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Editor’s lead in
T
here’s no two ways about it;
perceived value counts for a lot.
No matter how well something
performs, there’s every chance it’ll
be disregarded by some in favour of
something that looks better. The PMC Prodigy
1 loudspeakers I recently tested with some
colleagues (review on page 14) could well fall
victim to such misfortune, but for the sake of
PMC’s efforts and anyone in the market for
~$2,000 standmounters, I really hope it doesn’t.
When comparing their build to KEF’s
class-leading LS50 Meta, I politely used the
Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy metaphor for
their differences in stature (the PMCs tall and
slim, the KEFs shorter and stockier), though I
could’ve also made a Beauty and the Beast one
(the PMCs being the ‘Beast’) to communicate
the gulf between their aesthetic attraction.
Now, don’t get me wrong, that second
analogy shouldn’t be taken literally; the Prodigy
1 are far from beastly looking. It’s just that,
comparatively speaking, they wouldn’t last long
in a market-wide knockout beauty contest, with
their traditional box shape, finger-mark-magnet
matte finish, and more black than is good for
it without much in the way of embellishments.
We aren’t short of speakers an interior designer
would happily embrace, and kudos to those
brands who offer competitive sound and
attractive cabinets throughout their catalogues.
The thing is, while looks are important,
a ‘plain’ design in hi-fi can actually be a
sign of greatness. A modest, understated
finish can signal that a speaker’s design and
manufacturing cost, ultimately relayed to
the consumer, has been predominantly put
into its engineering. And the more money
that goes into the engineering side of things
generally translates to a greater potential for its
performance to blow your socks off.
Like 99.9% of speakers, the Prodigy 1
would’ve been designed with a retail price
in mind, so in order to meet it, the design,
parts and production process must fall in line.
Thankfully for the Prodigys, PMC was able
to implement some of its existing tried-and-
tested technologies here (see the review!) —
technologies that, of course, directly contribute
to their exceptional performance. Save for
the distinct vent on their baffle, there’s a lot of
that tech you can’t see, that doesn’t add to the
perceived value but very much does their actual
— performance-based — one.
All of that might not have been possible
had PMC opted for costlier wood veneers or
borrowed the sloped-back cabinet shape of
the next-range-up Twenty5i series. Or even its
mirrored rear panel. Either that or they might
have cost 10 to 20% more, or — gasp — become
the only PMC speaker not manufactured in the
UK in lieu of a cheaper manufacturing facility.
It even made the grilles an optional extra to
keep costs down, which to some people might
reasonably be a step too far. I would’ve perhaps
made the case for a premium-cost wood-
veneer finish option, too.
This isn’t to say that the most handsome
loudspeakers aren’t fulfilling their performance
potential because money has been spent
on beauty care. And I’m sure some readers
consider both must-haves, which is, of course,
perfectly reasonable.
But if you’re demoing a bunch of them — or
anything else — at a dealer, just bear in mind
that if one doesn’t make a great first impression
when it’s brought into the room, that doesn’t
mean it won’t make a lasting one. In fact, there’s
every chance it will.
Oh, and I should say that these PMCs
aren’t the only examples of perfectly executed
hi-fi contained within the following pages.
You’re in for a treat with this issue’s ‘High-End
Review’, for one. The annual publication of the
EISA Awards lies inside too, with each winner
representing the best-performing product in its
respective category, chosen by 60 specialist
magazines (including yours truly) and websites
from all around the world. Australian Hi-Fi’s
British sister publication, What Hi-Fi?, will have
also just announced its Best Buy awards by the
time this issue hits readers’ laps. So if you’re
looking to upgrade this side of 2023, you have
plenty to point you in the right direction.
rebecca.roberts@futurenet.com
November/December 2023 – Issue 533

Future Publishing Australia

PO Box Q1179, Queen Victoria Building
Sydney, NSW 1239
Contents
AUSTRALIAN HI-FI MAGAZINE ISSUE 533 – November/December 2023

Email: aushifi@futurenet.com
Web: www.whathifi.com/australianhifi

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Please call CRM on (02) 8227 6486
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Editorial
Editor: Becky Roberts
rebecca.roberts@futurenet.com
Art Director: Kristian Hagen
kristian.hagen@futurenet.com
Writer-at-large: Greg Borrowman
greg.borrowman@futurenet.com

Contributors
Steve Holding, Peter Xeni

Production
Max Langridge, Sharmishta Sarkar

Photography
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Equipment reviews
not limited to, technical information, is published on the basis that neither the
  
   
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Soundbites
New ribbons to sew
up the market
The new two-way Revela 1 standmounters and
three-way Revela 2 floorstanders are special for
two reasons. Firstly, they’re Quad’s first speakers
since 2016; and secondly, they pack updated
versions of technologies that date way back to
the British brand’s first speaker system from
1949. Encased in thoroughly modern cabinets,
the designs look pretty good for 74.
Key to both new Revelas is Quad’s True Rib-
bon high-frequency driver. This was introduced
in Quad’s debut system, the Corner Ribbon, and
has undergone many iterations in the decades
since, with this latest version supposedly taking
four years to develop. While the original was
relatively fragile, only able to handle a maximum
of 15 watts of power, Quad says the latest
True Ribbon design has a reinforced sandwich
diaphragm “capable of handling the demands
of modern music and the higher power output
of contemporary solid-state amplifiers without
mechanical failure”.
By positioning a ribbon of thin aluminium foil
within a strong magnetic field through which the
audio signal flows, Quad says its ribbon tweeter
avoids breakup modes and resonances typical of
other planar designs.
The mid/bass diaphragms, meanwhile, are
made of a new material called ‘Reveal’ that Quad
has developed itself. A mix of wood pulp and
artificial fibres, it promises to deliver “superior
bass control and smoothing upper-midrange
resonances”. This diaphragm is incorporated into
a driver built on a cast chassis and fitted with a
high-power magnet and voice coils for greater
sensitivity. The Revela 1 has a single 165mm
mid/bass driver, while the Revela 2 boasts two
165mm bass drivers, with a 150mm unit on
midrange duties.
Quad’s Director of Acoustic Design, Peter
Comeau, said: “Quad has been responsible for
many audio innovations since the mid-twentieth
century. The ribbon tweeter is one such creation,
and we are delighted to have developed a new
Welcome,
TAGA Harmony
European hi-fi brand TAGA Harmony is bringing
its eclectic range of speakers, separates and
systems Down Under, with Audacity Australia
becoming the exclusive distributor of the
European brand, and expanding its hi-fi portfolio
of Lenco and Airpulse in doing so.
It’s taken TAGA Harmony a while to reach
Australian shores. The brand was founded in
1990 by P. Kokocinski from Poland and K. Richard
from Germany, who sought to offer something
it didn’t believe the hi-fi industry was offering —
high-end sound quality at affordable prices.
‘At the beginning, the company was
operating in the field of sound engineering
06 Australian Hi-Fi www.whathifi.com/australianhifi
version of Quad’s ‘true ribbon’ driver as a cen-
trepiece of the Revela design. Our Reveal cone
material is another breakthrough, engineered to
match seamlessly with the ribbon treble unit and
ensure the listener revels in effortless drama and
detail as music fills the room.”
A new damping layer in the rubber surrounds
absorbs reflections that would otherwise cause
resonances in the upper-frequency range, and
the drivers’ output is combined via an Acoustic
Butterworth crossover network that Quad says
has been fine-tuned over hundreds of hours of
listening tests in the name of driver cohesion.
Bass performance is helped by bass reflex
ports — one in the Revela 1, two in the 2 — that
are typical for smaller cabinets. They aim to
smoothen airflow and increase the efficiency
of the reflex system. The speaker cabinets use
stressed and braced panels with radiused edges
in a bid to reduce diffraction, too.
services and audio products enhancement’,
reads the company’s website. ‘It took almost
two years to develop the first loudspeaker
prototypes which met the enthusiastic reception
from audiophiles. Nowadays our brand is offering
high-quality products for the hi-fi, audio-video
and professional market.’
Over the past three decades, TAGA Harmony
has created a comprehensive catalogue of
The Revela 1’s optional speaker stands
position them at the optimal listening height
while also managing the effects of vibrations
and sound reflections. The Revela 2, meanwhile,
come with carbon steel plinths, stainless steel
spikes and spike seats.
Available in your choice of lacquered all-black
or walnut (with piano black front baffle, top and
base) finishes, the Revela 1 and 2 cost $4,000
and $8,000 respectively, with the optional
stands for the former priced at $1,700 per pair.
We could have more news from the Quad stable
in the next issue, too, as new electronics —
presumably the Platina Series of separates that
made an appearance at the High End Munich
show — are promised by the end of the year.
For more information, contact AV
Revolution on (02) 9521 4844 or visit
www.avrevolution.com.au
products that include hybrid valve amplifiers,
high-end CD players, passive loudspeakers,
in-wall/in-ceiling and outdoor speakers, audio
cables and accessories, and equipment for the
pro audio market. Head over to TAGA Harmony's
website (www.tagaharmony.com.au) and you’ll
see that it has barely left any stone unturned —
not only regarding product categories but also
price points.
For example, the company offers its HRD-
1000CD v.2 all-in-one stereo receiver (with
built-in CD playback and an output of 105 watts
per channel) with a pair of Azure S-40 v.2
bookshelf speakers for a tempting $1,645 sum.
A partnership of perfect harmony? Maybe...
For more information, contact Audacity
Australia on (03) 9645 3887 or visit
www.tagaharmony.com.au
 WHEN LISTENING MATTERS
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Soundbites
Ultra wireless
performance?
Well, hasn’t Bose been busy? Following recent
rumours which pointed to a brand-new pair of
premium wireless over-ears and earbuds being
readied for launch, Bose has officially whipped
the covers off the QuietComfort Ultra
Headphones and QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds.
Available in Black or White Smoke, the
former replace the veteran Bose Noise
Cancelling Headphones 700 while the latter
take the place of the year-old, class-leading
QuietComfort Earbuds II.
Bose’s ‘Immersive Audio’ makes its debut
on both Ultra pairs. The technology is designed
to make “spatial audio accessible to all” thanks
to some powerful new onboard processing.
According to Bose, the mode reveals music’s
“true depth, spatialising what you’re hearing
by virtually placing it in front of you”
and “virtually seating you in the
acoustic sweet spot”.
There are two modes of
Immersive Audio to switch
between — Still and Motion.
Still is recommended for
when you are stationary and
want your music to be in a fixed
position, while Motion allows the
audio to move with you so that it’s
always out in front of you — "great for staying
immersed on the go,” says Bose.
The Ultras also get Qualcomm’s Snapdragon
Sound technology suite, blessing them both
with aptX Adaptive Bluetooth support.
Then there’s Bose's proprietary technologies
which automatically adjust the amount of ANC
being used, so your music isn’t drowned out by
particularly loud noises.
Bose claims to have improved the call quality
of the over-ears, too, by implementing more
From Paris
to Melbourne
Advance Paris has landed in Australia!
Synergy Audio Visual in Melbourne has taken on
exclusive distribution of the French electronics
brand here, bringing its ‘something for everyone’
product catalogue to Aussie audiophiles for the
first time.
Advance Paris has been operating since
1995 and has come a long way since it launched
five loudspeaker models into the French market
that year. Today it offers a vast range of hi-fi
08 Australian Hi-Fi www.whathifi.com/australianhifi
advanced mics in a beamform array that work
to reduce the impact of external noise.
The QuietComfort Ultra Headphones fold
flat like the old 700 model, and further good
news is that they have been given a cleaner
design. On the right earcup is a button for
power/Bluetooth pairing, a capacitive touch
strip for volume and accessing shortcuts,
and a multifunctional button that can be used
for various tasks, including switching listening
modes, answering calls or playing music.
The left earcup has an LED indicator, a
2.5mm jack and a USB-C charging port. Bose
claims battery life is up to 24 hours with
Immersive Audio turned off and 18
hours with it turned on. Not
bad, not brilliant.
Pricing is interesting.
They are more expensive
than their predecessors,
costing $649. This places
them some way above the
superb Sony WH-1000XM5
yet still keeps them distanced
from Apple's pricey AirPods Max.
The Bose QuietComfort Ultra
Earbuds, meanwhile, get on-bud touch
controls and IPX4-rated water resistance.
Again, Bose claims to have improved call quality
in tricky environments — the headphones can
prioritise the mic on the earbud that is
experiencing the least noise, and also filter noise
out so that your voice sounds clearer.
Battery life comes in at an average of six
hours when Bose Immersive Audio is turned
off, dropping to four hours when it’s turned on.
This seems like quite a sacrifice — hopefully the
spatial experience will be worth it.
The Ultra Earbuds have a new metallic finish,
too, while the fit of the stability bands that
wrap around the edge of each earbud has been
tweaked too.
separates and systems, from CD players
and network streamers to pre/powers and
streaming integrateds — and for both the
price-conscious and higher-end hi-fi fan,
with prices starting below $1,000 and
soaring beyond twenty times that.
Fans of analogue VU-meter aesthetics
and valve performance should like what
they see and hear, with many Advance Paris
components utilising vacuum tube technologies
alongside solid-state. The jury is out on how
competitive the performances of Advance Paris
products are, but having perused its catalogue
it is certainly hard to argue with their on-paper
versatility — many of the sources and all-in-ones
offer CD, FM radio, network streaming and
digital and analogue connectivity.
Synergy Audio Visual also distributes the
likes of McIntosh, Sonus faber, Ruark Audio and
ELAC in Australia, and of the new partnership
with Advance Paris, Managing Director Philip
There's a price hike over the outgoing model
here too. The Ultra Earbuds cost $449.95 — a
premium over both the Sony WF-1000XM5 and
Apple AirPods Pro 2.
And there's a third! Bose has also launched a
pair of wireless ANC over-ears that do without
‘Ultra’ status and its associated features, simply
called the Bose QuietComfort Headphones.
They replace the QuietComfort 45 and add
the ability to adjust levels of noise-cancelling
and set custom ANC modes. There’s also multi-
point Bluetooth functionality for simultaneous
connectivity to multiple source devices; a
24-hour battery life; and a third, limited-edition
colour — Cypress Green. Price is $549.95.
Well, that’s quite a lot to take in. It’s a little
surprising that Bose is replacing the QC Earbuds
II so soon considering they are barely 12 months
old, but launching the complete ‘Ultra’ range in
one go does make sense. When it comes to the
Ultra over-ears, it always seemed a little strange
that Bose's flagship model (the Noise Cancelling
Headphones 700) didn't have QuietComfort in
the title given the rich history of the sub-brand.
Considering the 700 launched way back in 2019,
too, a new flagship pair has arguably been a long
time coming.
For more information visit
www.bose.com.au
Sawyer said: “Advance Paris is one of the most
exciting and innovative companies to join the
top-tier of global hi-fi brands in recent years.
While the company is over 25 years old, the
current range is truly remarkable. The
combination of feature-set, performance and
price points are unique in the market.”
Dimitri Peucelle, CEO of Advance Paris, adds:
“Our line over the last years has been the trigger
for world-wide recognition, we now look forward
to sharing our range of products which bring a
high level of comfort as we propose audiophile
features likely to seduce music passionates.”
Intrigued? A future issue of Australian Hi-Fi
magazine will, fingers crossed, feature a review
of one of Advance Paris' MyConnect streaming
integrated amplifiers.
For more information, contact Synergy
Audio Visual on (03) 9459 7474 or visit
www.synergyaudio.com

Everything but the
kitchen sink
A stereo network receiver is an ideal product for
anyone looking to satiate their hi-fi and AV fix
in a neat two-channel solution, but I don’t envy
them (or rather, their creators): these versatile
babies have to cover a lot of bases in today’s
world! Thankfully, Denon knows a thing or two
about such demands, so its new DRA-900
stereo network receiver comes with all the bells
and whistles you could ever likely want from a
mid-range model — support for 8K video, hi-res
audio and a comprehensive suite of wired and
wireless services and platforms.
Cyrus finally
embraces BluOS
BluOS-powered music streamers from Cyrus
Audio have been teased for nearly two years,
and now the highly anticipated double-act has
finally arrived.
Say hello to the new Stream-XR and Classic
Stream. The former joins Cyrus’ flagship XR
range of hi-fi separates while the latter expands
the company’s long-standing Classic series,
which was revived last year and also includes the
Classic Amp and Classic Pre components.
Both retain Cyrus’ trademark half-width
chassis footprint, though the Stream-XR sports
a display and a row of control/playback buttons
on the front panel while the Classic Stream is
a more minimalist affair with no display and a
single power button simply adorning the front.
The music streamers have greater parity on
the features front — there's support for AirPlay
2, MQA decoding, Roon Ready and both Wi-Fi
and Ethernet connectivity. The proven BluOS
platform, which appears in many Bluesound,
Denon says this latest just-add-speakers
system is positioned to bridge the gap between
legacy hi-fi systems and modern AV technology.
The 2.2-channel receiver looks to build on the
capabilities of the DRA-800, which came out
in 2019 and supported 4K video. The new 900
offers even more power than its predecessor —
145 watts per channel compared to 100 watts —
and supports higher-res video should you have
access to it, with three of the six HDMI inputs
and its single HDMI output supporting 8K video
alongside eARC connectivity.
There are also CD, phono, USB and TV audio
inputs to accommodate a wide range of external
sources in your setup, plus DAB+/FM radio.
The DRA-900 also allows two pairs of
speakers to be connected at the same time for
Dali and NAD network
products, is the core
streaming foundation
of both components,
allowing playback from
music services such as
Tidal, Qobuz, Deezer
and Spotify, as well as
networked hard files, through the intuitive BluOS
controller app.
Each model can handle lossless playback of
high-resolution audio files up to 24-bit/192kHz
PCM. The primary hardware difference between
the two models lies in the internal DAC used.
The superior Stream-XR uses the second
generation of Cyrus’ QXR DAC, which includes
a “high-speed analogue buffer stage” and aims
to deliver the analogue signal as accurately
and precisely as possible. This DAC design is
based on the ESS ES9038Q2M chipset, tuned
by Cyrus’ own engineering team to achieve the
“highest possible performance”.
Meanwhile, the Classic Stream uses the first
generation of this QXR DAC, which is also found
in the Classic Amp integrated amplifier and
Soundbites
convenient A/B switching, parallel playback or
bi-wiring. You also have twin subwoofer outputs
to add more grunt should you desire it.
In terms of wireless connectivity, the
DRA-900 supports ALAC, FLAC and WAV at
up to 24-bit/192kHz via Wi-Fi, with the HEOS
streaming platform found across networked
products by Denon and Marantz allowing direct
playback from services as well as multi-room
functionality. Bluetooth and AirPlay 2 are also
on the many-choices menu.
The Denon DRA-900H costs $1,399
and should be available very soon.
For more information, contact
Masimo Australia on 1300 627466
or visit www.denon.com
Classic Pre preamp.
In terms of physical connections, the
Stream-XR features analogue line-level, optical
and coaxial outputs in addition to one optical and
coaxial input apiece. The Classic Stream makes
do with optical, coaxial and line-level outputs
only. Both models have provisions for adding
Cyrus’ external power supply, too — for an extra
cost, of course.
The Cyrus Classic Stream and Stream-XR
music streamers are now available, priced at
$2,499 and $3,999 respectively.
For more information, contact Indi Imports
on (03) 9416 7037 or visit
www.indimports.com
Australian Hi-Fi 09
Soundbites
Single-box system
sophistication,
inside and out
Ruark Audio has unveiled its R410 all-in-one
streaming system and, well, just look at it! With
a 70s-inspired retro design bedecked in distinct
wood panelling, a sleek touchscreen display and
the company's customary RotoDial controller,
the new R410 has every bit the appeal of a
contemporary one-box solution.
Those handsome looks are complemented
by a huge array of streaming conveniences,
not to mention hi-res support, radio tuners and
ample physical connections. The R410 promises
to deliver “unrivalled sound and seamless
connectivity options” and will naturally look to
give Naim's similar, proven proposition, the
Mu-so 2, a run for its money.
Indeed, while Ruark Audio has a long, strong
history of making beautiful radios and speakers
that combine retro charm and modern features,
this R410 — the first product in its new 100 Series
of products — brings the company into a realm
that brands such as Naim, KEF and, as of late,
Sonos have dominated.
The streaming ABCs come as standard:
AirPlay 2, Bluetooth (in aptX HD flavour) and
Chromecast. You also get Tidal Connect, Spotify
Connect and DAB/DAB+, FM and internet radio.
If that’s not enough for your musical needs, you
can physically connect your TV, CD player or
other audio sources to the R410’s HDMI eARC
or optical inputs. There's even a phono stage so
you can hook up a turntable directly.
Wi-Fi and Ethernet are means to get the
Ruark connected to your home network, and the
R410 has UPnP compatibility, too, allowing you
to play any music files stored on there. The
Streaming spinner
Pro-Ject has hopped aboard the streaming
turntable trend with its first-ever Wi-Fi
spinner. The all-new T2 W uses Wi-Fi as
opposed to the more 'traditional' (in the context
of the vinyl revival, that is!) Bluetooth method as
the means for its wireless connection.
The T2 W is positioned as a step-up model
from the current (non-wi-fi) T1 and superficially
looks like a larger version of it. Yet beneath its
similar exterior is the capacity for wireless
vinyl transmission that can stream records to
network devices — such as compatible music
streamers, home theatre receivers and speaker
systems — simultaneously in lossless quality.
The T2 W’s streaming technology utilises
the latest WLAN standards combined with
MIMO tech for “faster transmission speeds”
and “greater stability”, while a multi-core CPU
provides further reliability. If you don’t trust your
Wi-Fi or the turntable sits out of its range, the
T2 W can be wired to your home network via its
Ethernet port.
10 Australian Hi-Fi www.whathifi.com/australianhifi
internal BurrBrown DAC can handle hi-res audio
files up to 24-bit/192kHz PCM.
Under the hood is a Class D amplifier offering
120 watts of power per channel. Ruark says it
has gone for digital amplification for its “high
efficiency and output with ultralow distortion”,
with its smaller form factor (compared with
traditional Class A/B amplification) also allowing
it to “mount a complete two-channel amplifier
assembly directly onto the rear of each bass mid
unit”, keeping signal paths short in the name of
audio integrity.
The R410 uses the very same 20mm silk
dome tweeters found in the long-running,
successful MR1 Mk2 desktop speakers. And
alongside those twin tweeters are two 10cm
long-throw NS+ mid/bass units. Additional bass
oomph is offered by dual bass-reflex ports
positioned on the underside of the unit. If you
were wondering, the whole unit measures 13.3 x
56 x 29cm (hwd) and weighs 9.5kg.
The stylish hand-crafted grille and cabinet
use sustainable wood material, engineered and
recomposed in a way that offers “consistent
grain patterns and colour that’s less prone to
change with time”. Ruark says it has given careful
attention to every element of the design and
build, from the subtle curve to the wooden grille
to the fonts chosen on the display screen. Even
the colour of the backing MDF (all black) was
supposedly chosen to ensure a seamless look
through the gaps in the front grille.
Breaking up the wooden fascia is the 4.4-inch
The built-in UPnP streaming technology
supports the sending of audio signals up to
24-bit/48kHz resolution in lossless quality,
though lossy transmission is also an option for
wider device compatibility. The T2 W is even
multi-room capable, so you can send audio to
various products and rooms “without audio
degradation”, claims Pro-Ject. Handily, control
of your streaming can be managed by Pro-Ject's
brand-new control app.
TFT full-colour interactive screen, which very
much fits its brief to “emulate the way that we
view music services on our smartphones”. It’s
certainly unusual and a seemingly clever
departure from the cruder screens on many
radios and modest hi-fi devices.
Unlike other Ruark internet radios, which
use third-party software that is also available
in radios from other brands, the software and
processing inside the R410 is bespoke. There’s
a separate app available, though Ruark would
point you to an updated version of its circular
RotoDial controller on the unit, a replica of which
is also available as a lovely standalone remote
control. Neat.
“Apart from the tweeter drivers taken from
our award-winning MR1 speakers, absolutely
everything about our 100 Series is new!,” says
Alan O’Rourke, Managing Director of Ruark
Audio. “Taking almost three years to create, we
are truly excited as to what 100 Series offers
and believe that it will open a new and exciting
chapter for Ruark.”
The Ruark Audio R410 is available now in
walnut or soft grey (with walnut grille) finishes,
priced at $2,599. The 100 Series looks like it will
be bolstered 'soon' by the R810, "a statement
piece that you will want to design your room
around and with the spirit of a classic radiogram".
For more information, contact Synergy
Audio Visual on (03) 9459 7474 or visit
www.synergyaudio.com
The pre-fitted tonearm on this latest
spinner is a nine-inch model with a one-piece
aluminium tube, and a Sumiko Rainier MM
cartridge in the box means you can start using
the T2 W straight away. The T2 W runs on a
high-performance belt-drive system with a
precision-speed AC motor attached to
Pro-Ject’s T-Line sub-platter, which drives a
new zero-resonance glass platter providing “an
ideal playback surface for vinyl records”.
There are switchable speeds of 33 and 45
RPM, with an analogue-to-digital conversion
system for archiving vinyl records directly to
your computer via USB (MP3 quality only). The
deck also features an updated moving-magnet
phono stage.
The Pro-Ject T2 W wireless turntable costs
$1,799 and will be available from December in
black, white and walnut finishes.
For more information, contact Interdyn
on (03) 9426 3600 or visit
www.interdyn.com.au
 NETWORK RECEIVER

