, much of it previously unreleased on vinyl, the earlier their getting there, discovering themselves, that make this assemblage
stuff is far more intriguing because much of it is relatively unfamiliar; the a must for dedicated followers of anti-fashion. At their best, Genesis
1987 Wembley Stadium show was out on DVD, and other treasures (such sounded like anything but reality.

Gary Numan Motörhead

Reissues EARMUSIC Bad Magic: Seriously Bad Magic SILVER LINING

Darker than Depeche Mode, twitchier than Forty years after Lemmy formed Motörhead,
Trent Reznor, Gary Numan’s 2000 album the final line-up with Phil Campbell and Mikkey
Pure polarised reviewers with its menacing, Dee released Bad Magic, their twenty-third
often whispered vocals, sinister strings and and final studio album before their leader
uncompromising, shrill blasts of industrial- passed away four months later. Thankfully,
metal guitar. To ice the cake, his lyrics railed producer Cameron Webb captured the
at religious dogma and made no bones about trio on top form, recording tracks live in the
discussing rape, murder, miscarriage and IVF. studio before lathering them in overdubs.
Twenty-three years on, the abrasive angst of this collaboration with the Bad Magic returns with its buffed-up maelstrom expanded by bells-
Sulphur production duo may translate to a broader audience than the and-whistles accoutrements, including three outtakes, a bonus disc
diehard Numanoids who were, at that time, the only people listening. of 2015’s rambunctious set at Mt. Fuji Rocks, a Lemmy audio interview,
The best track, A Prayer For The Unborn, remains a mood-establishing and even a somewhat dubious ouija board for braver fans! Roaring out
live favourite. Scarred – Live At Brixton Academy shows those live chops of the starting blocks with late-period classic Victory Or Die instantly
limbering up through a propulsive 2002 Brixton show. Cars and Are establishes the ferocious energy afoot, before surging through
“Friends” Electric? are there, of course, but the confidence on display roadhouse-razing belters including Thunder And Lightning, Electricity,
hints that the wilderness years may just be giving way to an era of Teach Them How To Bleed and Choking On Your Screams (slow-grinding
successful reinvention. It took a while longer, but he got there. The Devil featuring Brian May).

The Strokes Neutral Milk Hotel

The Singles Volume 1 LEGACY RECORDINGS Complete Recordings MERGE

The initial run of singles from New York’s When Jeff Mangum mysteriously dropped off
down-at-heel brat pack is arguably among the radar for 12 years after the indie success
the greatest since The Beatles’, and in its own of 1998’s In The Aeroplane Over The Sea,
sphere had just as huge an impact. Landing his second album as mainman with Neutral
in an over-produced and lacklustre 2000s Milk Hotel, he left behind arguably alt-rock’s
alternative scene virtually indistinguishable greatest mystery cult. Whether he’d had a
from the mainstream, no-fi jives like The breakdown, gone hot-air ballooning across
Modern Age and Last Nite sounded like hook- the Atlantic or wound up an incognito late-
line dirty bombs bursting from an East Village basement, levelling the night DJ in NYC, he’d left fans with a rich and kaleidoscopic catalogue
landscape. Within months, a new generation of 21st-century alt-rock of music to scour for clues. Self-released by Mangum in 2011 and now
culture was formed in their sharp image and at their compulsive pace. receiving a vinyl reissue on Merge, this completist box runs to 54 of the
This box set of the 10 seven-inch singles released from their first three most transportive and consuming songs in the history of underground
albums is as much historical document as a clutch of magnificent pop rock. Through swarms of tape fuzz, bowed saw, sousaphone
moments, and also testament to the way success inevitably lures bands and experimental sound collage, Mangum bellows his timeless,
from the undergrowth. It covers the highlights of their captivating debut impassioned folk tunes on an acoustic guitar made, varyingly, of silk and
— the locomotive Hard To Explain and gutter-crawling epic New York amphetamine. 1996’s debut On Avery Island is an anti-folk revelation
City Cops — before 12:51 ushers in the slicker era of 2003’s Room On Fire bristling with the exuberance of a wide-eyed plunge into adulthood, and
and they go full-rock on First Impressions singles Juicebox and Heart In A Aeroplane is the masterpiece, full of brisk, brilliant, grotesque folk-pop
Cage. A box set without a single wasted note. about deformity, lust, religion and death. Late check-in essential.

106 Australian Hi-Fi www.whathifi.com/australianhifi

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