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Soundbites

Upgrades all round

A new speaker range from Bowers & Wilkins
is always big news, but a new 600 Series puts
expectations through the roof considering how
successful the mid-priced models have been
over the years. So here it is — the line's eighth
generation. The 600 Series S3, as it's called,
comprises the 606 S3 and (smaller) 607 S3
standmounts ($1,499 and $1,149 respectively),
the 603 S3 floorstanders ($3,499) and the
HTM6 S3 centre speaker ($1,149).
According to the British brand, the four-strong
range features some of the most comprehensive
upgrades the 600 family has ever received, many
(emphasis on the ‘many’!) of which have been
inspired by the step-up 700 Series S3 range.
The biggest of these upgrades has to be the
introduction of a new titanium dome tweeter to
the series. It’s a two-part construction with a thin
25-micron main dome braced by a 30-micron
titanium ring, housed in a longer tube-loading
system that helps reduce vibrations behind the
dome and promote “a more open sound”.
The tweeter also gets a new mounting plate
to aid dispersion, as well as a more open tweeter
grille design taken from B&W’s recently launched
800 Series Signature. Series specification. The borrowing continues: Bowers has even introduced metal threaded
Another big change for the 600 Series S3 the crossovers get upgraded bypass capacitors inserts into the bottom of the 606 S3 and 607
line is a revised cabinet design that mounts the from the 700 models. S3 so they sit even more securely when placed
tweeter and main driver units closer together Elsewhere, the new 600 Series S3 benefits on top of their FS-600 S3 stands ($499 per set).
with “intersecting trim rings” to improve imaging from a new motor assembly for the midrange A comprehensive series spruce up indeed.
and driver integration. The cabinet’s internal and mid/bass drivers that use Bowers & Wilkins'
bracing has also been advanced by upgrading Continuum Cones. The paper-cone bass drivers For more information, contact Masimo
the type of wood used. in the 603 S3 also now use the same motor Australia on 1300 627466 or visit
The speaker terminal trays on the rear of system found in the 703 S3, too. www.bowerswilkins.com/en-au
each speaker are taken from the 700 Series S3,
while the rear-facing bass ports are also of 700

Features on tap
From a features point of view, it would be easier
to list what’s missing on the Audiolab 9000N
streamer, such is the extensiveness of its
offering. We’re used to seeing music streamers
tick this box and that, no matter their price point,
but Audiolab’s new flagship network player must
be one of the most versatile around.
The 9000N brings network streaming to
the British brand’s top-tier family of separates,
which already comprises the 9000A integrated
amplifier and 9000CDT CD transport — much
in the same way the 6000N Play and 7000N
Play do to Audiolab’s entry-level and mid-range
series respectively. While comparable to its
streaming siblings in many ways, the 9000N has
a major point of differentiation: instead of
utilising the DTS Play-Fi platform to provide its
core streaming and user experience, the new
flagship is based on a platform built from the
ground up around a Linux-based operating
system. Hence the absence of ‘Play’ in its name.
To that end, the 9000N has a primary control
app that offers easy access to services such as
Tidal, Qobuz, Spotify and TuneIn Radio. Audiolab
says this platform goes big on user experience,
offering handy features such as intelligent
search and the ability to create multi-source
playlists. Spotify and Tidal can also be streamed
directly from their native apps thanks to
Connect support for both, while AirPlay 2, UPnP
and Roon round out a comprehensive catalogue
of streaming features.
File support is just as all-encompassing —
PCM up to 32-bit/768kHz and native DSD up to
22.5MHz (DSD512) across Wi-Fi, Ethernet and
USB, with full MQA decoding also included. In
addition to both USB-A and USB-B inputs (for
plugging in USB sticks and laptops/computers
respectively) are several outputs — RCA, XLR,
coaxial and optical — so that the streamer can
be used with an external DAC.
Of course, a successful streamer isn’t just
a box-ticking exercise; it needs to sound just
as complete. In a bid to achieve that goal,
Audiolab once again has built its design around
an ESS Technology DAC chip — this time the
eight-channel ES9038PRO from the firm’s
highest range. The British brand has leveraged
the chipset’s digital-to-analogue conversion
skills with its own proprietary circuitry, which
includes an ultra-precision master clock for tip-
top timing and “remarkable signal-to-noise ratio
and exceptional dynamic range”. Additionally, a
new Class A circuit has been developed for the
9000N, and as in other Audiolab components
the DAC stage has been given its own power
supply to provide clean power to the left and
right channels individually.
The Audiolab 9000N network streamer is
available now in a choice of black or silver, priced
at $5,499. That puts it directly in the firing line of
Naim’s veteran class leader, the ND5 XS 2, so,
needless to say, it will be interesting to see how
Audiolab’s apex achievement stacks up.
For more information, contact AV
Revolution on (02) 9521 4844 or visit
www.avrevolution.com.au

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

 EISA AWARD WINNING
PRODUCTS AVAILABLE
FOR DEMO AT
AUDIO CONNECTION

audioconnection.com.au | 02 9561 0788 Scan the QR code to

visit our website
On Test PMC Prodigy 1 Loudspeakers

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


PMC Prodigy 1
Loudspeakers
• Hugely impressive clarity and resolution
• Precise and organised
• Decent bass depth and punch
A
s fantastic as PMC’s Twenty5
series loudspeakers are, there’s
no denying they stood as a
relatively high entry point into
the company’s speakers. So
when the British brand revealed a new entry-
level range with a starting price nearly half that
of the previous most affordable PMC model (the
Twenty5 21i), somewhat ironically during the
High End Munich show earlier this year, I was a)
delighted, and b) intrigued to see how it would
fare against the established competition around
this very popular and competitive price point. I’m
talking about long-proven models from your KEFs
and Bowers & Wilkins, Dalis and Wharfedales and
so on. Well, just a few months later, the time has
come to find out!
The PMC Prodigy 1 standmounters make
up a two-strong range alongside the Prodigy 5
floorstanders (which feature on page 16), and
together they open up PMC speakers to a wider
audience looking for compact loudspeakers
for small-to-medium-sized rooms below the
$4,000 mark. But just because the Prodigy
speakers sit at the bottom of the company’s
lineup doesn’t mean they’re exempt from PMC’s
tried-and-tested technologies. Far from it, in
fact. According to PMC, the Prodigys are even
measured and listened to alongside reference
models, and furthermore signed off by their
assembler before they’re boxed up and ready for
shipping. It certainly seems like PMC is serious
about taking its studio-grade sound mainstream.
BUILD & DESIGN
The two-way standmounts’ 27mm soft-dome
tweeter and 130cm mid/bass driver have
Their aesthetic will
appease those from
the school of minimalist
design, it just isn’t likely
to stand out...
On Test
• Relatively low perceived value $2,299
both been taken from models further up the the KEFs but a number of high-performing pairs
company’s line. The tweeter has been developed around and below this price point — Bowers &
from the one found in the impressive PMC result6 Wilkins’ 606 S3 and Sonus faber’s Lumina 1, to
studio monitors, while the natural-fibre, dished- name just two. The ATL/Laminair implementation
cone mid/bass unit is the same featured in the gives these otherwise ‘Plain Janes’ one point of
company’s ci (custom install) series, which PMC visual interest at least, and the ‘Silk Black’ matte
says has become the reference for Dolby Atmos finish looks and feels nice enough (though don’t
music mixing in studios around the world.
That driver has been designed specifically to
couple with PMC’s signature ATL (Advanced
Transmission Line) bass-loading method,
which is used in all PMC speakers.
Illustrated on page 18, this essentially
guides the backward energy of the mid/
bass driver through damped material
inside the speaker and out of the front
port. Most of the low frequencies
are absorbed, save for a lowest-end
portion that leaves the front port and
contributes to the driver’s output for
more powerful bass. The ATL also works
to keep air pressure inside the cabinet
consistent, inherently improving control
of the driver.
That distinct-looking, aerodynamically
designed port at the end of that internal line
(pictured just to the right) is called Laminair,
which was first developed for the flagship QB-1
studio monitors and is designed to smooth the
passage of air exiting the speaker to minimise
airflow noise and consequently improve bass
definition. Last but not least on the engineering
front, PMC has chosen a crossover point of
1.7kHz in a bid to ensure that the loudspeakers’
off-axis output has the same tonality as their
on-axis output.
Again, despite their relative affordability, the
Prodigy speakers share the same manufacturing
treatment as their pricier peers, being designed
and built in-house in Luton, UK. As mid-priced
bookshelf speakers go, the Prodigy 1 are of the
taller, slimmer nature, their profile making them
the Stan Laurel on the test room stagefloor
when stood next to their closest rival,
the shorter, wider — the Oliver Hardy
— KEF LS50 Meta.
It’s in the design department where
PMC likely chose to cut costs, the Prodigy 1
notably less striking and stylish than not only
Australian Hi-Fi 15
 On Test PMC Prodigy 1 Loudspeakers
... an all-round level of
sonic sophistication
typically associated
with speakers beyond
this price...
feel it too much; it’s a magnet for finger-mark
spoiling). Ultimately, their aesthetic will appease
those from the school of minimalist design, it just
isn’t likely to stand out in a living space any more
than a transparent flower vase.
You might understandably be a bit bummed
to read that the black fabric grilles are an optional
extra costing $189 for a pair, too, though PMC
would argue that a good proportion of buyers
probably wouldn’t use them anyway, and why
push a price point up for something not everyone
wants or needs?
That the focus and cost has seemingly
been put into the engineering for the most part
is hard to argue with when you hear just how
spectacular the Prodigy 1 sound. I’ve heard
enough PMC products over the years that
certain adjectives spring to mind when I think
of their sonic characters: precise, articulate,
insightful and even-handed. All very good things,
I think you’ll agree. And I’m pleased, if not wholly
surprised, to report that these are all attributes
of the Prodigy 1 too.
16 Australian Hi-Fi www.whathifi.com/australianhifi
PERFORMANCE
No bookshelf speaker can operate optimally
without proper support, of course, so I first
pop the Prodigy 1 on trusty stands and toy with
positioning, ultimately finding the best tonality
and balance of authority and stereo imaging is
achieved when the speakers are only slightly
toed-in and placed fairly close to the wall — no
more than half a metre away. Hooked up initially
to a high-end reference system, the Prodigy 1
have the floor.
Some of the best kit impresses from the get-
go and wraps up their fate in a matter of minutes,
while the true sonic colours of others require
longer listens to fully appreciate. These PMCs
are examples of the former, showboating their
stunning clarity, detail and entertaining charisma
during my first parade through Orville Peck’s
Dead Of Night. It’s a doozy of a country-cum-
shoegazy track from the mask-wearing cowboy,
and the Prodigy 1 have the scale, transparency
and authority to embrace its brooding theatrics.
The lap steel guitars pang robustly through
the soundstage without overshadowing the
shakers layered clearly beneath them, while an
impressive dynamic expression and solidity in
the midrange combine to get right under his
crooning baritone.
They do more than hint at an all-round level
of sonic sophistication typically associated with
speakers beyond this price, and that is only
confirmed as the listening session continues.
Play Anohni And The Johnsons’ It’s My Fault from
the collective’s latest album, and the Prodigy’s
midrange talents come to the fore once more.
PRODIGY 5
AT A GLANCE
The Prodigy 5 ($3,399/pair) are the
range’s floorstanders, which have been
designed to take up no more space than
bookshelf speakers on stands. Aside from
their floorstanding stature — 90.5cm high
(and 16.5cm wide and 24cm deep) — they
share plenty in common with the Prodigy 1,
including the 27mm tweeter and 130mm mid/
bass driver, ATL bass-loading technique and
(here, twin) Laminair vents.
While I personally haven’t heard the
Prodigy 5, my colleagues at What Hi-Fi? who
have tell me they’re just as impressive in
their class as the Prodigy 1 — hence why the
publication has just awarded both Prodigys
Best Buy awards. They’re supposedly
very nicely balanced with excellent detail
resolution, clarity and refinement, and avoid
sounding overly analytical. Their ability to
produce a surprising amount of bass for their
slim, compact build is another tick in the box,
too. It’s two for two for PMC’s Prodigys, then!
Reflecting on the journey PMC has taken
to get to Prodigy, CEO Jeff Willcocks says:
“With these new loudspeakers, we have
taken our knowledge, learnt over the past 30
plus years, and distilled it down into a duo of
speakers that make the PMC performance
available to many more people. It is one of the
most significant product launches we have
made, arguably second only to the launch of
the fenestria, which pushed our design work
to the current limits and led to technology
being trickled down into these designs. I am
very proud of what our team has created
here, and I know we are going to win over
a lot of music fans.”
THE ULTIMATE CONSUMER TECHNOLOGY...

ILLUMINATED! g
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EISA AWARDS 2023-24

visit www.eisa.eu for the winners
Now 40 years strong, EISA is the unique collaboration of 58 member magazines and websites from 29
countries, specialising in all aspects of consumer electronics from mobile devices, home theatre display
and audio products, photography, hi-fi and in-car entertainment. This international association includes
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TESTED BY THE EXPERTS Q WWW.EISA.EU

On Test PMC Prodigy 1 Loudspeakers
There’s substance behind her vocal delivery
and a very honest rawness that conveys her
grief and guilt around her complicitness with
how humanity has “broke the earth”. Emotion
18 Australian Hi-Fi www.whathifi.com/australianhifi
pours out of her mouth and the PMCs do well to
communicate it.
And the bass — wow, the bass! For speakers
of their stature and price, I’m pleasantly surprised
to hear them dig deep enough to not only carry
the lowest string note in the walking bassline
beneath but do so while retaining its definition.
Low frequencies have pace and punch to
complement that impressive presence and
depth, too, with the groove-beat that underpins
dancefloor banger Grammar by Floating Points
punching out of the woofer with the force of will
and stop/start precision.
With that low-end agility as well as a great
sense of organisation and timeliness, the
synths bouncing around the soundstage with
purpose and collective rhythm, the rendition is
wonderfully lucid. While the Prodigy 1’s precision
and organisation warrant the label ‘analytical’,
the speakers aren’t informative at the expense of
entertainment. Systematic, yes, but not soulless.
Some may crave a little warmth from the
neutral PMCs, so that should be taken into
consideration when deciding on partnering
Wow, the bass! For
speakers of their
stature and price, I’m
pleasantly surprised to
hear them dig deep...
equipment. Warmth is certainly something you
get from the rival KEF LS50 Meta — there’s a
pleasing body and fullness to their sound, not
to mention a natural cohesiveness, that makes
music sound lovely and free-flowing. But there
isn’t quite the Prodigy 1’s clarity or precision,
nor quite as much detail, making them feel
comparatively a little soft around the edges.
To see how the Prodigys partner with
more price-comparable amplification, they’re
connected first to the Naim Nait XS 3 which I
know very well, followed by the new version of
the Musical Fidelity A1 that was also to hand.
Both are tonally warmer amps than the reference
Burmester hooked up previously (albeit inferior in
overall standard) and happily the PMCs worked
well with both, the presentation losing in clarity,
definition and openness (as you’d expect from
such a significant downgrade in partnering
kit) but striking a nice balance while remaining
dynamically adept. Neither has trouble driving
the PMCs, either, which isn’t all that surprising
considering their relatively unfussy 87.5dB/W/m
sensitivity and six-ohm nominal impedance.
These are speakers that will work with a wide
range of amplifiers.
CONCLUSION
Such versatility and relatively unfussy positioning
help make this yet another pair of PMC speakers
that are easy to wholeheartedly recommend,
but it’s their hugely enjoyable performance that
first and foremost seals their favourable fate.
They sound terrific and no less ‘PMC’ than the
company’s pricier models. Indeed the Prodigy
1 simply open up the PMC sound to a wider
audience, and any of that audience in the market
for new standmounters should waste no time
getting a pair into their home. In fact, they should
pounce at the opportunity. Becky Roberts
CONTACT INFO
Brand: PMC
Model: Prodigy 1
RRP: $2,299 per pair
Warranty: Five years
Distributor: Addicted To Audio
Address: 65 Trafalgar Road
Epping
VIC 3076
T: 1300 888 602
W: www.addictedtoaudio.com.au
 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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On Test Airpulse SM200 Active Speaker System

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


Airpulse SM200
Active Speaker System
• Great sound, particularly across the mids
• Superb build and quality control
• Multiple filters for frequency response customisation
U
nlike most monitor loudspeakers,
which are designed by engineers
who make their living designing
loudspeakers for home hi-fi use,
the Airpulse SM200 active monitor
system was designed and built by a man who
started out as a musician, transitioned to being a
recording engineer with his own studio, switched
to designing loudspeakers for professional and
domestic applications, and is now a freelance ‘for
hire’ loudspeaker designer, as well as the owner
of Phil Jones Bass, a company that builds combo
amps, amp heads and speaker cabinets for bass
guitars along with other guitar-related products.
And just for the record, Phil Jones (because he
named the company after himself) is also still an
active professional musician — yes, you guessed
it, he plays bass guitar. You could, then, say that
Mr Jones has a lot of irons in the fire!
THE EQUIPMENT
One thing I need to make very clear at the outset
• No auto standby circuitry
• No subwoofer output
ribbon is made from ultra-thin, pure aluminium
that is only 0.0127mm thick, which is about 10
times finer than the diameter of a human hair.
Obviously, as this ribbon is fragile, Airpulse
protects it from physical damage with a stiff
black metal mesh over the top. The ribbon’s
output is horn-loaded to increase efficiency, and
the horn that does this is optimized for horizontal
dispersion so that a pair of Airpulse SM200s
can be used as very near-field monitors, such
as when used with a desktop computer. The
amplifier inside the Airpulse SM200 that drives
this tweeter is a Class D design rated with an
output of 15 watts.
The Airpulse SM200’s low-frequency driver
is specified with a diameter of 134mm, but this
turned out to be Airpulse using the standard
industry method of describing the diameter by
identifying the distance between the mounting
holes in the frame. Actually, the overall diameter
of the basket is 148mm and the cone diameter
is 100mm. However, the important dimension
On Test
$1,450
— the Thiele/Small diameter, which gives the
effective radiating area — is 110mm, which puts
that area (called the ‘Sd’ when it’s plugged into
the equation that identifies the ideal volume for
the cabinet in which it is installed) at 95cm². This
driver crosses over to the tweeter at 2.5kHz.
The LF driver’s cone is made from hard-
anodised aluminium-magnesium alloy, which is
hardly surprising given that a) Jones is obsessed
with using them in his bass guitar cabinets, and b)
his 40-year history with alloy cones stretches all
the way back to Ted Jordan and Leslie Watts, the
loudspeaker pioneers who were the first to use
this material for a loudspeaker cone.
The cone is driven by an over-hung 38mm
diameter voice coil wound around a Kapton
former and a neodymium magnet. The driver
uses an exceptionally large heavy-duty cast
frame, built to an exceptionally high standard
and designed using state-of-the art German
Klippel measuring and modelling technologies.
The amplifier inside the Airpulse SM200 that
 THE
DESIGNER
Considering he was born in the UK in 1954 to a
father who was a musician playing in big bands in
the 50s and 60s, Phil Jones’ first love was always
going to be music. Indeed he started learning
bass guitar at a young age and, when he was just
15 years old, built his own electric bass guitar
including carving the body and neck and winding
his own pick-ups.
Already interested in electronics (he built
his own AM radio too), Jones then became
interested in loudspeaker design. Aged 16,
he built his first speakers. “They didn’t sound
so great and I realised there was a lot more to
speaker design, so I got Wharfedale’s Gilbert
Briggs’ book on loudspeakers and that sent me
down the path of my fascination with building
speakers,” he says.
After graduating from Cardiff University,
Jones went to the Welsh College of Music to
learn bass guitar, only to be told they wouldn’t
teach him how to play one: “They told me that
bass guitar wasn’t a proper instrument, so I
22 Australian Hi-Fi www.whathifi.com/australianhifi
my tuition by playing in bands at night and doing
whatever recording sessions I could get, including
a lot for BBC Wales, during which time I became
great friends with Pino Palladino, who went on
to become one of the best bass players in the
world. I can’t believe there was a time he asked
me to cover for him if he couldn’t do the gig!”
Jones eventually decided that the life of
a struggling musician was not for him, so he
went to work in the electronics field with Decca
Navigator Company. But the call of loudspeaker
design was strong and so he left Decca to join
the Vitavox Loudspeaker Company in Kingsbury,
whose owner, David Young, became something
of a mentor to him. “I learned a lot about horn
compression drivers from David,” says Jones.
In 1984, Jones bought a home in South
London with a 24-track recording studio. He
didn’t like the sound of the studio’s monitor
speakers and decided to build his own. “I was
always intrigued by using aluminum as a cone
material,” he says, “and during this time I got to
know Ted Jordan and Leslie Watts, who made
the Jordan-Watts 6-inch speaker [an aluminium-
coned driver], and Martin Colloms [author of
the book ‘High Performance Loudspeakers’]
crossover design.”
The speakers Jones ended up designing and
building were prototypes for the Acoustic Energy
AE1, one of the most famous small monitors
of the 80s, though they were marketed as
home hi-fi speakers to increase sales potential.
Jones moved to the US in 1990 to join Boston
Acoustics, but four years later left to found
Platinum Audio, where he designed the Air Pulse
3.1 that won the Japan Audio Society’s ‘Golden
Sound’ award for ‘best loudspeaker developed in
the 100-year history of loudspeakers’.
In 1998, Jones founded American Acoustic
Development (AAD) in a partnership with Ronald
Kwok, for whom Jones not only designed and
built hi-fi and monitor loudspeakers under the
AAD brand, but also bass guitar amplifiers under
the PJB brand, and guitar amplifiers bearing the
Airpulse brand.
In 2002, Jones founded Phil Jones Bass,
where he pioneered the use of 130mm drivers for
bass guitar amps. Says Jones: “My journey has
come full circle and my passion for bass playing
and sound engineering is reflected in every
product we create.”

The rear terminal plates of the SM200 are
comprehensively outfitted, with three modes of
audio signal input — balanced XLR, balanced TRS
(this stands for Tip Ring Sleeve, and in this design
is implemented in the form of a standard 6.35mm
phone jack) and unbalanced RCA. Because the
two internal amplifiers are DSP-controlled, Jones
has incorporated into the design both a very
sophisticated high-pass filter, and low-frequency
and high-frequency shelving filters (note that
these are not the same as the tone controls on
the A200).
The high-pass filter is continuously variable
so that you’re able to set the –3dB down-point
anywhere from 100Hz right down to 20Hz. You
can also choose between one of four different
filter slopes — 6dB, 12dB, 18dB and 24dB —
depending on how steeply you’d like the filter to
attenuate the frequencies below your chosen
–3dB down-point.
The high- and low-frequency shelving filters
are not continuously variable but instead allow
you to adjust levels to +3dB or –3dB, each way
in three single 1dB steps from neutral. Unlike
conventional bass and treble tone controls which,
when adjusted, affect midrange frequencies as
well as bass and treble, the shelving filters on the
SM200 have no affect on mids. The LF control
... a perfect size for
home use on speaker
stands, a bookshelf,
or positioned on either
side of a computer
affects only frequencies below 250Hz, while the
HF control affects only those above 4.5kHz.
The volume control is continuously variable,
with the actual level selected shown in the
small, blue-lettered LCD display to the left of
the level control. Levels are selectable in single
dB increments from –70dB to +6dB, though
this is arbitrary since the actual volume level will
also depend on the voltage you’re delivering to
whichever of the three inputs you are using —
XLR, TRS or RCA. The input in use is also shown
in the display, above the dB reading. Whenever
the Airpulse SM200 is switched on, it will always
default to the last-used input and the last-used
volume level.
LISTENING SESSIONS
The difference between professional monitor
loudspeakers and home hi-fi speakers is that
the former are designed to deliver the flattest,
most linear frequency response possible across
the midrange, to make it possible to evaluate
exactly what is being captured during a recording
session, and thus the exact sound that will be
replayed after that recording session. Home
hi-fi loudspeakers, on the other hand, are often
designed to make any music played through
them seem ‘better-sounding’, with the definition
of what constitutes ‘better-sounding’ being
mostly the personal preference of the company’s
design engineer (or marketing department!).
In some cases, designers of home hi-fi
loudspeakers deliberately engineer a peak in
the upper-bass response to make the bass
seem more impressive when the speaker is
initially auditioned. Some other manufacturers
deliberately make their designs deliver treble
at a higher volume than the midrange, so that if
you’re comparing them against a speaker with a
flat high-frequency response, that flat response
On Test
will sound ‘dull’ by comparison, despite actually
being a more accurate representation of what the
original recording engineer intended (and a more
accurate representation of the original sound).
The midrange of the Airpulse SM200 is
completely audibly flat and linear, so it is truly
a professional monitor loudspeaker. But more
than this, the flatness and linearity extend way
up into the high frequencies to beyond the limits
of human hearing. You may need to ‘tweak’ the
HF control a dB or so either way to achieve this
linearity, depending on how and where you have
positioned the SM200 in your listening room,
but this is exactly what that HF control is for — to
compensate for speaker location. (Though, of
course, you are always free to tweak it to suit your
own personal preference!)
As for linearity in the low frequencies, this
will also be significantly affected by where you
have positioned the SM200 in your room, though
many of these limitations can be compensated
for (at least to a certain extent) by using the
LF shelving control. However, as dictates the
inviolable laws of physics — at least as they apply
to speaker design — absolute bass response,
in terms of both volume level and extension,
is always dictated by the diameter of the bass
driver being used, as well as its excursion
capability, in combination with the internal
volume of the cabinet in which it’s mounted.
So given the relatively small diameter of the
SM200’s bass driver, and taking into account too
that it’s also doing double duty as a midrange
driver, while also considering the modest cabinet
volume available, you’re going to be hard-pressed
to get any significant volume below about 50Hz
from this design. (This would naturally be true for
any loudspeaker using an identically sized driver
in a cabinet of the same volume.)
The good news here is that you can use the
Airpulse SM200’s high-pass filter to remove
signals you don’t want from its ambit. This means
that you can use a subwoofer in conjunction
with the SM200 without having any conflict
between the bass from the subwoofer and the
bass from the SM200. Do this and you’ll also be
relieving the SM200’s low-frequency driver of
the burden of delivering those frequencies, which
will improve the maximum SPL capability while
at the same time reducing distortion — most
particularly Doppler distortion — even further
than the already-low levels that were evidenced
in my listening sessions. Indeed the argument
for using an external subwoofer with the SM200
is so strong that I am a tad surprised that Jones
did not see fit to include a sub output on the
SM200’s rear panel.
In my listening sessions, the Airpulse SM200
proved to be true monitor-quality loudspeakers,
with very low levels of distortion and a true-to-life
sound quality that was very revealing of any flaws
in a recording, such as accidentally captured
Australian Hi-Fi 23
On Test Airpulse SM200 Active Speaker System
extraneous sounds. Stereo imaging and channel
separation were superb, of course, because the
left-channel and right-channel signal paths are
completely separate — they’re so separate that
they’re not even on the same circuit board (as
they are with the A200).
This highlights a significant advantage that
independent active speakers have over passive
loudspeakers, which is that in a passive system,
the degree of separation between the left and
right stereo channels is dictated by whatever
amplifier you are using to drive them — and
some amplifiers have relatively poor channel
separation, particularly at high frequencies. This
is, of course, why many audiophiles use mono
power amplifiers in their systems!
However, active speakers have another
significant advantage over passive designs. In a
passive speaker system, the essential crossover
network that ensures that the low frequencies
are routed to the bass driver, and the high
The midrange of the
Airpulse SM200 is
completely audibly flat
and linear, so it is truly
a professional monitor
24 Australian Hi-Fi www.whathifi.com/australianhifi
frequencies to the tweeter (and in a three-
way system, the midrange frequencies to the
midrange driver), is passive, meaning it absorbs
(wastes!) some of the power from the amplifier
that is supposed to go to the drivers.
Also, when using only passive components
(primarily inductors and capacitors), it is very
difficult to prevent some of the frequencies that
should be going to one driver from also being
sent to the other driver, which inevitably causes
problems both at the crossover point itself as well
as at the frequencies roughly an octave above
and below it. Because both drivers are delivering
frequencies they’re not supposed to, the signals
interfere with each other.
In the Airpulse SM200, as with all active
loudspeakers, the crossover is implemented
electronically (a so-called ‘active’ crossover)
so that there are no losses in the crossover
network. More importantly, in such an active
implementation, it’s very easy to ensure that
audio signals intended for the bass driver do
not end up at the tweeter and vice versa. By way
of example, most passive speaker crossover
networks have filter ‘slopes’ of only 6dB or
12dB per octave, whereas most active speaker
crossover networks have filter slopes of 18dB or
24dB per octave.
But in the Airpulse SM200, Jones has gone
one step further than an active crossover
network, which is achieved using analogue audio,
and has instead implemented the electronic
crossover using DSP (digital signal processing)
so that the crossover (and the level adjustments
on offer) are entirely done in the digital domain.
This means that although you need to deliver an
analogue audio signal to the SM200, that signal
is being changed to digital via an ADC (analogue-
to-digital converter), processed via DSP, then
converted back to analogue for amplification
and delivery to the speakers. This method allows
for increased precision, including the ability to
modify the audio signal’s frequency response to
compensate for any deficiencies in that of the
low-frequency driver and/or the tweeter.
This is achieved via several state-of-the-art
bits of silicon, including Texas Instruments’
PCM1861 ADC, its PCM5242 DAC and its
TLV320AIC3254 DSP processor. The ADC and
DAC processes are done at a sampling rate of
192kHz using 24-bit ‘words’.
So, for example, if the low-frequency driver
had a slight dip in its response at a certain
frequency, DSP could be used to engineer a slight
peak in the audio signal at that same frequency
to ensure a flat response.
Getting back to my listening sessions with
the Airpulse SM200, putting on the intro track
(Without You, Without Them) on one of my
favourite albums of the year so far (Boygenius’
‘The Record’), I was stunned by the sonic
revelations revealed by the SM200. Due to the
a capella delivery and naivety of the recording, it
is, truly, as if the band was in my listening room.
I know this is a cliché, as well as a hackneyed
expression, but in this case it’s entirely

appropriate. Listen to this track via the SM200
and I’m certain your jaw will drop (yep, another
one of those hackneyed expressions).
Get past the title track and after skipping
past $20 (well, I do; it’s not a favourite of mine),
you’ll hear Phoebe Bridgers take the lead
vocal on the absolutely lovely Emily, I’m Sorry,
her breathy voice somewhat overproduced,
and you can hear that the SM200 are not only
glorious-sounding across the midrange but also
glorious-sounding up into the high frequencies,
where those ribbon tweeters do a simply superb
job of delivering tinkling, crystalline, ultra-pure
treble. Note, however, that if you are using these
speakers in the nearfield (i.e. very close to your
ears!) you will need to tilt the speakers slightly
so that the tweeters are aimed exactly at your
ears, because if they’re aimed too low you won’t
hear those glorious highs. This is not an issue if
you’re listening in the far field, though I would still
suggest that you aim those tweeters at the level
of your ears.
True Blue has Lucy Dacus taking over the lead
vocals, thankfully with a lot less over-production
on her voice. This track lets me hear that the
SM200 are very handy in the bass as well. The
A N N I V E R S A R Y
*With online registration
deepest bass is understandably a little back in
the mix, which, as I suggested earlier, is nothing
the addition of a powered subwoofer couldn’t
fix in a jiffy. However, despite the slight low bass
attenuation, there was still more than sufficient
low-frequency response to allow me to admire
Sebastian Steinberg’s great electric bass riffs and
the kick drum in Carla Azar’s drum kit, as well as
her unusual tom, so it may be that only complete
low-bass fanatics will consider adding an external
sub to the setup. Either way, this is something
you’ll very easily hear for yourself if you audition
these Airpulse speakers in person.
Listening to Cool About It reveals that all three
guitarists in the trio are pretty handy pickers,
which you would probably already know if you’d
followed their individual careers prior to them
joining forces as Boygenius. (Confession: I hadn’t.
The arrival of Boygenius on the scene was a
complete surprise to me... albeit a most welcome
one.) The clarity with which the Airpulse SM200
deliver the guitar-picking, and the different
trademark sounds of the different guitars they
play, speaks to the authenticity of their delivery.
It’s easy to hear why professionals would want to
use them as studio monitors.
S E R I E S
10 YEARS
WARRANTY
RX-A8A*
RX-A2A
7.2 Channels
On Test
The sonic build-up on the repeated line
“Always an angel, never a God” that chimes in
before the close-out to Not Strong Enough is
delivered brilliantly by the SM200. The track
titled Leonard Cohen reveals one of the potential
downsides of super-accurate studio monitors,
which is that the scraping sounds of fingers as
they move up and down the guitar strings are
plain to hear, but I suppose this is only what you’d
hear at a live performance and so something you
need to learn to live with!
Elsewhere, the accuracy of the reproduction
also means that sibilances are also crisply
obvious, but modern recording techniques mean
that they are usually few and far between, so this
is just an observation (though there’s more than
just a few on ‘The Record’). As for why Boygenius
decided to include Leonard Cohen on this album
at all is a mystery to me, though I suspect it was
just so they could get a crack in at Cohen’s line,
“there’s a crack in everything, that’s how the light
gets in” by adding to it their own line, “but I am not
an old man having an existential crisis at a Buddhist
monastery writing horny poetry”. However, I can
forgive the inclusion because of the closer Letter
To An Old Poet. A supergroup indeed.
Yamaha AVENTAGE RX-A8A
AV RECEIVER OF THE YEAR OVER $5000
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7.2 Channels 9.2 Channels 11.2 Channels
On Test Airpulse SM200 Active Speaker System
If you are a Miley Cyrus fan and you listen
to her most recent album, ‘Endless Summer
Vacation’, when you are auditioning the SM200,
you will know from the very first track (Flowers)
whether there’s enough bass on offer to satisfy
you, or whether you’ll need to add a sub. I could
easily follow Kid Harpoon’s throbbing bass lines,
but you wouldn’t want to crank the volume up
too high as there’s a limit to how much output the
SM200’s bass drivers can deliver (despite that
outrageous claim for 140dBSPL!). Every time I
hear this track I feel that I’ve heard the melody
before, in a different song written and performed
by someone else completely, but I’ve not been
able to put my finger on it. Maybe I should ask
Laboratory
Test
Report
Readers interested in a full technical
appraisal of the performance of the
Airpulse SM200 active speaker system
should continue on and read the
LABORATORY TEST REPORT published on
the following pages. Readers should note
that the results mentioned in the report,
tabulated in performance charts and/or
displayed using graphs and/or photographs
should be construed as applying only to the
specific sample tested.
26 Australian Hi-Fi www.whathifi.com/australianhifi
Myf Warhurst or Alan Brough for an opinion...
Flowers is undoubtedly the finest track on
ESF, and likely one of Cyrus’ finest tracks ever
— better, in my opinion, than Wrecking Ball but
perhaps on a par with Midnight Sky. But then
maybe I am biased because I think that ESF is a
better album than ‘Bangerz’ ever was. Either way,
it sounds mighty fine played through the Airpulse
SM200 active monitors.
CONCLUSION
Although Airpulse touts the SM200 as ‘monitors’,
and they have the tonal accuracy of studio
monitors as well as all the bells and whistles
you’d expect to find on studio monitors, they are
Newport Test Labs measured the in-room
frequency response of the Airpulse SM200 using
pink noise, and the result is shown in Graph 1,
where you can see that the measured result of
the test showed a response that extends from
50Hz to 20kHz ±3dB, which is an excellent result.
You can also see from the graph, however, that
most of the dB variation in the response is due
to the Airpulse SM200’s slow low-frequency
roll-off, where it starts off at +3dB at 200Hz and
ends up at –3dB at 50Hz. The response between
100Hz and 10kHz is very close to being within
±1dB, which is an extraordinarily good result that
means the speaker’s output volume is audibly
uniform over an almost seven-octave range.
Note, however, that the Airpulse SM200’s
high-frequency response is actually more
extended than these figures suggest because
the upper measurement limitation for this
particular test technique is 20kHz. The actual
measured response for the SM200 (using a
measurement technique that delivers higher
accuracy at high frequencies) was 50Hz to 28kHz
±3dB. (Refer to Graph 4.)
nonetheless great-sounding speakers that would
be absolutely perfect for home use, particularly
in smaller rooms. Not only do they sound great
but they’re also beautifully built, look great, and
have multiple filters that allow you to customise
the frequency response to suit both your
personal preferences and your listening room
situation. And if all that wasn’t enough, because
the SM200 have all the amplification you need
already built in, you won’t need to shell out any
money for an external amplifier. All you will need,
in fact, is to provide a music source. What’s not
to like?
Greg Borrowman
CONTACT INFO
Brand: Airpulse
Model: SM200
RRP: $1,450 per pair ($725 single)
Warranty: Three years
Distributor: Audacity Australia Pty Ltd
Address: 158 Lorimer Street
Docklands
VIC 3802
T: (03) 9642 3887
E: info@audacityaustralia.com.au
W: audacityaustralia.com.au
The near-field low-frequency response of
the Airpulse SM200 is shown in Graph 2, where
Newport Test Labs has run the test four times
— three to show how you can adjust the bass
output level using the LF shelving control, and
the fourth to show the output of the rear-firing
bass reflex port. Newport Test Labs used only the
+3dB, 0dB and –3dB settings, and you can see
that although the filter’s shelving action is very
precise, the boost and cut action is very slightly
less than claimed, with boost at +2.5dB and cut
at –2.5dB (at 100Hz). AirPulse says the filter has
no effect on frequencies above 250Hz, but this
graph shows it affects frequencies up to 500Hz.
The bass reflex port’s peak output is around
42Hz, whereas I would’ve expected to see it at
around 44Hz, so the Airpulse SM200’s design
has obviously been ‘tweaked’ a little to improve
its low bass performance. Despite this, there will
still be very little acoustic output below 44Hz.
Graph 3 shows the effect of the LF roll-off
filter with the roll-off frequency set to 100Hz,
and the roll-off slope is switched between 6dB/
octave (blue trace), 12dB/octave (orange), 18dB/
octave (green) and 24dB/octave (purple). Again,
 Lab Report

dBSPL dBSPL
110 110
.EWPORT 4EST ,ABS .EWPORT 4EST ,ABS
105 105

100 100

95 95

90 90

85 85

80 80

75 75

70 70

65 65

60 60
20 Hz 50 100 200 500 1K 2K 5K 10K 20K 10 Hz 20 50 100 200 500 600

Graph 1. In-room frequency response using pink noise test stimulus — upper Graph 2. Near-field low-freqency response showing shelving action and the output
graphing limit 20kHz. of the bass reflex port.
dBSPL dBSPL
110 110
.EWPORT 4EST ,ABS .EWPORT 4EST ,ABS
105 105

100 100

95 95

90 90

85 85

80 80

75 75

70 70

65 65

60 60
10 Hz 20 50 100 200 500 600 600 Hz 1K 2K 5K 10K 20K 40K

Graph 3. Near-field frequency response showing the effect of the filter slope slider Graph 4. Anechoic far-field high-frequency response showing effect of HF filters
using 100Hz f/o. +3dB (red), 0dB (black) and -3dB (green).
dBSPL dBSPL
110 110
.EWPORT 4EST ,ABS .EWPORT 4EST ,ABS
105 105

100 100

95 95

90 90

85 85

80 80

75 75

70 70

65 65

60 60
20 Hz 50 100 200 500 1K 2K 5K 10K 20K 20 Hz 50 100 200 500 1K 2K 5K 10K 20K

Graph 5. Composite frequency response. Graph 6. Frequency response (in-room spliced to anechoic at 1.6kHz).

the filters are very accurate, with the measured
results being 6.5dB/octave, 14dB/octave, 20dB/
octave and 25dB/octave. In combination with the
filter frequency control, this would enable superb
acoustic integration with a subwoofer.
Graph 4 not only shows the effect of the HF
shelving filters on the high-frequency response
but also extends the measurement window out
to 40kHz by using a gated sinus measurement
technique that replicates the response that
would be obtained if the speaker were measured
in an anechoic chamber, and provides higher
precision than either a pink noise stimulus or
a log-swept sine chirp. Firstly, you can see
that the maximum boost and cut available is
more like 2.5dB than the 3.0dB claimed, and
secondly that the shelving action is once again
extremely precise. However, you can also
see that, while AirPulse says the filter has no
effect on frequencies below 4.5kHz, which is
essentially true for the –3dB setting, it is not
the case for the +3dB setting, where you can
see that frequencies all the way down to 2kHz
are affected. I would recommend not using the
boost for this control, instead sticking with either
the 0dB setting or one of the minus dB settings
(unless your room is overly acoustically damped,
that is).
Graph 4 also shows that the Airpulse SM200’s
high-frequency response actually extends out
to nearly 30kHz before rolling off, as mentioned
earlier in this report.
Graph 5 shows all of the responses measured
by Newport Test Labs on one graph. Mostly it
reveals nothing new, except that we can see
there is significant acoustic output from the
rear-firing bass reflex port at 1kHz. Because of
this, I would recommend that if you’re using the
speaker close to a rear wall, you should put some
damping material on that wall immediately behind
the bass reflex port — either a commercially
available absorber, tuned to 2kHz, or otherwise a
small thick drape.
The anechoic high-frequency performance
of the Airpulse SM200 is shown in Graph 6,
where the trace representing it has been spliced
via post-processing to the room response. The
trace shown was measured with the HF shelving
filter at 0dB, the setting in which the SM200
will deliver its flattest and most linear high-
frequency response. Again, this is a superbly flat
and extended response, particularly across the
midrange and high frequencies.
Overall, the performance of the Airpulse
SM200 active speaker system, as measured by
Newport Test Labs, was outstandingly good.
Steve Holding

Australian Hi-Fi 27
Phono Preamplifier
• Exceptional stereo imaging
• Superb response
• Super-low noise
on De Sensi, the founder,
owner and lead designer of
the all-Australian, Melbourne-
based brand OAD UltraFidelity
has been exceptionally busy
of late, bringing to fruition
models that have been in the
pipeline for many years, including the Vajra power
amplifier and Padma preamplifier, which I have
previously reviewed for Australian Hi-Fi magazine.
The OAD UP1 reviewed here was apparently
designed as a direct result of requests from De
Sensi’s network of hi-fi retailers, though he told
me that most of the pressure came from the
owner of a famous salon in Melbourne. I know
who it is, but I’ve been sworn not to name names!
The design brief that underpinned the
development of the OAD UltraFidelity UP1 stated
that it be affordable and have sufficient flexibility
to accommodate any moving-coil cartridge on
the planet. According to De Sensi, in the more
than three years the UP1 has been available,
many hundreds have been sold and so far, he
says, “every customer has found one resistive
loading appropriate for their MC cartridge”.
As for whether the design brief included that
the UP1 should deliver exceptional sound quality,
28 Australian Hi-Fi www.whathifi.com/australianhifi
• No Balanced input
• One colour finish
• No DIP switch tool
well, if you’re aware of De Sensi’s track record in
this department, you would already know that
that went without saying!
THE EQUIPMENT
One of the ways OAD has kept the price low is by
minimizing the size of the chassis, which it has
done in two ways. Firstly, the 240V step-down
transformer is completely separate from the
phono preamplifier itself, which means that high-
voltage AC is kept separate from the sensitive
phono circuitry, via a two-metre-long umbilical
cord. This, in turn, has meant that the chassis of
the preamplifier can be small — only 210mm wide,
183mm deep and 95mm tall. When you pick it
up, however, you will immediately feel that its
small size belies its weight, because thanks to its
very thick (5mm and in some places more!) CNC-
machined anodised alloy chassis, it weighs in at a
hefty 2.3kg.
The power supply for the UP1 is somewhat
smaller and lighter than it, measuring 114 x 130 x
63mm (WDH) and weighing 1.25kg.
Another of the ways OAD has kept the price
low is by minimising the colour palette of the
chassis. You have only the option made famous
by Henry Ford: black, black, or black! The only
$2,799
pity about this choice of single finish is the fact
that the rather good-looking OAD logo inscribed
in the UP1’s front panel is not only exceptionally
difficult to see but also almost impossible to
photograph... hence the ‘black box’ appearance
of the UP1 in the images accompanying this
review. You’ll have to take my word for it that the
UP1 looks better in the flesh.
In normal daylight (or room lighting), the logo
is visible, but when lit in such a way as to make
the logo visible in a photograph, it almost appears
as if the enclosure is coloured light grey rather
than black. Trust me, it’s black. There is, however,
a tiny smidgeon of colour in the design, because
when the unit is switched on (using the 240V
switch on your wall’s mains outlet; there is no
power switch on the power supply or on the UP1
itself ) a tiny LED on the front panel lights up to
show the UP1 is up and running.
As you’ve no doubt already guessed, all of
the action takes place around the back, where
there are user adjustments for load impedance,
load capacitance and gain, enabled by manually
moving DIP (Dual In-line Package) switches.
As far as load impedance is concerned, if
you’re using a moving-magnet cartridge, you
have only one option: 47 kiloohms. That’s the only

option you’ll need, too, since all MM cartridges
require this load. Some, however, require
different load capacitances, so the UP1 offers you
two options: 100pF and 220pF, which you can
add to augment the standard 100pF inherent in
the design.
For a moving-coil cartridge, you have seven
options available to you: 22, 30, 50, 100, 200,
430 and 1,000 ohms (though you could also
use the 47 kiloohm setting that’s more typically
used for MM). As luck (or design!) would have it,
these seven will, as De Sensi claims, be all you
need for any moving-coil cartridge, because
the rule of thumb is that load impedance should
be 10x the cartridge’s internal impedance. In
practice, though, you’re better off providing the
load the cartridge manufacturer recommends,
which will sometimes be different to this ‘rule of
thumb’ (which I guess is why they call it a ‘rule of
thumb’!).
By way of example, Hana recommends that
the MC cartridges it makes, which have an
internal impedance of 30 ohms, should ideally
see not a 300-ohm load but a 400 one. However,
Ortofon recommends that the MC cartridges
in its Quintet series, which have DC resistances
of either 5 ohms or 7 ohms, should be loaded
by “≥20 ohms”! (I want to emphasise that the
addition of the exclamation mark is mine as
essentially Ortofon is suggesting that all load
impedances higher than 20 ohms would be
equally suitable, which is likely not going to be a
captain’s call once you exceed about 200–400
ohms). The only thing that can be positively said
about load impedances that are too high for a
specific cartridge is that they won’t cause any
damage to the cartridge, just the sound you hear
from that cartridge.
Rothwell Audio Products, a UK firm that’s
been around for more than 30 years and has
been measuring the actual impedance of phono
cartridges for as long as it’s been building
step-up moving-coil transformers and phono
preamplifiers, says: “Most modern moving-coil
cartridges have a source impedance of about
10 ohms, and the ‘load impedance ten times the
the circuit to resonate at a specific (very high)
frequency, which in turn has affected the circuitry
inside the phono preamplifier itself.
The only thing that is always true when
choosing a load for a moving-coil cartridge is that
it should never be the same as the cartridge’s
impedance! Advocates offering this incorrect
information usually quote the well-known
‘maximum power-transfer theorem’ which states
I have to say that
the load resistances
available on the UP1 are
exactly those I would’ve
chosen myself
that to transfer the maximum amount of power
from a source to a load, the load impedance
should match the source impedance. While this
is true in many circumstances involving electronic
components, it does not apply to phono
cartridges/phono stage matching for reasons
too complex to go into in this short review.
In addition to providing the correct load for
whatever cartridge you use, you also have to
provide the correct gain and, in the case of the
UP1, this is also selected via a DIP switch. Inherent
gain is initially selected by choosing between a
gain of 40dB (moving-magnet cartridges and
high-output moving-coil cartridges) and 60dB
(low-output moving-coil cartridges), which is
achieved simply by moving the appropriate
switch on the DIP (the left-most switch on the
left and right channel ‘Load’ DIPs) to the correct
spot. You can add an additional 20dB of gain in
5dB steps using the switches on the ‘Gain Adjust’
DIPs (again it is necessary to do this for both left
and right channels).
The signal input to the UP1 is via a pair of gold-
On Test
a standard plated steel post with a knurled plastic
knob. I can appreciate that this post design keeps
costs under control, but in this case I would’ve
gladly paid a few bucks extra if it meant I could
have a gold-plated knob that screwed down a
gold-plated thread.
Signal output is provided in unbalanced
form via gold-plated RCA terminals or balanced
form via gold-plated XLR terminals. Given that
turntables with balanced outputs are starting to
appear on the scene, OAD might like to consider
making a version of the UP1 with balanced XLR
inputs. I say ‘a version’ because considering
the tiny market for phono stages with balanced
inputs, it would not make economic sense to
include them on the UP1 as standard.
INSIDE THE UP1
Open up a UP1 to peek inside (I’m not
recommending you actually do this, it’s just
a turn of phrase) and you’ll discover that the
circuits for the left and right channels are not only
completely separate but they’re on completely
different printed circuit boards, so the one you
can see in the photo overpage is only for the left
channel — the identical PCB for the right channel
is directly underneath it.
The UP1’s circuitry includes three integrated
circuits — two ultra-low noise, low-distortion
operational amplifiers (an LT1115CN8 and a BB
OPA2134PA) and a Burr Brown DRV134PA which
uses operational amplifiers to convert a single-
ended output to a differential output pair (that
is, the line driver for the balanced outputs). This
device uses — deep breath — on-chip laser-
trimmed precision resistors to provide accurate
gain and optimum-output common-mode
rejection. It has a high-output drive capability too,
meaning it can easily drive the large capacitive
loads associated with long audio cables, in the
event you might be using these.
All six ICs are socketed, rather than soldered,
so in the extremely unlikely event of a failure they
are at least easily replaceable. And if superior
versions become available, as is likely, the
socketing makes it possible to upgrade them
IN USE AND LISTENING
SESSIONS
The first thing you have to do when setting up the
OAD UP1, even before turning on the power, is set
up those DIP switches. One issue I had with this
is that the otherwise excellent and informative
manual that came with my UP1 wasn’t actually
crystal-clear on how these DIP switches might
be set, leaving some room for misinterpretation,
particularly with regard to the available load
values for MC cartridges. While clarifying this
with De Sensi, he agreed that the manual’s
wording could be subtly changed to avoid any
potential confusion, and advised that a new
version of the manual with these changes would
be produced by the time this review is published.
The heart of the issue I had with the manual is
that after reading it, I thought some users might
assume that the switches on the ‘Load’ DIP can
be used in combination, so that by switching
both the 100-ohm and 100-ohm switches to ‘On’
would introduce a load of 300 ohms. This is not
the case. You can select only a single value from
the seven available, and if you don’t select any at
all, the load will be 47 kiloohms.
When it comes to adjusting the DIP switches,
I was able to use my special DIP switch tool.
And I was going to suggest that you buy one
at the same time you buy your UP1, because
many people don’t like doing what is often
recommended by manufacturers, which is to
use a ballpoint pen, a paper clip or a Jeweller’s
screwdriver (either because they don’t want
pen-marks on the switches, or to run the risk of
potentially damaging a switch).
The only problem with me recommending
you buy your own special DIP switch tool is that
I discovered that the place I got mine yonks ago
... so good, in fact, that
I reckon few phono
preamplifiers could
even approach its level
of performance
30 Australian Hi-Fi www.whathifi.com/australianhifi
(Jaycar) no longer sells them. Neither, it seems,
does anyone else! The only readily available tool
I could find was a device rather unfortunately
called a Grayhill ‘90 Dipstick’. Mouser Electronics
sells these for just $3.25... but postage costs
$24 (they ship via UPS Worldwide Express!), after
which there’s $2.73 for GST to add, bringing the
grand total to $29.98 — a bit excessive for what
is essentially a plastic stick! So I guess you will
have to settle for a ballpoint pen, a paper clip
or a screwdriver, though I do think that a plastic
swizzle stick might work well! (It also occurred
to me that OAD including a DIP switch tool as an
accessory in the box would be a nice touch.)
Unlike many phono preamplifiers, the OAD
UP1’s internal design means that the levels of
distortion and noise in the audio signal will be
identical irrespective of how little or how much
gain you use, so De Sensi recommends you
choose whichever gain setting allows your main
amplifier’s volume control to operate within a
range similar to that of your other music sources
— which seems to make sense.
The majority of my auditioning with the OAD
UP1 was made with a moving-coil cartridge
— the Dynavector DV-20X2, to be precise.
Because it’s the low output version (nominally
0.26mV at 5cm/sec), I used the maximum gain
available (80dB) to compensate for its very low
output. And, although Dynavector specifies
the DV-20X2’s DC resistance at 5 ohms and
recommends you load it with “≥30 ohms”, and
both 30-ohm and 50-ohm settings are available
on the UP1, I prefer to use it with a load of 100
ohms. I was, therefore, pleased to see this
setting on the UP1. In fact, I have to say that the
load resistances available on the UP1 are exactly
those I would’ve chosen myself had I been asked
to provide a list of the seven most useful values
when using a moving-coil cartridge.
The very first LP I played was Pink Floyd’s
‘Wish You Were Here’, for no other reason than
it’s almost always the very first album I play
when reviewing anything vinyl-related. The
lead-in track’s mysterious sonic build-up (a bit
reminiscent of Vangelis’ music for ‘Bladerunner’)
was delivered impeccably by the OAD UP1.
The purity of the guitar riff around two minutes
in was exceptional, with lovely sustain. The
high-frequencies in the background around four
minutes in were clearly audible — something that
I find is rarely the case. The depth and power of
the kick drum and bass guitar at around the five-
minute mark were awesome, and I was impressed
by how the cymbals sounded so shimmery
despite the amount of music being created.
The fact that the left and right channels of
the OAD UP1 are totally separate was evident the
moment the stylus settled into the grooves of the
second track, Welcome To The Machine, where
first the sound pans from the right channel to the
centre, and then the bass guitar notes alternate
back and forth between the two channels.
The OAD UP1’s reproduction of this effect was
amazingly good — so good, in fact, that I reckon
few phono preamplifiers could even approach its
level of performance. This entire track is replete
with left/right FX that you can only appreciate
if your equipment is capable of reproducing it...
and the UP1 is certainly more than capable!
The closing moments to Welcome to the
Machine are also a perfect vehicle for finding out
just how quiet your playback chain is, and I’m here
to tell you that the UP1 is more than whisper-
quiet: it’s totally silent. You will not hear any noise
from it at all, only remnant surface noise from the
vinyl or any noise your turntable might be making.
In this regard, the OAD UP1 is absolutely perfect.
(And just in case you think I’m banging on about
Welcome to the Machine, you should know that its
opening vocal line is my ringtone for when my son
calls me... he’s also a Floyd fanatic.)
More glorious channel separation moments
kick in with the intro to the title track, as well as
another demonstration of the complete lack of
background noise. However, it also demonstrates
the perfect level-matching between the left and
right channels, as that disembodied guitar is
not only precisely centred but also ‘floating’ out
the front of the soundstage like a wraith. It truly
doesn’t get much better than this.
What’s also miraculous is the way the UP1
reveals the true nature of each of the many
instruments playing on this track, no matter how
distantly or how briefly they appear. The sound of
the Steinway is a perfect example of this.
With the benefit of hindsight, it’s a miracle
that recordings of this quality were possible back

in the ‘70s, so for my next album it was another
one from that decade, ‘Best Friends’, those best
friends being Cleo Laine and John Williams,
both of whom are, amazingly, still with us! (Well,
maybe not so much for Williams as he is only in
his eighties.)
The album’s opening track, Feelings, features
a superbly played intro by Williams, with some of
the best fret-stopping I’ve ever heard, and the
UP1 delivers it in all its perfection. The charm,
warmth and depth of Laine’s voice are instantly
obvious from the very first word she sings. It’s a
tribute to her talent that you’d only need to hear
one word of any of her intros to know you were
listening to her. Her tonality was unique, which is
rare amongst vocalists. The purity with which the
UP1 delivers her voice is indeed indicative of the
lack of distortion in its circuitry.
Laine’s almost four-octave range was also
unique, not least because of her ability to deliver
a pure-sounding G above high C. I think other
vocalists have since exceeded her range (and too
her highest notes), but I don’t think anyone has
ever delivered such musicality across that range.
The UK’s Sunday Times reviewer Derek Jewel
OAD UltraFidelity UP1 Phono Preamplifier On Test
the best singer in the world”. She was also fun, state-of-the-art internal components and
often singing (and scatting) simply for her own outboard power supply, that is the secret to its
amusement. Their version of Before Love Went superior sound quality. The OAD UP1 is a superb
Out of Style on this album is a masterclass phono stage that, despite being built here in
in performance art. Australia by technicians being paid award rates,
Wave, which closes out Side 1, is yet another is priced at a point where it’s going to undercut
outstanding performance piece. Just listen to any competitors I can think it might have when it
Laine’s enunciation of the word ‘together’ after comes to outright performance.
she first sings ‘two can dream a dream’. Her Greg Borrowman
scatting on this track is also extraordinary. Side
B opens with a superb version of Lennon and
McCartney’s Eleanor Rigby, before continuing to
equally superb covers of Awake My Love (Ross/ CONTACT INFO
Moore) and If (David Gates), and then an original Brand: OAD (Open Audio Designs)
(Charms) written by Laine and her late husband, Ultrafidelity
John Dankworth. It’s worth having this album on Model: UP1
vinyl simply to experience it. Second-hand Mint RRP: $2,799
and VG+ copies will set you back around $50, Warranty: Three years
but if you’re not prepared to risk second-hand Distributor: OAD Ultrafidelity Pty Ltd
vinyl then I suggest you get the CD from Amazon Address: Lawson Way
instead, for somewhat less. The music, guitar- Endeavor Hills
playing and singing are all to die for in any format. VIC 3802
T: (04) 6847 3229
CONCLUSION E: info@oadultrafidility.com
I cannot help but feel that it’s the sheer simplicity W: www.oadultrafidelity.com
 OAD UltraFidelity UP1 Phono Preamplifier

Laboratory
dBr
3.00 Newport Test Labs

2.40

Test
1.80

1.20

Report
0.60

harmonic distortion component at –98dB 0.00

(0.0012% harmonic distortion), a third harmonic -0.60

component at –102dB (0.0007% HD), and fourth/ -1.20

fifth harmonic components at –115dB (0.00017%

Readers interested in a full technical -1.80

HD). The sixth and eighth harmonics are right

appraisal of the performance of the OAD -2.40

down at –118dB (0.00012% HD). The ‘grass’ on

UltraFidelity UP1 Phono Preamplifier -3.00
20Hz 100.00 1000.00 10k

the graph between 0Hz and 4kHz is 240V mains Graph 1. Frequency response MM input, 5mV input,
should continue on and read the
noise and its harmonics, which is inevitable when 40dB gain
LABORATORY TEST REPORT published
testing at the low voltage levels required to test dBFS
on the following pages. Readers should 0.00 Newport Test Labs
phono preamplifiers. That there is no noise in the
note that the results mentioned in the
UP1’s output above 4kHz (at least none higher -20.00
report, tabulated in performance charts
than 120dB) is an outstanding result.
and/or displayed using graphs and/or -40.00
The signal-to-noise ratios measured by
photographs should be construed as
Newport Test Labs are listed in the tabulated chart
applying only to the specific sample -60.00

and not only outstandingly good but also largely

tested.
in accordance with OAD’s own specification for -80.00

the UP1. Note that the most impressive results

-100.00
were simply because of the high voltage output
reference (10 volts). However, even with a more -120.00 0Hz
4000.00 8000.00 12000.00 16000.00 20k

realistic 2V reference, the A-weighted results of Graph 2. THD at 1kHz, 5mV input, 40dB gain
88dB (MC) and 96dB (MM) that were returned by dBFS
0.00
the UP1 are stunning. Newport Test Labs

Newport Test Labs measured the absolute -20.00

gain for the various gain settings, and all were

exceptionally close to the stated gain settings, -40.00

with the 45dB setting giving 45.9dB of gain, and

-60.00
the 50dB setting giving 49.8dB of gain, to give
two examples. So not quite perfect, but very -80.00

close to it.
The trace in Graph 3 shows that OAD is using -100.00

T
he frequency response of the OAD
UP1 proved to be incredibly flat and
linear when it was tested by Newport
Test Labs. The frequency response
between 20Hz and 20kHz is shown
in Graph 1, and you can see that for the most part
it tracks the 0dB horizontal graph line, dipping
below it from 45Hz up to 800Hz by only about
a maximum of 0.1dB centered around 100Hz.
Below 45Hz there’s a slight lift to +0.3dB at 20Hz,
while at the other end of the audio spectrum,
the response is just +0.3dB high at 20Hz. So,
when normalised across the audio band of 20Hz
to 20kHz, the OAD UP1’s measured frequency
response is within ±0.22dB of a straight line.
The UP1’s frequency response is flat above
and below the audio band as well, with Newport
Test Labs measuring it as being 0.61dB down
standard RIAA equalization inside the UP1, rather
-120.00 0Hz 8000.00
4000.00 12000.00 16000.00 20k
than the newer RIAA-IEC equalization. (The IEC
Graph 3. RIAA curve (MM input), 5mV input,
version rolls off frequencies below 20Hz.) The 40dB gain
provision of standard RIAA EQ is to be expected:
all phono stages that offer only a single EQ curve
(rather than both) offer the older version, so the off at the 240V mains when you’re not actually
UP1 is in good company. using it.
Measured power consumption was a miserly Overall, the measurements made by
3.7 watts, which is not going to impact your Newport Test Labs on the OAD UP1 revealed
power bill, or even be enough to warm the case, stunningly good performance... state-of-the-art
but I would still recommend switching the UP1 performance, in fact! Steve Holding
OAD UltraFidelity UP1 Phono Preamplifier – Laboratory Test Results
Test Measured Result Units/Comment
Frequency Response @ 1 watt o/p 20Hz – 20kHz (+/–0.22dB)
Frequency Response @ 1 watt o/p 5Hz – 40kHz (+/0.611dB)

at 5Hz and 40kHz. Channel separation at 1kHz Channel Separation (dB) 103dB @ 1kHz
was a superb 103dB. I’m not sure the lab has Channel Balance 0.023dB @ 1kHz
ever measured a better result than this for a Interchannel Phase (Direct) 0.00 degrees @1kHz
phono stage! Channel balance was equally good,
THD+N 0.05% @ 2V out
coming in on test at just 0.023dB at 1kHz, which
S/N Ratio MM (unwghted/A-wghted) 90dB / 96dB dB referred to 2V out
means the quality control on the left- and right-
channel printed circuit boards is amazingly good. S/N Ratio MM (unwghted/A-wghted) 103dB / 110dB dB referred to 10V out
There was no phase error between the channels S/N Ratio MC (unweighted/A-wghted) 81dB / 88dB dB referred to 2V out
at all — that 0.0-degree result shown in the Input Sensitivity (MM/MC Input) 40dB gain 4.60mV / 460uV (MM/MC)
tabulated results table to the right isn’t a misprint,
Output Impedance 50 ohms @1kHz
it’s indicative of a zero phase error at 1kHz.
Power Consumption Not Applicable / 3.7-watts (Standby / On)
Distortion was very, very low, as you can
see from Graph 2. You can see that to the right Power Factor +0.688
of the test signal at 1kHz there is a second Mains Voltage Variation during Test 239 – 242 Minimum – Maximum

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


Dolby Atmos Music
and ‘spatial audio’:
a new musical dimension
Dolby Atmos Music has added a whole new dimension
to the music-listening experience. Quite literally.
D
olby’s immersive audio
technology, Dolby Atmos, may
have been designed for movie
surround sound in multiplex and
home cinemas, but in the past few
years it has found its way into the music realm
too. Today, thousands of Dolby Atmos Music
tracks are available on streaming services such as
Tidal and Apple Music, and an increasing number
of Atmos-capable devices — including phones,
TVs, soundbars and wireless speakers — can play
them. Dolby even has a dedicated, 402-speaker
Dolby Live venue in Las Vegas where concerts
can be engineered and delivered to audiences in
Atmos in real time. Cool, huh?
Dolby Atmos Music essentially encourages
music to be created in, or produced as, surround
sound instead of good ol’ stereo, so it isn’t
surprising that it’s divided opinion in its fledgling
years. While many of the big players in consumer
technology — Apple, Amazon, Bose and Sonos,
for example — are embracing the technology in
their services and products, some of those in
music are not. Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich
has snubbed the technology, for example.
So is Dolby Atmos Music any good? Does it
make music sound better? And what services
and devices support it? It’s time to improve your
spatial awareness...
What is Dolby Atmos Music?
Put simply, it’s a way of remixing songs using
Dolby Atmos technology.
For the uninitiated, Atmos is an object-
based surround sound tech that started life in
cinemas but has since made its way into home
cinema set-ups all over the world. It differs from
traditional 5.1 and 7.1 channel setups not only in
how it allows engineers to create surround sound
but also by adding extra channels overhead
(delivered by upward-firing speakers, or those
mounted in the ceiling). The result? A much more
engrossing sound, creating a dome of audio with
the audience at the centre.
It’s much more precise than ‘standard’
surround sound. Thanks to the technology’s
new method of calibration, sound engineers
can precisely place sounds at various points in
the soundstage, rather than just pumping them
through a select audio channel. It makes for a
much more realistic home cinema experience.
And now it can do the same for music. Artists
can create music in Dolby Atmos in the studio, or
music can be converted to Atmos purely in the
post-production process.
Where can I listen
to Dolby Atmos Music?
We saw the first tranche of 50 Universal Studio
releases hit streaming services three years ago.
These included Kraftwerk’s ‘3D The Catalogue’,
Hans Zimmer’s ‘Live in Prague’ and R.E.M.’s
‘Automatic For The People (25th Anniversary
Edition)’. Nowadays, however, all tastes are
more or less catered for: there’s everything from
Rodriguez Jr.’s ‘Bliss’ to Public Enemy’s ‘Don’t
Believe The Hype’ to Rush’s ‘Tom Sawyer’, and
everything in between.
As well as remixing existing songs, new songs
are also being produced using Dolby Atmos.
Several of Universal Music Group’s studios are
now kitted out with Dolby Atmos Music mixing
tech, including Capitol Records Studios in
Hollywood, Abbey Road Studios in London, and
Hi-fi Primer
Nashville’s Berry Hill Studios. Head to one of the
streaming services that support Dolby Atmos
Music tracks and you’ll see a section dedicated to
them, presented as songs, albums and playlists.
Rihanna, Gregory Porter, Nina Simone, Avicii,
Coldplay, Jessie Ware, Paramore, Lil Keed...
Dolby Atmos Music is certainly gaining traction in
the music industry.
If you have a pair of headphones to hand,
you can see how Dolby Atmos renders music on
Dolby’s website (www.dolby.com/music).
Dolby Atmos Music can be found on Apple
Music, Tidal and Amazon Music Unlimited, so
subscribers to any of those streaming services
have access to a wealth of these ‘3D’ tracks at
their fingertips. Tidal users should know that the
top-tier Tidal HiFi Plus subscription is needed to
unlock Dolby Atmos Music.
What devices support
Dolby Atmos Music?
Dolby Atmos Music tracks should work on
any device that can handle Dolby Atmos. And
apparently there are now over a billion of them
out there! Atmos-supporting devices include
TVs, AV receivers, soundbars, and even laptops,
tablets and phones. Of course, you’re going to
get a much more impactful listen from a home
Australian Hi-Fi 33
 ‘Bonjour à tous...’

NSW ACT VIC WA QLD

Len Wallis Audio Lumi-Fi Carlton Audio Visual West Coast HiFi – Midland Living Sound & Vision
Sydney HiFI Mona Vale Duratone Hi-Fi Connoisseur
Contents
06 Musical Fidelity’s been busy
From reborn classics to a new high-
performance range, there’s plenty from the
Musical Fidelity stable to talk about.
08 Bang & Olufsen marries
portability with luxury
B&O has produced perhaps the most
luxurious audio accompaniment for a
picnic ever with its latest portable Bluetooth
speaker – and it has the price to match.
10 Rega & STAX birthday
celebrations
Birthdays all around — Rega turns 50 in
style as it upgrades one of its most legendary
decks, while STAÇ has a promotion head-Lj
fans won’t want to miss.
11 Sonus Faber Homage speakers
“About as good as bookshelf speakers
get”, says Len Wallis, the new ?uarneri ?5
from the Italian brand’s Homage range are
gorgeous to look at and listen to.
12 Sonos moves on
Sonos’ Ljrst portable speaker has been
refreshed with more than one upgrade,
making it even more versatile as an indoor/
outdoor hybrid wireless speaker.
13 Revival Audio & RTI releases
Revival follows up its acclaimed Atalnate
models with more contemporary lookers,
and RTI has released a controller designed
to work within a Sonos ecosystem.
14 New all-in-one from
ever-reliable Ruark
You can always bet on Ruark to make a
tabletop music system that both looks and
sounds the part, but the British brand has
somewhat outdone itself with its latest
creation.
15 C Seed can make a statement
In the market for a large (very large) TV?
Then you should know that Len Wallis Audio
has been appointed as an agent for C Seed
Entertainment Systems.
16 Pantheone Audio: an interior
designer’s dream
Producing speakers an interior designer
would approve of, Australian company
Pantheone Audio has set out to show that
design and sound can live harmoniously
together.
17 A signature release from
Bowers & Wilkins
There’s something at the lower and higher
ends of B&W’s catalogue here — and both
new launches are equally as exciting.
18 Barco & Bluesound launches
Len Wallis Audio is now a dealer for Barco,
who according to Len make “arguably the
Ljnest domestic home theatre proĺectors on
the market”. Meanwhile, Bluesound’s latest
streamer is a budget bargain.
19 Yamaha is back!
Yamaha is back in the game after being
a victim of some pandemic-related chip
shortages, namely with four new feature-
packed stereo receivers.
20 Sony projector promo
Ready to soup-up movie nights? Now’s a
good time to buy one of Sony’s premium 4K
proĺectors — you get a Blu-ray player and
accessory bundle for free.
64 Burns Bay Road, Lane Cove NSW 2066 Telephone (02) 9427 6755
sales@lenwallisaudio.com.au
21 Newness from NAD
The Canadian brand has followed up its
Ǘǒth-anniversary limited-edition ampliLjer
release with a more mass-market variant —
and that isn’t all that’s new from NAD.
22 Old meets new in custom install
project
Len Walis Audio recently undertook a
custom installation proĺect that saw the team
give a 19th-century period terrace house
technological awakening while preserving its
heritage aesthetic.
26 Decks duo: Technics & Hana
Exciting news in the Technics camp:
the legendary SL-1200 enters its fourth
generation. And those who are looking for an
exquisite MC cartridge should look no further
than Japan’s Hana.
27 LG’s travelling TV
The future of portable entertainment has
ĺust rolled out of L?’s Innovation Lab, and it’s
quite... businesslike.
28 All-important accessories
?ive your hi-Lj system the gift of maximum
performance or another connectivity feature,
with one of these aDžordable accessories,
from record cleaners and isolation devices to
DACs and Bluetooth receivers.
30 Bowers & Wilkins headphones
Bowers has taken its wireless noise-
cancelling headphones to the next level,
both aesthetically and sonically, with the all-
new Px7 S2e.
Musical Fidelity
Musical Fidelity
It’s been a huge few months for Musical Fidelity. New
products, new directions, and revisiting icons of old...
fuÁista aŇűliLjcatiőň
Musical Fidelity has represented the
benchmark for aDžordable audiophile
products for many, many years. The brand
has now entered the rareLjed area of
audiophile exotica with the release of its
Nu-Vista ampliLjer range. Musical Fidelity
has been using Nu-Vista valves in selected
products for a decade but has now decided
to take this technology to new levels with
this high-performance range. And what a
range this isȺ These are the best-sounding
ampliLjers we’ve heard in a very long time.
There are four models in the range:
Nu-Vista 800.2 This is loosely based on
sound: smooth and musical with cavernous
sound staging, but also gloriously aggressive
and weighty when required. Driving ability
also startles — this 2xǕǕ0W-rated amp will
handle any loudspeaker that crosses its path
— while the reimagined front-panel display
makes operation easy. The Nu-Vista 800.2 is
a fantastic addition to Musical Fidelity’s top-
ljight line-up and a must-hear for any music-
lover.’ $22,000
Nu-Vista PRE A fully balanced pre-ampliLjer
— again based on the ǘS51N nuvistors
in a discrete Class A ampliLjer buDžer. The
Nu-Vista PRE also comes with a dedicated
external power supply. $40,000
Nu-Vista PAS A fully balanced stereo
power ampliLjer rated at Ǖ00 watts per
channel. Like the Nu-Vista PRE, the PAS
comes with a dedicated external power
supply. $43,000
Nu-Vista PAM This mono-block power
ampliLjer design is rated at greater than ǘ00
watts into eight ohms, with a current delivery
of 150 amps peak to peak. I doubt there is a
speaker in the world that this powerhouse will
not make sing. $40,000 each
]˜3Ǘ
ɒ yet aňőtheŴ classic
ŴetuŴňs
The LSǕ/5A loudspeaker was originally
designed during the mid-1970s in
conĺunction with the BBC as a near-Ljeld
studio monitor. The midrange was extremely
detailed and realistic and the soundstage
and imaging were second to none. The
LSǕ/5A quickly became sought after by
music lovers worldwide, particularly for use in
smaller listening environments. A number of

speaker manufacturers released versions of
this model — all adhering strictly to the BBC
design guidelines — and one of the go-to
ampliLjers to partner with these speakers at
the time was Musical Fidelity’s A1 (pictured
below). It only made sense, therefore, for
Musical Fidelity to resurrect this iconic
speaker in conĺunction with the relaunch of
the A1. $5,000/pair.
M3x DAC
Musical Fidelity has been making DACs
(digital-to-analogue converters) for the hi-Lj
industry longer than any other company I
can think of. The new MǕx DAC is its new
entry into what it calls ɡaDžordable high-end
DACs’. While heavily inljuenced by its larger
sibling, the Mǘx, the MǕx is built around the
Burr-Brown SRC4Ǖ92 chip, which re-clocks
all PCM audio signals and converts them
to 24-bit/192kHƳ. It also supports native
playback of DSD25ǘ. $2,700
M6x250 multi-channel power
ampliLjer
There is a worldwide resurgence in dedicated
home theatres, and every one of them needs
a multi-channel power ampliLjer (or two).
?iven that Musical Fidelity makes some of
the best-sounding stereo power amps in the
world, it was not surprising that the company
turned its attention to multi-channel variants.
These are serious power ampliLjers, built
to the same exacting standards, and with
the same performance capabilities, as the
company’s two-channel versions.
There are four versions of this ampliLjer, all
available in silver or black Ljnishes:
• M6x250.4/2: 2x 250W (4x 175W) $3,000
• M6x250.5: 5x 250W $5,750
• M6x250.7: 7x 250W $6,750
• M6x250.11: 11x 250W $7,750
NOTE: A maĺor failing with most home
theatre receivers is the power ampliLjcation
stage. These products house the pre-
ampliLjer, the processing and power
ampliLjcation in a single chassis, and in most
cases utilise a single power transformer.
SpeciLjcations are sketchy at best.
For example, one of the better AV
receivers we carry is rated at 185 watts per
channel, but this is at 1kHƳ and with only one
channel being driven. This is an 11-channel
receiver, utilising a single transformer. Load
this transformer with 11 channels of signal
and the output you receive per channel
Musical Fidelity
— including the all-important front three
amp if you desire. Adding one of the Musical
A1 inteğrated ampliLjer ɒ
the return of a classic
At the time of writing, we have not received
this resurrected A1, but the excitement
that this model has generated overseas
has created high expectations. Some of
you will recall the original A1, one of the
industry’s classics. Like the original, the new
A1 utilises pure Class A ampliLjcation and
uses the chassis as a heat sink. It is, like its
predecessor, a proudly analogue device, too,
with no Bluetooth or digital inputs to speak
of. In fact, the only concession to modern
design is the addition of a remote control,
albeit for volume and mute functions only.
There are some technical improvements,
though — including new output devices and
a beeLjer power supply. The phono stage
has also been upgraded. The output has
remained the same, at 25 watts per channel
RMS. This is low by today’s standards, but
my memory of the earlier version of this
ampliLjer is that it comfortably drove most
loudspeakers to volumes that satisLjed all but
the most ardent of headbangers.
We believe that the §K StereoNET
review summed it up pretty well: “It is true
ɡaDžordable esoterica’, then — oDžering
performance in some respects that’s hard
to beat at three, four or maybe Ljve times the
price.” A strong endorsementȺ
I have always held that the original A1
was one of the most musically satisfying
ampliLjers I had ever heard, and we expect
no less of the new version. $3,000
Bang & Olufsen
Bang & Olufsen
I
mproved Bluetooth performance and
longer-lasting batteries have given rise
to an increasing number of portable
Bluetooth speakers, and one of the best
new releases is the B&O Beosound A5.
This two-way, four-speaker design is IP65-
rated, meaning it’s dustproof, water-resistant
and durable. The speaker conLjguration
provides 360 degrees of sound dispersion,
and it supports AirPlay 2 and Chromecast
as well as Bluetooth 5.3. It has room
optimisation, and even a ‘i-certiLjed wireless
charger built into the top to ensure your
device does not run out of charge at that
crucial moment.
If you are in the market for a better-than-
average portable wireless speaker solution,
you should add the $1,950 Beosound A5
pictured above to your shopping list.
Due for release on 30th October is another
exciting product from B&O — the Beolab 8
compact speaker. Channeling the design of
the popular Beolab 28, this versatile speaker
is designed for a variety of environments
and applications. They can be wall- or
stand-mounted rear channels when teamed
with B&O’s larger Beolab 18 or Beolab 28
models. Four could be used in conjunction
with the Beosound Theatre soundbar. Or
two could be set up as a stereo pair in a
08
two-channel conLjguration. A single Beolab
8 can even work as a standalone Wi-Fi and
Bluetooth speaker.
The initial release will be in a silver Ljnish,
with the black and gold Ljnishes due to follow
at a later stage.
Pricing has not been conLjrmed at the
time of writing, but it is anticipated that
these will sell for just under $10,000 per pair,
depending on the Ljnish and stand option.
Show SYDNEY 2024

Bring along your

own favourite music
and listen to it in
comfort on some of
the finest Hi-Fi
equipment in
the world
SAVE
THE DATE

05-07 APRIL 2024 Building on the success of the

Australian Hi-Fi Show 2023

BROUGHT TO YOU BY
Rega / STAX

R
ega turns 50 this year, and it is
celebrating the milestone with
one of the best promotions
we have seen in many years.
We have become so accustomed to
‘Anniversary Specials’ representing little
more than some cosmetic changes, a fancy
badge and an inljated price tag that when a
true bargain comes along, it is something to
truly celebrate. This is the case for the Rega
Planar 3 50th Anniversary Edition release.
Sporting the recently released walnut
Ljnish, the Planar 3 50th Anniversary Edition
comes with the company’s Neo PSU Mk2
power supply plus the Exact moving-magnet
cartridge. The drive system includes the
optional Reference Drive Belt and a custom
CNC’d aluminum drive pulley. And you still
get the fancy badge! This amounts to $624
worth of upgrades, all for an additional $100
over the normal retail price. The Rega Planar
3 50th Anniversary Edition sells for $1,899.
Production of the special anniversary
deck will cease at the end of 2023. Our
Ljrst shipment sold out prior to release, and
we have almost sold out of the second
shipment. Our next, and Ljnal, delivery will be
in December.
Rega has also announced that its Planar
6, 8 and 10 turntables are now available in
a second, white Ljnishȸ previously they were
only available in black.
And that’s not all! Rega has also repriced
the System One, a combination system
comprising its Planar 1 turntable, ultra-
compact iO ampliLjer and Kyte bookshelf
speakers: it has been reduced from $2,599
to $1,999. The System One has always
represented an excellent entry point into the
world of hi-Lj — relatively inexpensive, simple
and, above all, sounding like a small hi-Lj
system should. It’s now even better value.

STAX’s 85th-birthday promo!

STAX celebrates its 85th birthday this year, and to mark the occasion the
company has released an 85th Anniversary bundle comprising the SR-
003Mk11 in-ear ‘earspeakers’ and SRM-D10 portable ampliLjer. This is one of
the best portable headphone systems in the world and represents excellent
value at this $2,250 price.
Additionally, the bundle also includes an exclusive STAX jumper and an
85th-anniversary pin!

10
 Sonus Faber

Sonus Faber
hey have been a long
time coming, but we
have Ljnally received
a pair of the Sonus
Faber ?uarneri ?5 bookshelf
speakers. These are about as good
as bookshelf speakers get — and
are priced accordingly, selling for
$25,995 per pair, or $31,995 if you
opt for the recommended stands
as well. Naturally, the construction
quality is superb, as we have come to
expect from Sonus Faber. Thankfully
they have performance to match —
what more could you ask for?
The other positive news from
Sonus Faber is that it recently
announced a price reduction on
its Lumina and Sonetto ranges of
loudspeakers, in some cases as
much as 20ʨ. ?reat speakers, and
at competitive prices.
Sonos

S
onos has updated its popular
Move portable speaker. Selling
for $799, the Move 2 features
several improvements over its
predecessor, including:
• The addition of a second oDž-axis
tweeter, eDžectively allowing it to
output in stereo.
• The battery life has been boosted
from 10 hours to 24 hours.
• Redesigned controls.
• Music played on the Move 2 can
now be synced to other speakers in
your home.
• You can connect an external
physical source.
• It is now IP56-rated for dust and
water resistance.
Plus, the Move 2 is available in Olive
Green in addition to its traditional black
and white Ljnishes.

12
 Revival Audio / RTI

Revival Audio
T
o say that Revival
Audio’s entry into
the hi-Lj market was
spectacular would
be an understatement. Its Ljrst
two oDžerings, the Atalante 3 and
Atalante 5, were instant hits,
winning awards and beguiling
both reviewers and music lovers
worldwide. Both models are
bookshelf designs, though the
Atalante 5 is considerably larger
than most loudspeakers of the
‘bookshelf’ genre.
Revival Audio has now
followed these up with another
two modestly priced (and more
contemporary-looking) models.
Sprint 3
A two-way bookshelf speaker
with a 28mm soft dome tweeter
and an 18cm Basalt Sandwich
Construction (BSC) woofer.
At this price point, they come
up against another favourite
of ours, the Triangle Titus.
The Triangle has a little more
‘sparkle’ than the Revival, but
the Revival sounds fuller and
a little more mellow. Which is
better? Our suggestion would
be to compare the two with
music you know and make your
own mind up. Either way, you
are going to take home a very
enjoyable loudspeaker. $1,750
Sprint 4
A 2.5-way ljoorstanding version
of the Sprint 3, using two of
the BSC drivers. This is a
remarkably good speaker for
the money — as highlighted by
the importer of a competitive
speaker range, who complained
that the asking price was way
too cheap! $3,200

RTI EISA AWARDS

RTI has recently The EISA Awards are the most prestigious awards
released a new in our industry, and as usual many of the products
driver for its RTI that grace our shelves picked up awards. The
Control platform that Bluesound Powernode Edge was named the
seamlessly integrates ‘Compact Streaming AmpliLjer’ of the 2023-2024
with Sonos sound season. Bluesound’s sister company NAD collected
systems. VeriLjed the ‘Integrated AmpliLjer’ award for its retro-looking
by the ‘Works with C 3050, too.
Sonos’ program, the Musical Fidelity collected the ‘High-End Integrated
new driver enables AmpliLjer’ gong for its new Nu-Vista 800.2 (no
added control and surprises there!), along with the ‘Home Theatre
automation of Sonos Power AmpliLjer’ award for its M6x 250.7, a 250-
products within any watt, seven-channel power ampliLjer.
RTI-controlled home.

13
Ruark

Ruark
Traditionally, the larger of Ruark’s
table-top music systems have
featured a CD player — but the new
R410 breaks with tradition.
This is very much a product of
the modern day, while still paying
homage to the best of yesteryear.
Along with streaming features such
as Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect,
AirPlay 2, Google Chromecast,
UPnP, internet radio and HDMI
ARC, the R410 also oDžers a phono
input plus DAB+ and FM radio.

Ruark R410: $2,599

14
 C Seed

C Seed
Len Wallis Audio has been appointed
as an agent for C Seed Entertainment
Systems – the company giving a new
meaning to the term Large Screen
TV. Initially renowned for producing
outstanding large-screen outdoor
TV’s, C Seed have launched a range
of indoor screens as well. These
screens start at a modest 103” and
go up to 221” for their Ljxed Blade
MicroLED.
However, it is still their outdoor
screens that are the showstoppers.
Available from 137” through to 201”
these screens fold away into the
garden/pool surroundings/yacht
deck etc. when not in use. They are
designed to withstand the elements,
and are based on MicroLED
technology, giving you ultra-high
resolution, viewable even on the
sunniest of days.

15
Pantheone Audio

Pantheone
Audio
U
nder the pillars of ‘Art: Form: Sound’,
Australian company Pantheone Audio
has set out to show that design and
sound can live harmoniously together.
Pantheone’s Ljrst release, the Pantheone 1
(pictured right), is a daring and innovative piece
of art, inspired by the Oculus within the Pantheon
in Rome. Constructed from a fully molded resin
cabinet, the speaker system features Wi-Fi,
Ethernet, Bluetooth and an Aux input. It has two
subwoofers, two four-inch midrange drivers, and
four 0.75-inch silk dome tweeters, driven by four
Class D ampliLjers with DSP. The speaker can be
voice-controlled via Alexa.
This was recently followed up with the more
aDžordable Obsidian (above), also constructed
from a resin mold. Obsidian is a single-chassis
stereo speaker utilising a single bass driver and two
tweeters, again accessed via Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
and controlled via Alexa (or via Pantheone’s app).
The Obsidian is also portable thanks to a built-in
rechargeable battery oDžering 15 hours of battery life.
Alongside the daring design is one other plus for
this range: the price. Both speakers, despite their
design and performance, are priced below much of
their competition.

Pantheone 1: $3,950
Obsidian: $1,999

16
 Bowers & Wilkins

Bowers & Wilkins

Signature Series
One of the most iconic speaker ranges on the
market is Bowers & Wilkins’ 800 Series, the
800 D4 range standing as the latest variant of
the decades-spanning family. B&W has now
introduced the 800 Signature Series, comprised
of a reLjned, upgraded version of two of the
current 800 models: the entry-level bookshelf
805 D4 and the top-of-the-range 801 D4. Both
speakers are available in either Midnight Metallic
Blue or California Burl Gloss Ljnishes, but there
is much more to the Signature Series than a
beautiful Ljnish. Both new speakers beneLjt from a
number of upgrades:
• The magnets on the bass drivers have been
upgraded.
• The top plate beneath the turbine head
midrange enclosure has been upgraded with
a new aluminum skeletal structure in a bid to
reduce unwanted resonances.
• The port has been upgraded (801 D4 only).
• The tweeter grille mesh has been improved.
• Most importantly, some signiLjcant upgrades
have been made to the crossover.

801 D4 Signature: $79,900/pair

805 D4 Signature: $19,900/pair

600 Series upgraded

B&W has also announced an upgrade for its ever-
popular 600 Series loudspeakers, odžcially called the
600 S3 Series.
Several improvements have been implemented,
including a new titanium dome tweeter. The tweeter
also gets a new mounting plate, as well as an
improved mesh cover courtesy of the Signature Series
developments featured above.
The cabinets have been redesigned too, bringing
the tweeter and mid and bass drivers closer together
to improve imaging. Internal cabinet bracing has also
been improved, as have the speaker terminals and
ports. And that’s not all: the crossovers and the motor
assemblies on the drivers have also been advanced.
Really, there isn’t much that hasn’t been overhauled!

NOTE: As you would anticipate, the new range comes

in at a slightly higher price than its predecessor. We are
currently clearing the remaining old series at reduced
prices, so if you are looking for a bargain — and who
isn’t! — give us a call and check what we have left.

17
Barco / Bluesound

Bluesound Node X
The Bluesound Node — regarded
by many as the best-value hi-res
music streamer on the market — has
just turned 10 years old. To mark the
occasion, the Canadian company has
released the limited-edition Node X.
Based on the current Node release
in 2021, the new Node X features an
upgraded DAC, improved headphone
ampliLjer and adds a remote control.
$1,299

Barco projectors
We are proud to announce that we are now dealers for Barco, who
manufacturers arguably the Ljnest domestic home theatre projectors
on the market.
The Barco range is considerable, with the base model selling
for around $50,000. Designed to be the focal point of the very best
domestic cinemas, Barco projectors deliver picture quality that is
both immersive and aspirational.
We currently have the brand’s Bragi CinemaScope in the
showroom, so if you have an interest in viewing it, please call ahead
and we will ensure it is set ɦup and operational for your arrival.

18

Yamaha
Y
amaha was hit hard by the
aftermath of the Covid era and
subsequent chip shortage. Many
Yamaha components used
bespoke chipsets, and while this sets it apart
from most of its competitors, it also meant
that the brand was put to the back of the
line once manufacturing ramped up again,
with the manufacturers giving preference to
higher-demand mass-market designs. As
a result, many models — and indeed some
product categories — disappeared from
Yamaha’s catalogue.
This is now changing. Recently we have
seen the return of Yamaha’s two-channel
receivers, a category that has always been
a strong point of the brand. They now have
four models in the range...
R-N2000a This marked Yamaha’s Ljrst
new release and has been on the market
for some months now. This is an excellent
receiver, featuring Yamaha’s Parametric
Room Acoustic Optimiser (YPAO), a high-
performance DAC, HDMI ARC connectivity,
FM and DAB+ radio, and MusicCast network
streaming. Most importantly, it is built to the
exacting standards of the company’s suburb
Premium Hi-Fi series. $4,999
R-N1000a A scaled-down version of the
R-N2000a above, but still featuring YPAO
R-N1000a network receiver
19
Yamaha
R-N2000a network receiver.
room correction, HDMI ARC connectivity
and MusicCast. $2,299
R-N800a This receiver sells for the same
price as its highly respected predecessor
but builds on its spec sheet with many more
features. $1,699
R-N600a The latest addition to the
range. Rated at 80 watts per channel and
retaining the high-performance DAC along
with MusicCast streaming, this is a very well-
priced unit. $1,199
These new receivers represent a growing,
and welcome, sub-set of our industry. In
light of continued interest in streaming,
they oDžer a very compelling and compact
alternative to the larger, more traditional
audio stack. Simply add a pair of speakers,
and a turntable if you desire, and you have
everything you need. The performance
is vastly superior to the proliferation of
Bluetooth/network speakers currently
ljooding the market. You still have terrestrial
radio on board — something that is being
overlooked at the moment. FM radio is still
signiLjcantly better than DAB+, which in turn
is better than network radio stations.
Plus, you can connect your TV directly
to the receiver, again providing better
performance than most soundbars.
Simplicity, elegance (OK, that may be in the
eye of the beholder...) and performance —
what more could you ask for?
 Sony

ULTIMATE
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PACKAGE

BONUS READY TO INSTALL

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20
Promotion Ljnishes on the 13th November 2023
 NAD

NAD
C 389 Integrated ampliLjer names gracing our shelves, with their
The C 389 is a little more contemporary in associated kit ranging in price from the very
its design, yet just as featured-packed as the aDžordable to the cost of a small luxury car.
C 3050. The C 389 is rated at 130 watts per NAD already has a considerable number
C 3050 integrated ampliLjer channel and features a high-performance of streaming products in its range, courtesy
Earlier this year NAD released the C 3050 DAC and phono stage, plus HDMI eARC of its sister company Bluesound, developers
LE (Limited Edition) ampliLjer to celebrate connectivity, which essentially allows you of the BluOS streaming platform. The NAD
the company’s 50th anniversary. Only 1,972 to play your TV’s sound through your hi-Lj CS1 does not incorporate BluOSȸ instead it
of these were released worldwide, all of system while controlling the volume from is simply an endpoint product designed to
which were snapped up. NAD has since your TV remote. support third-party streaming platforms such
released a slightly scaled-down version It also comes with two MDC2 expansion as Google Cast, Apple AirPlay 2, Spotify
of this ampliLjer, simply called the C3050 ports, allowing for upgrades as technology Connect and Tidal Connect. The CS1 will
(pictured). This ampliLjer retains the vintage dictates — including the MDC2 module connect to the internet via Ethernet or Wi-Fi,
look of the LE version, but there is nothing mentioned in the C 3050 spiel on this page. allowing you to stream directly from Apple,
old-fashioned under the hood. The C 389 sells for $2,799, or $3,299 with Google or Android devices instead of using
It is rated at 100 watts per channel and the MDC2 module Ljtted. a dedicated product app. DLNA support also
has a high-resolution DAC built-in, plus a allows playback of networked music Ljles
subwoofer out, HDMI eARC input and aptX CS1 endpoint network via a third-party app, and there’s Bluetooth,
HD Bluetooth. There is also a dedicated streamer Roon compatibility and analogue and digital
headphone ampliLjer, a high-quality phono There is now a plethora of streaming devices outputs on the menu too.
stage and A/B speaker connectivity. on the market with their own operating All in all, a very simple, convenient and
Like many NAD components, the C 3050 system — Aurender, Auralic, Bluesound, inexpensive way to access streaming. $599
also features an MDC (Modular Design Sonos, Naim, MusicCast, HEOS are all
Construction) port, allowing you to add
additional or future features — including
NAD’s MDC2 module, which provides
both Dirac Room Correction and BluOS
streaming. The BluOS platform provides
access to more than 20 popular streaming
services, including several that oDžer lossless
and high-resolution audio, such as AmaƳon
Music HD, DeeƳer, ‘obuƳ and Tidal.
BluOS supports high-resolution audio up
to 24-bit/192kHƳ and has M‘A decoding
and rendering capability for studio-quality
streaming. The MDC2 BluOS-D also lets
you play music from your personal library, as
well as thousands of internet radio stations,
through the C 3050 integrated amp. $2,399

21
Custom Install

22

Preserving the past, embracing the future
A 19th-century Sydney Home’s
Technological Transformation
N
estled in one of Sydney’s most
coveted neighbourhoods, a
charming 19th-century terrace
house established in 1790 has
experienced a technological awakening. This
substantial transformation began in 2019
when the homeowner, an ardent audiophile,
engaged our team to fuse the past with
the present. The goal? To modernise and
upgrade the audio/visual and lighting control
systems, as well as the HVAC, security
and access control in a home where history
resonates in every brick.
Heritage meets high
performance
Modernising a heritage home is never a
simple task, especially when solid brick walls
and concrete foundations leave little room for
concealing contemporary technology. Our
challenges included hiding electrical and AV
Custom Install
equipment that was never anticipated during
the home’s original construction, and Ljnding
solutions for tricky cabling runs.
A creative approach led us to construct a
hidden wall to conceal the electrical board
on the ground-ljoor hallway, complete with
a mini bar fridge for that extra touch of
functionality. After being relocated several
times, the AV rack Ljnally found its home in a
second-ljoor cupboard, allowing for natural
equipment cooling. Ultimately, the aim was
to preserve the home’s heritage look, inside
and out, down to the shiny brass details.
Light up with Lutron
Polished brass wall plates characterise
this historic home, and Lutron’s high-
performance lighting system beautifully
maintains this aesthetic. From integrating
restored vintage light Ljxtures to enhancing
control and dimming capabilities, Lutron
23
Custom Install

24
 Custom Install

Home at your Ljngertips: the A masterful fusion

Savant controller
Integrating various aspects of home control,
the Savant system provided ampliLjcation
and controllers to manage AV, HVAC,
lighting, blinds and the Ljreplace. The
technology was even cleverly used for
rainfall detection to automatically close attic
windows, as well as motion detection to
automatically switch TVs to art mode.
This ambitious project has been a triumph
in preserving the original heritage character
while implementing modern conveniences.
By working closely with a professional
lighting designer and utilising false walls and
hidden compartments, we’ve maintained the
integrity of the home’s historic charm. This
19th-century house is now a living testament
to how heritage can blend seamlessly with
high-tech luxury, and we are proud to have
been part of this grand transformation.

easily outshone the previous lighting setup

with style.

Sound of elegance: Bowers &

Wilkins audio system
Our client’s love for music translated into
a desire for quality sound. We achieved a
harmony of auditory pleasure throughout
the home using in-ceiling speakers and
bookshelf speakers from B&W.

A robust network
Building a solid Wi-Fi network in a house
constructed with solid brick was no small
feat. Our solution included a substantial
CAT6A network, tested and qualiLjed for
modern and future networking needs.

25
Technics / Hana

Technics
Technics has announced an update to its
popular SL-1200GR and SL-1210GR
direct-drive turntables, due for release around
the end of October. This fourth-generation
model incorporates the company’s new
Delta Sigma Drive motor, which, in addition
to reducing high harmonics, suppresses
vibrations from the motor — a further
improvement on what was already a strong
point for the brand. Technics has also
introduced a new low-noise power supply.
There are few turntables in the market built
to the exacting standards of these Technics
decks, particularly at these price points.
The SL-1200GR2 (silver) and SL-1210GR2
(black) each cost $3,299

Hana moving-coil cartridges

M
asao Okada-san has been
researching phono cartridge
design and technology since
the mid-60s and opened the
Excel Sound Corporation factory in Japan in
1970. Following the renewed interest in vinyl
playback, Okada-san developed the Hana
moving-coil cartridge range in 2015. These
Hana cartridges are all hand-assembled and
each individually tested in the Excel factory.
This is a gorgeous range of cartridges,
ranging in price from $855 through to $6,600.
We currently carry the SL model with a nude
Shibata cut diamond at $1,195, as well as
the ML model with a micro-line cut nude
diamond at $1,995. There are also high-
output versions of both cartridges available
if your system does not have provision for a
moving-coil cartridge.
Explainer:
A ‘nude’ diamond indicates that the entire
styli is a diamond and is fastened to the
cartridge cantilever. The alternative, referred
to as a ‘bonded’ or ‘tipped’ diamond, is when
a metal shank is attached to the cantilever,
and the diamond is then bonded to this shaft.

26
 LG

The TV that travels: a glimpse

into LG’s briefcase TV
F
ancy the idea of a swanky briefcase the lid and it’s a discreet briefcase again. the ideal companion for travelling corporate
that turns into a TV? Well, the future However, before you imagine yourself hotshots or Esports pros on the move. LG
of portable entertainment has just sprinting through airports with it, keep in hasn’t spilled the beans about its availability
rolled out of LG’s Innovation Lab. mind that it weighs close to 14kg. Still, it’s Down Under just yet, but watch this space!
Imagine this: you’re headed to a business
conference, briefcase in hand, but instead
of paperwork tucked inside there is a 27-
inch TV. Indeed it’s not a prop from a James
Bond Ljlmȸ it’s LG’s latest brainchild — the
StanbyME Go.
Dressed in a unique briefcase design, this
piece is not just about looks. The StanbyME
Go boasts a built-in battery, a 20W four-
channel speaker system, and a screen with
a 1080p resolution. Want to watch a movie
on your camping trip or play a game during
a beach outing? This quirky device has you
covered. It runs on LG’s proprietary webOS
software and can sync with both iOS and
Android devices.
Open it up and voila — you’ve got a
colossal tablet. With a nifty arm attached, it
can be propped up horizontally or vertically
and at varying angles. Finished binge-
watching your favourite series? Just close

27
Accessories

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

IsoTek power cables

Most power cables that come with hi-Lj
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.
For that reason we are happy to oDžer
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.

Project Vinyl Clean

Sometimes the simplest of ideas work —
and this is a good example. There is no
shortage of vinyl cleaners available, but one
of the persistent problems is how to actually
remove dust from the record once you have
moved/dislodged it. $19
Ortofon DS-3
If you are a serious about your vinyl, we’d
point you to the Ortofon DS-3, a high-
precision digital stylus pressure gauge.
$269

Audio Engine B1
Bluetooth music
FLUX-Sonic receiver
stylus cleaner The performance characteristics of Bluetooth
have long been regarded as second rate —
This ultrasonic stylus cleaner is without and with good reason. Initially, Bluetooth
doubt the best styli cleaner we have seen.
streamed music at around 328kb/s, resulting
The amount of gunk that can accumulate
on your styli is surprising, and it will have in an audio performance worse than MP3.
an impact of the music you are listening to. However, this is now changing. The Audio
The FLUX-Sonic does an amazing job of Engine B1 streams at 2.1Mb/s, allowing you to
removing it. $279 stream 24-bit audio to any system. $279

28

Chord Mojo 2
DAC
Chord claims that the British
designed and built Mojo 2 is
‘the most advanced portable
DAC and headphone ampliLjer
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. $899
Kirmuss KA-RC-1
ultrasonic record
restoration system
There are a number of motorised record
cleaners on the market, but none do the
job that the Kirmuss does for the price.
This cleaner is so good that we (and
many others) advocate that you even
clean brand new records prior to their
Ljrst play. $2,800
Flux Brush – the new record
cleaner from Flux
To say that the FLUX-Sonic ultrasonic
stylus cleaner (which we covered in our
last newsletter) was a hit would be an
understatement — it was necessary to
urgently ljy another shipment in from
Germany (have you seen the prices of
airfreight lately?!)
We also took that opportunity to try
out its record cleaner, the Flux Brush.
Historically, the best record brushes have
been based either on the carbon Ljbre
design (which does a great job of lifting
dirt out of the groove but then presents
the issue of getting it oDž the record) or the
velvet pad type (which is great for getting
the dirt oDž the record but has didžculty
getting into the grooves). The Flux Brush
uses both technologies. The carbon
Ljbre brush runs down the centre spine of
the cleaner, with the velvet pads sitting
on either side of it. The carbon Ljbres lift
the dirt from the groove, and the velvet
removes it from the record. Brilliant! $99
29
Accessories
Les Davis Audio 3D-2
The Les Davis Audio 3D-2 vibration
isolation pads have been a favourite of
ours for some years now. Simply put, they
involve the process of having a viscoelastic
(meaning ‘ljexible’) material pressed
between two layers of a more sturdy
material, which ultimately regulates the
vibration output of the target component.
Unassuming and inexpensive, but they
work. $129/pack 8
Spinclean
The Spin Clean is a manual yet simple way
to rinse stubborn dust and grime from your
records. Just mix some Spin Clean washer
ljuid in the basin with distilled water, pop
in the soft brushes, and you can spin your
records clean in mere moments.ɬ
Spin Clean gets rid of the dirt and grime
trapped in the grooves that dry brushes
and spray-cleaning just can’t get at, and
it does both sides of your record at once.
$149
Bowers & Wilkins

B&W Px7 S2e headphones

Bowers & Wilkins’ Px7S2 wireless
headphones have also had a minor revamp,
with the design undergoing a subtle upgrade
and advanced DSP resulting in better audio,
ANC and call performance. B&W has also
added a new ‘Forest Green’ Ljnish and — good
news — the price has not changed. $599

B&W Px8 headphones X

No changes here other than the addition
of a new colour — Royal Burgandy. Very
swish!

30
Everything old is nu again.

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The (R)evolution of Portable Audio – Part 2
Things Getting Reel
The secret German invention of polyvinyl chloride magnetic tape and a
surprise accidental discovery led to an entertainment revolution that
lasted more than 50 years. Darren Yates writes...
t’s a sad but inevitable fact that wars bring
inventions, and world-changing inventions
like the cavity magnetron weren’t just
limited to the Allies during World War
II. For nearly 40 years, machines had
been magnetically recording sound onto
compact spools of very thin steel wire.
These ‘wire recorders’ were still to have their
brief heyday in the U.S. in the late 1940s and
early 1950s. But in 1941, German engineers had
Image credit: RFWilmut, CC-BY-SA 3.
already invented and discovered a technology
combination that would revolutionise the
entertainment industry around the world during
the latter half of the 20th century.
The 1935 Berlin Radio Show
The idea of recording high-quality audio isn’t
new (just ask any podcaster!), but neither are
the tenants that determine recorded quality.
You need a device capable of capturing sound
but without generating background noise of its
own (high signal-to-noise ratio); one with high
linearity to capture those frequencies accurately
(low total harmonic distortion); and the ability
to capture frequencies right across the audio
spectrum (wide frequency response).
In 1935, the new Magnetophon tape recorder
from German engineering giant AEG (Allgemeine
Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft) greeted the Berlin
Radio Show with its new PVC (polyvinyl chloride)
magnetic tape from German chemical group IG
Farben/BASF. Spinning with a high one-metre-
per-second tape speed, the Magnetophon
could capture much of the audio spectrum, but
Portable Audio
Music Recording giant
EMI famously made its
own tape recorders, like
these BTR2 machines at
the BBC, 1961
early recordings were said to have noticeable
distortion and background noise. Over the next
four years, incremental improvements were
made by changing the tape’s chemical formula
and applying a DC voltage to the recording
process. But the greatest improvement would
come largely by accident.
A chance discovery
Early tape recorders worked by applying an
audio signal to a wire coil attached to a special
alloy frame, collectively called a ‘recording head’.
The signal causes the wire coil to generate a
magnetic field that changes with the signal. The
head also has a tiny gap — this allows those field
changes to be magnetically imprinted onto the
recording tape as it passes across the head.
Australian Hi-Fi 67
Portable Audio
The Nagra SNS, the ultimate compact spy recorder
(Image credit: Hiendaudio, CC-BY-SA 3.0)
During 1941, two engineers at the German
national broadcaster RRG received a
Magnetophon recorder with a work order to
fix a fault. What they discovered wasn’t a fault
at all but a chance random effect that greatly
increased the audio quality. Magnetic tape is
inherently non-linear, meaning that it doesn’t
record signals proportionally — simply making the
audio signal louder on the tape by increasing its
amplification just adds greater imperfections or
We also designed and
made our own tape
recorders... the most
well-known examples,
the Byer 66 and 77...
68 Australian Hi-Fi www.whathifi.com/australianhifi
The Magnetophon tape recorder combined AC-bias
recording with PVC magnetic tape during WWII
(Image credit: George Shuklin, CC-BY-SA 1.0)
Battle Broadcasting
Newsreels during WWII brought the (albeit
censored) vision of war to movie theatres
around the world (legendary Australian war
correspondent Damien Parer received an
Academy Award for his memorable ‘Kokoda Front
Line’ footage). But until late-1943, much footage
was largely vision-only. One of the very first
portable audio recorders was developed as an
experiment and used in arguably the most trying
of conditions. Two technical sergeants of the U.S.
Marine Corps, Fred Welker and Keene Hepburn,
took a wire recorder, stripped out everything it
didn’t need and carried it into battle, capturing
the real sounds of war. Today, the U.S. Library of
Congress has this audio history of the Battle of
the Marshall Islands from 1st February 1944 online
(https://tinyurl.com/apcrecorder). The Marine
Corps continued making recordings until the end
of the war, many of which are now contained in
the U.S. Library of Congress.
To the victors...
Meanwhile, the Allies knew about the German
Magnetophon recorders before the war but
apparently had no idea about AC-biasing and
PVC tape, only to discover them when they
overran German forces during late 1944/
early 1945. What’s more, they didn’t seem all
that interested and it was left to U.S. Army
Ampex introduced the Model 300 tape recorder in
1949 (Image credit: Cliff, CC-BY-2.0)
‘distortion’ to the quality.
It turned out that the ‘faulty’ recorder’s built-
in amplifier was resonating or ‘oscillating’ at an
ultrasonic frequency beyond human hearing.
On top of that, the audio signal was being
accidentally mixed in at a much lower level than
this ultrasonic signal onto the tape (a process
today called ‘AC-biasing’). This effectively moved
the audio into a more linear magnetic region of
the tape, greatly reducing the distortion. For the
first time, people heard the quality of magnetic
tape recording.
By 1943, the tide was beginning to turn
against the German forces, but continued
German research resulted in the first stereo
tape recorder. There is an incredible stereo
recording of Beethoven’s Allegro from Concerto
No. 5, reportedly recorded in Berlin in 1944 on
a stereo Magnetophon machine (https://youtu.
be/EY7lvuVjjX4). Scroll to 5mins 36secs and you
can hear air-raid artillery low in the right channel
during quieter passages. Just extraordinary (and
the audio quality is superb!).

Wire recorders were
the first ‘electronic
memory’ to record
audio (Image credit:
Catalogo Collezioni,
CC-BY-SA 4.0)
officer Jack Mullin, who legally acquired two
Magnetophon recorders and 50 reels of tape
and took them back with him to the States. Mullin
had the skill to modify and improve the machines
further, but not the backing to turn them into
a commercial reality. Enter singer/actor Bing
Crosby! Tired of performing live radio shows
and looking for a higher-quality option than the
standard transcription record discs of the day,
Crosby heard Mullin’s machines via a ‘test-taping’
of one of his shows. The results were so good
that Crosby hired him on the spot and signed
The Australian inventor of the aircraft ‘black box’
flight recorder, Dr. David Warren (Image credit:
Museums Victoria, CC-BY-4.0)
The Nagra IV-S, arguably the best portable reel-to-reel
recorder ever made (Image credit: Hens Zimmerman,
Zeist, The Netherlands, CC-BY-2.0)
Ampex Corporation to make machines with
Mullin’s help. By 1948, the Ampex 200A recorder
was winning over entertainment executives
across the country.
Enter the transistor
In the previous issue, we saw how the size of
1940s radio valves/vacuum tubes limited the
ability of radio designers to shrink their designs.
Tape recorders were considerably more complex
and as a result, early units, like the Ampex 200A
and 300 models, plus the British EMI BTR2s in
Portable Audio
England, were built in large steel console units to
house the valve circuitry and motors.
But audio recording would soon benefit from
another new technology beginning to hit its
straps — the transistor. Despite being invented in
1947, it took time to develop the manufacturing
techniques to make transistors in quantity.
However — and this is why transistors were so
revolutionary — as the 1950s progressed the size
of tape recorders continued to shrink, and by the
end of the decade some of the first affordable,
transistorised, portable tape recorders were
hitting the market.
Developed by the German ‘Trix’ toy company
in 1958, the ‘phonotrix 1’ was also thought to be
one of the first tape recorders used by secret
agents during the Cold War. It’s a compact
recorder operated by four ‘D’-size batteries,
with a separate speaker unit. The tape reels
are a tiny 7.5cm (three inches) and, at a speed
of 3.75 inches (9.5cm) per second, give you
approximately 15 to 20 minutes of recording
time. It’s also a ‘half-track’ recorder, meaning
that once the tape has been recorded, you
can ‘turn over’ the reels and record another 20
minutes on the other side.
The ‘phonotrix 2’ appeared the following year
with the recorder and speaker combined. Trix
also manufactured recorders under the ‘Clarion’
brand and a number of them made their way out
to Australia.
The original model had a speed control
that allowed spies to tap out their Morse code
messages onto tape but play them back at
higher speed when transmitting them via radio.
Speeding up the transmission would make it
harder for any government listening posts to find
the radio source.
Australian-made
Much of the initial technical development for
tape recording originated in Europe and the U.S.,
The initial 1958
‘black box’ wire
recorder featured
three separate reels
(Image credit: John
Broomfield, Museums
Victoria, CC-BY-4.0)
Australian Hi-Fi 69
 Portable Audio
but we also designed and made our own tape
recorders here in Australia. Arguably the most
famous of these were made by Byer, a small
manufacturer in South Melbourne.
The most well-known examples, the Byer 66
and 77 models, were as tough as teak — over 200
Byer 77s were brought in by the (then) Australian
Broadcasting Commission (now Corporation,
ABC) for the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. Both
units were considered portable, with the Byer
66 built into a ruggedized suitcase that could
be carried between locations. The original Byer
55, launched in 1953, is believed to be the first
Australian-designed tape recorder, but sadly few
examples remain today.
By 1958, another iconic Australian audio
company, Rola, had taken over the business and
Max Byer moved to Holbrook, in southern NSW,
opening a motel. The Byer Fountain Motor Inn
still stands today. However, Rola would be taken
over by Plessey Electronics during the ‘60s and
Plessey by Philips in the ‘70s, as the Australian
electronics industry consolidated.
Pop-culture icon
The decade between 1955 and 1965 was
arguably reel-to-reel tape recording’s pop-
culture moment — new magazines dedicated
to tape recorders hit the newsstands and
recorders were the ‘PCs’ of the era. Back then,
you could buy tape recorder chassis parts at
wholesale, build your own electronics, put the
lot into your own casework and create a brand.
Many did... and many disappeared almost as
quickly. However, by the early 1960s a new wave
of Japanese brands such as Sony, Sanyo and
National (Panasonic) began launching compact
portable tape recorders, thanks to the now
fast-improving transistor market.
70 Australian Hi-Fi www.whathifi.com/australianhifi
The Phonotrix 2 was the bigger brother to the smaller unit
used by spies during the Cold War
(Image credit: Joe Haupt, CC-BY-SA 2.0)
These little wonders captured the imagination
and began turning up in movies and TV shows,
most famously the ‘spy’ genre — and James
Bond movies in particular (look out for the very
rare Stuzzi 304B in From Russia With Love). They
also stole the show in each Mission: Impossible TV
episode, at that.
High-fidelity
The 1960s was also the beginning of the ‘hi-fi’
era, where sound quality became a much sought-
after commodity, pushed along by the arrival
of micro-groove long-play (‘LP’) stereo records
and higher-quality speaker systems. Many home
recordists soon realised that recording their LPs
onto tape would allow them to endlessly play the
tape whilst keeping the LPs in pristine condition.
However, analogue copying was a slow and
lossy system, where each copy of a copy would
deteriorate the original sound. It wouldn’t be
until the combination of digital recording and the
internet in the late ‘90s that audio recording tech
would give music executives nightmares.
If there’s one brand that represents the
‘Rolls-Royce’ of portable audio recording during the
1950s-to-’80s reel-to-reel era, it’d be Switzerland’s
Nagra. If a Swiss watchmaker decided to build a
portable tape recorder, you’d still struggle to get
anything better than the Nagra range. In fact, the
first model, the Nagra I, was handmade by founder
Stefan Kudelski (then a 22-year-old electrical
engineering student) in 1951 and featured a hand-
wound clockwork motor.
New and improved models continued to
appear and Nagra recorders gained a reputation
for their Swiss-precision, earning them favour
in Hollywood. To date, Nagra has received two
Academy Awards for its recorders, and vintage
1970s/’80s Nagra tape recorders sell for plenty
today as a result.
Storing computer code
By 1969, even the concept of storing computer
data onto tape reels had entered the mainstream
and famously featured in the Michael Caine-
starring movie The Italian Job. However, the idea
of storing computer data onto tape actually
dates back to as early as 1951, when the UNIVAC
I (Universal Automatic Computer I) — a valve-
powered mainframe computer — was given
a storage unit called the UNISERVO. In this
instance, the tape was metal (nickel-plated
phosphor-bronze) and reportedly ripped through
the machine at the speed of 2.54 metres per
second, or 9.1km/h.
Many of us who grew up in the ‘70s and ‘80s
will remember using a different tape format to
store programs from our ‘home computers’ —
but we’ll save this for next time.
Traveling far — by tape
Apart from computer storage, there was another
more serious but equally important application
for portable audio recorders. During the early
1950s, the world watched in horror as a number
of De Havilland Comet passenger aircraft
crashed from the sky. The remaining Comets
were grounded, while experts from Australia’s
Department of Civil Aviation and the Aeronautical
Research Laboratories met to try and discover
the cause. It was Australian ARL scientist Dr.
David Warren who, struck by the basic lack of
available data, developed the flight-deck/cockpit
voice recorder. The initial versions were wire
recorders, later replaced by magnetic tape and
finally by digital recording.
The other thing tape recorders invented was
the ‘letter-tape’ — instead of writing letters, you
could now record the family sending greetings to
loved ones overseas, send the tape in the post,
and a few weeks later your extended family could
hear you. Given overseas phone calls, let alone
plane travel, were still play-things of the 60s’ rich
and famous, a small three-inch reel could give as
much as 40 minutes of family news. What’s more,
you could play it back whenever you wanted
— better than a one-time phone call! It might
seem quaint today, but at the time this ability for
anyone to capture sound for posterity really was a
revolutionary breakthrough.
Change in the wind
Nevertheless, even while tape recording was hitting
its stride in the early ‘60s, a monumental change
was on the horizon. The required process of ‘lacing
up’ a tape through a tape recorder was thought to
be both too complex and time-wasting for many
consumers. Why not have a cartridge-style tape
mechanism the user just loads into a machine? In
the next issue, we look back at attempts to create
a ‘compact’ tape format, culminating in one that
would revolutionise portable audio and drive popular
culture for nearly 40 years.

EISA AWARDS 2023-2024
A
ustralian Hi-Fi magazine is a proud member of the worldwide
Expert Imaging and Sound Association (EISA) community,
which is formed of expert reviewers from 60 technology
magazines and websites specialising in hi-fi, home theatre,
mobile and in-car electronics, photography and video
from 29 countries around the globe. Each year, EISA members come
together to judge the best product of the year in each class and decorate
Hi-Fi Expert Group EISA Awards
the manufacturer with a coveted EISA Award — and this year was no
different. Australian Hi-Fi voted on awards allocated in the Hi-Fi category in
a comprehensive process that involved webinar presentations followed by
listening sessions, extensive laboratory testing and nominations, shortlists
and a final voting session. On the following pages are all the winners of the
‘Best Product’ prizes in the 2023–2024 EISA Award Hi-Fi category, followed
by a full list of the decorated products in the other categories.
Australian Hi-Fi 71
 EISA Awards Hi-Fi Expert Group

EISA STANDMOUNT LOUDSPEAKERS 2023-2024 EISA WIRELESS BOOKSHELF LOUDSPEAKERS 2023-2024

MoFi SourcePoint 8 KEF LSX II

Although MoFi Electronics is a relative newcomer to the loudspeaker
market, the accomplished performance of its SourcePoint 8 speaks of great
experience. The retro-infused styling of this standmount model belies the
fact it’s a thoroughly modern design, employing the latest coaxial driver
technology from noted engineer Andrew Jones, carefully modelled to
deliver a smoothly integrated, full-range performance. Paired with a capable
amplifier, the SourcePoint 8 provides a confident, engaging listen suited to
both small and medium-sized rooms, underpinned by weighty bass from its
200mm (8in) bass/mid driver and topped by a lucid treble. This is a technically
innovative speaker — and stylish to boot.
For this second-generation upgrade of its EISA Award-winning LSX speakers,
KEF has expanded functionality through additional USB-C and HDMI ARC
inputs and a new wireless control platform delivered via a superb app. Use the
latter to navigate streaming services, switch between sources and access
comprehensive EQ settings, and then enjoy the LSX II’s powerful and natural
performance. The diminutive, rear-ported cabinet features KEF’s bespoke
Uni-Q array, its tweeter and bass/mid units separately driven by Class D amp
modules. Available in several eye-catching colourways, the LSX II can replace
a complete rack of hi-fi separates — and sound just as good!

EISA PREMIUM FLOORSTANDING EISA HIGH-END EISA FLOORSTANDING

LOUDSPEAKERS 2023-2024
Perlisten R7t
Although the junior model to Perlisten’s flagship
S7t, this floorstander inherits so much of its
sibling’s design and engineering DNA that its
premium status is assured. The company’s
patented DPC (Directivity Pattern Control) array
takes centre stage, its carefully optimised trio of
mid and tweeter units flanked by bass/mid and
bass drivers in a four-way design offering the
option of both vented and sealed operation. In full
flight, the R7t creates a largescale and evocative
sound built on a foundation of deep and tightly
controlled bass that blends seamlessly with
lush midrange tones and fine treble detail. This
loudspeaker is worthy of the highest praise.
LOUDSPEAKERS 2023-2024
Wilson Audio Alexia V
The Alexia V exemplifies Wilson Audio’s
approach to high-end loudspeaker design, from
its customised drivers and bespoke cabinet
materials to its fine-tuning potential and luxurious
finish options. A three-way model, its lower
enclosure — hewn from proprietary V-material
and featuring 200mm and 255mm bass drivers
— is topped by separate midrange and tweeter
housings, both adjustable for precise time
alignment. The Alexia V’s performance can thus
be matched to any environment, and the listening
experience is magnificent: vast in scale, exquisite
in detail and completely free from the speakers
themselves. To sum up in one word? Sublime.
LOUDSPEAKERS 2023-2024
Bowers & Wilkins 703 S3
The impressive bass, treble detail and cohesive
soundstage attest to the engineering skill that’s
gone into developing the third generation of
Bowers & Wilkins’ 700 Series, much of it trickled
down from the company’s top-tier 800 D4
models. Nowhere is this more the case than with
the 703 S3, a slender tower that gains a tweeter-
on-top for the first time, allied to a pair of 165mm
Aerofoil bass drivers and a 150mm Continuum
cone midrange. This floorstander delivers an
engaging and emotional listen and makes B&W’s
premium performance accessible to more music
lovers. The new Mocha colourway, next to classic
white or black options, is also stunning.

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


EISA WIRELESS FLOORSTANDING LOUDSPEAKERS 2023-2024
Dynaudio Focus 50
Leveraging proven driver technologies from Dynaudio’s high-end Confidence
and Contour loudspeakers, married to powerful built-in amplification from
Pascal, the three-way Focus 50 delivers music with superb dynamics
and scale. Aiding this no-compromise performance is a high-quality,
WiSA-enabled connection between the speakers, plus Dirac Live for room
correction. A wide range of sources are supported, from streaming services
and Roon to physical hardware connected via analogue and digital inputs. The
Focus 50 is a complete music system that shows the full promise of active
loudspeakers — you only need to add a power cord and choose from its four
beautiful finish options.
EISA HEADPHONES 2023-2024
Meze Audio 109 PRO
For a company well-known for its luxurious and award-winning isodynamic
headphones, the 109 PRO is something of a departure for Meze, being an
open-back design with 50mm dynamic drivers. Yet its performance proves
the manufacturer’s adaptability: with its alluring combination of expansive,
detailed soundstaging and tight, controlled bass, the 109 PRO is a superior
headphone suited to all types of music. It triumphs in the looks department
too, its acoustically smart design built around opulent black walnut housings
and a slender, lightweight frame. And thanks to its elegant self-adjusting
headband and velour earpads, listening comfort is guaranteed.
Hi-Fi Expert Group EISA Awards
EISA WIRELESS ON-WALL LOUDSPEAKERS 2023-2024
System Audio Silverback 1
Proving that impressive sound quality doesn’t always require sizable
floorstanders, the Silverback 1s utilise their on-wall position to produce
spectacular, bass-rich sonics. System Audio’s two-way speakers, with their
woven silk dome tweeter and 133mm mid/woofer, are about the size of an
A4 page, making them ideal for smaller living rooms or environments where
discreet style is demanded. Onboard amplification, performance-enhancing
DSP and compatibility with System Audio’s WiSA-enabled cable-free Stereo
Hub complete the Silverback 1’s user-friendly nature. Equally capable of
laying on music or upgrading TV sound, these good-looking on-wall models
play big.
EISA STREAMER 2023-2024
iFi Audio NEO Stream
Functioning both as an outboard DAC and digital transport, iFi Audio’s
NEO Stream impresses with its versatility before beguiling with its sonic
performance. Onboard conversion handles files to 768kHz PCM and
DSD512, whether streamed from a home network, integrated service or
connected hard drive, while digital outs range from optical to I2S. Such broad
capabilities, plus app control and filter selection, make the NEO Stream
irresistible to music lovers looking for an easy-to-use system add-on, as
well as restless hi-fi tinkerers. A compact, futuristic design, which supports
vertical or horizontal installation, adds to the appeal of a device that outstrips
many costlier rivals.
Australian Hi-Fi 73
EISA Awards Hi-Fi Expert Group
EISA DAC 2023-2024
Ferrum Audio WANDLA
The WANDLA is another home run from Poland’s Ferrum Audio. Nicknamed
‘The Convertor’, this innovative DAC/preamp goes the extra mile thanks
to its combination of an ESS Sabre DAC chip, custom DSP and bespoke
analogue electronics. Performance is superb, with music of any genre
faithfully rendered and packed with detail, while Dynamic Digital Filtering,
which incorporates filters from specialist software house Signalyst, provides
options to finesse the listening experience. Want to improve the WANDLA’s
performance further? Just add the EISA Award-winning HYPSOS as an
outboard power supply for even better sonics.
EISA HIGH-END CD PLAYER 2023-2024
Hegel Viking
This player from the Norwegian marque takes an unapologetically purist
approach, focused on extracting every last drop of performance from
your CD collection. To that end, Hegel has engineered a high-quality
AKM-based DAC stage and fully balanced analogue output, each fed by
separate power supplies, while its proprietary SoundEngine technology
also works to suppress digital jitter. An aesthetic match for Hegel’s latest
pre/power amplifier designs, the Viking’s premium-grade sound has to be
heard: articulate, three-dimensional and faithful to the source, it makes long
listening sessions an absolute pleasure. Excellent build quality and supreme
ease-of-use only heighten this CD spinner’s appeal.
74 Australian Hi-Fi www.whathifi.com/australianhifi
EISA DIGITAL PLAYER 2023-2024
Volumio Rivo
One of a trio of new devices launched by Volumio and running the company’s
eponymous software, the slim and stylish Rivo is focused on delivering
high-quality digital streams to your DAC or integrated amplifier, without
complication. It’s an impressive marriage of well-crafted hardware and the
proven Volumio software, allowing you to stream your own music library,
play files from USB storage, and browse its myriad streaming options. The
remarkable flexibility of the software, including the possibility of adding
further functionality (including DSP) via plugins, is as appealing as the Rivo’s
ability to get the best from your chosen DAC.
EISA TURNTABLE 2023-2024
Thorens TD 204
A bridge between Thorens’ entry-level turntables and its high-end models,
this well-priced deck is aimed at vinyl enthusiasts seeking an all-in-one
solution, but with the potential to be upgraded. Fitted with an in-house
‘J-shaped’ tonearm, Audio-Technica MM cartridge and integrated phono
stage — plus offering electronic speed control — the TD 204 is a genuine
plug-and-play solution. Out of the box it rewards with a sound performance
showcasing midrange insight, excellent speed stability and an open, inviting
soundstage. Moreover, as its in-built phono preamp can be switched out of
circuit, the TD 204 is perfectly set up for future cartridge and outboard phono
preamp upgrades.

EISA VINYL SYSTEM 2023-2024
Pro-Ject T2 W
The T2 W is an audacious attempt to marry analogue vinyl playback with
digital convenience, and one that Pro-Ject manages to pull off with zest.
At its core is a belt-drive turntable with 9in aluminium tonearm and Sumiko
MM cartridge, plus electronic speed control, but elevating the T2 W is an
integrated wireless module that lets owners stream their music to networked
speakers and hi-fi systems. The ‘Pro-Ject Control’ app makes setup and
operation easy, with options including lossless 48kHz/24-bit FLAC output
and automatic streaming when you drop the needle. Spinning discs, while
integrating the vinyl format into a ‘modern’ system, has never been easier.
EISA BEST VALUE STREAMING AMPLIFIER 2023-2024
SVS Prime Wireless Pro SoundBase
Smart features and potent amplification unite in SVS’s Prime Wireless Pro
SoundBase, as do a punchy, authoritative sound and ease of operation — just
add your own speakers and you’re ready to go. Keenly priced, but showcasing
plenty of attention to detail, this compact all-in-one amp includes aptX HD
support when streaming via Bluetooth, television hook-up over HDMI eARC,
hi-res music playback through the DTS Play-Fi app (or one of its many other
streaming options), and control options including a physical remote and
Google/Siri/Alexa voice. In a competitive arena, this highly flexible amplifier
stands out.
Hi-Fi Expert Group EISA Awards
EISA INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER 2023-2024
NAD C 3050
From the outside the C 3050 pays homage to NAD’s earliest designs with its
faithfully executed vintage styling, but in all other respects this is a thoroughly
modern integrated amp with a do-it-all ethos. Power, rated at 2x100W,
comes via Class D amplification, and connectivity includes HDMI eARC, a
dedicated MM phono input and more. Plug in NAD’s optional BluOS-D card
and the functionality grows to include superior streaming options (including
app control and multiroom compatibility), plus Dirac room calibration. And
while the forward-thinking technology delivers impressive sound quality,
you can feast your eyes on the C 3050’s large VU meters. What’s that about
having your cake and eating it?
EISA COMPACT STREAMING AMPLIFIER 2023-2024
Bluesound POWERNODE EDGE
Thanks to its impressively sleek, wall-mountable chassis, the POWERNODE
EDGE can be installed practically anywhere — and the compact form factor
is complemented by wide-ranging functionality. Controlled via Bluesound’s
intuitive BluOS app, this sleek ‘just add speakers’ amplifier can access
streaming services, Internet radio and music files from a network or USB
storage, while connections including HDMI eARC and two-way Bluetooth
add even more to its versatility. Its sound, delivered by onboard amplification
and with hi-res audio support, packs a punch. Use the POWERNODE EDGE
as a discrete amp in a standalone setup or combine it with other BluOS
devices to form a multiroom music system.
Australian Hi-Fi 75
 EISA Awards Hi-Fi Expert Group

EISA STREAMING RECEIVER 2023-2024

Yamaha R-N2000A Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista 800.2

Japanese craftsmanship and hi-fi tradition combine with cutting-edge
digital technology to ensure Yamaha’s R-N2000A streaming receiver is both
stunning and innovative. The vintage-inspired front panel sports traditional
VU meters and tactile controls but these are augmented by a classy OLED
display to help navigate its plentiful features. Yamaha’s excellent MusicCast
app delivers streaming options and multiroom functionality, but there are also
inputs for a TV and turntable, plus FM radio. Under the hood, Yamaha’s tried-
and-tested amplifier technology delivers a musical, refined performance,
with fine detail painted over a wide and deep soundstage. Yamaha’s YPAO
room correction is particularly welcome, allowing this amp to deliver the
goods in every room.
This flagship integrated amp adopts the core form and function of its highly
respected predecessor while showcasing performance and aesthetic
improvements. Combining solid-state power amplification with nuvistor
tube-based input and driver stages, Musical Fidelity’s hybrid offers a best-
of-both-worlds sound: smooth and musical with cavernous soundstaging,
but also gloriously aggressive and weighty when required. Driving ability also
startles — this 2x330W-rated amp will handle any loudspeaker that crosses
its path — while the reimagined front-panel display makes operation easy.
The Nu-Vista 800.2 is a fantastic addition to Musical Fidelity’s top-flight
lineup, and a must-hear for any music lover.

EISA HIGH-END HEADPHONE EISA HIGH-END EISA PREMIUM WIRELESS

SOLUTION 2023-2024 HEADPHONES 2023-2024 HEADPHONES

dCS Lina System Yamaha YH-5000SE T+A Solitaire T

A stunning addition to the high-end head-fi
landscape, dCS’s Lina comprises a network
DAC, master clock and analogue headphone
amplifier, all built to the same exacting standard
and designed to be neatly stacked. Supporting
streamed and wired digital sources up to
384kHz/DSD128, the Lina DAC is the beating
heart of the system, and employs dCS’s proven
RingDAC technology to bring music to life with
remarkable clarity and detail. The fully-balanced
amplifier, meanwhile, has the energy and punch
to work with even the most demanding of
headphones. Interoperability between the three
units is handled by ‘Power Link’ connectivity, and
dCS’s Mosaic Control app offers music selection,
upsampling/filter choice, and much more.
The YH-5000SE is a spectacular return to
the high-end headphone arena for one of the
pioneers of planar-magnetic technology, and
with a lineage that goes back to Yamaha’s famed
HP-1 of the 1970s. The modern design and
build of these ultralight over-ear headphones
is stunning, from the pressure-controlled
open-back housings to the choice of two
premium earpad materials, but it’s the dynamic
performance and the sense of detail and
intimacy that will take your breath away. There
are many challengers for the apex of headphone
performance, but Yamaha’s new flagship is
without doubt a force to be reckoned with.
Leveraging audiophile technology into a
mobile, wireless headphone is challenging,
but T+A carries it off with the smart Solitaire
T, a luxurious and lightweight set that offers
excellent noise-cancelling and a performance
that rivals accomplished wired designs. Key to
its appeal is its versatility: a separate ESS DAC
supports an HQ listening mode, the high-spec
Bluetooth chipset is compatible with aptX HD,
and there are USB-C and analogue connections
too. Surrounding its 42mm dynamic drivers are
closed-back earcups linked by an aluminium
frame – gorgeous black-and-white colour
options ensure the Solitaire T is as durable as it
is stylish. You can consider these a triumph of
technology and sound.

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


EISA HIGH-END STREAMING AMPLIFIER 2023-2024
Hegel H600
Benefiting from an upgraded digital stage built around a new DAC chip and
network board, Hegel’s H600 is a worthy successor to the spectacular H590
streaming amplifier. The company’s bespoke SoundEngine 2 error-cancelling
technology is on hand to deliver a sound with abundant detail and control,
aided by a comprehensively redesigned preamp stage that guarantees an
organic, honest and compelling performance. All flavours of loudspeaker are
welcome, thanks to the H600’s hugely powerful ‘2x303W’ output. Generous
connectivity, in addition to its LAN port, includes digital inputs on USB-B
(384kHz/32-bit; DSD256), three on optical and two via coaxial sockets.
Aesthetically pleasing and easy to use, this flagship is a tour de force.
EISA LOUDSPEAKER SERIES 2023-2024
KEF R Series
Technologies developed for KEF’s higher-end loudspeakers, including the
latest-generation Uni-Q driver with Metamaterial Absorption Technology
(MAT), inform the design and performance of its stunning R Series. A
seven-model range comprising floorstander, standmount, centre and Dolby
Atmos-enabled surround options, it’s suited to both home theatre and hi-fi
enthusiasts alike. Whether used for music or movies, across the speakers
there’s a dynamic, detailed and thrillingly natural sound combining controlled,
extended lows with open, wide-reaching highs. And the various colour
options, including special editions for the R3 standmount and R7 tower, will
have these gorgeous-looking cabinets fitting right in.
Hi-Fi Expert Group EISA Awards
EISA MOBILE DAC 2023-2024
iFi Audio GO pod
Thanks to iFi Audio’s GO pod, devotees of high-end, cabled in-ears finally get
an alternative to mainstream ‘true wireless stereo’ designs. This novel system
features two smart, touch-controlled adapters that fit snugly behind the ear
and wire directly to IEMs of your choice — industry-standard 2-pin and MMCX
connectors are supplied, with others available as optional extras. A capable
DAC/headphone amplifier is built into each ‘pod’ to drive even the most
demanding of in-ears, while broad support for Bluetooth codecs (including
aptX Adaptive and LDAC) ensures wireless fidelity. Even the GO pod case,
which recharges the adapters’ seven-hour batteries, is smart — in all senses
of the word!
EISA POWERED STANDMOUNT LOUDSPEAKERS 2023-2024
Klipsch The Sevens
This powered bookshelf/standmount model takes a design cue from the
American brand’s ‘Heritage’ speakers and combines it with a forward-
thinking specification — the result is a package notable for its styling, feature
set and performance. Tractrix horn-loaded tweeters and 165mm bass/mid
units are pushed into action by custom DSP and beefy internal amplification.
The Sevens’ sound is bass-rich, largescale and packed with detail, and can
be fine-tuned to suit personal taste through Klipsch’s intuitive Connect
app. Comprehensive connectivity including HDMI ARC, USB-B, Bluetooth,
analogue (inc. MM phono), plus hi-res music playback to 192kHz/24-bit,
ensures this is a system that’s ready for anything!
Australian Hi-Fi 77
 EISA Awards 2023-24 FULL LISTING
PHOTOGRAPHY EXPERT GROUP
EISA CAMERA OF THE YEAR 2023-2024
Nikon Z 8
EISA ADVANCED FULL-FRAME CAMERA 2023-2024
Sony Alpha 7R V
EISA FULL-FRAME CAMERA 2023-2024
Canon EOS R6 Mark II
EISA CONTENT CREATOR CAMERA 2023-2024
Sony ZV-E1
EISA APS-C CAMERA 2023-2024
Fujifilm X-H2
EISA BEST BUY CAMERA 2023-2024
Canon EOS R8
EISA VIDEO CAMERA 2023-2024
Panasonic Lumix S5IIX
EISA LENS OF THE YEAR 2023-2024
Sony FE 20-70mm F4 G
EISA WIDEANGLE ZOOM LENS 2023-2024
TAMRON 20-40mm f/2.8 Di III VXD
EISA STANDARD PRIME LENS 2023-2024
Sony FE 50mm f/1.4 GM
EISA PORTRAIT LENS 2023-2024
Nikon NIKKOR Z 85mm f/1.2 S
EISA TELEPHOTO LENS 2023-2024
Canon RF 135mm f/1.8L IS USM
EISA SUPER-TELEPHOTO LENS 2023-2024
Nikon NIKKOR Z 400mm f/4.5 VR S
EISA TELEPHOTO ZOOM LENS 2023-2024
TAMRON 50-400 mm f/4.5-6.3 Di III VC VXD
EISA SUPER-TELEPHOTO ZOOM LENS 2023-2024
SIGMA 60-600mm f/4.5-6.3 DG DN OS | Sports
EISA MACRO LENS 2023-2024
OM System M.Zuiko Digital ED 90mm F3.5
Macro IS Pro
COMBINED AWARD WITH
MOBILE EXPERT GROUP
EISA MULTIMEDIA SMARTPHONE 2023-2024
Sony Xperia 1 V
HOME THEATRE AUDIO
EXPERT GROUP
EISA BEST BUY AV RECEIVER 2023-2024
Onkyo TX-RZ50
EISA AV RECEIVER 2023-2024
Primare SPA25
EISA PREMIUM AV AMPLIFIER 2023-2024
Denon AVC-A1H
EISA BEST BUY SOUNDBAR 2023-2024
JBL Bar 300
EISA SOUNDBAR 2023-2024
Loewe klang bar3 mr
78 Australian Hi-Fi www.whathifi.com/australianhifi
EISA PREMIUM SOUNDBAR 2023-2024
Bang & Olufsen Beosound Theatre
EISA SOUNDBAR SYSTEM 2023-2024
Yamaha True X series
EISA HOME THEATRE POWER AMPLIFIER 2023-2024
Musical Fidelity M6x 250.7
EISA HOME THEATRE SUBWOOFER 2023-2024
Perlisten D212s
COMBINED AWARDS WITH HI-FI
EXPERT GROUP
EISA LOUDSPEAKER SERIES 2023-2024
KEF R Series
EISA POWERED STANDMOUNT LOUDSPEAKERS
2023-2024
Klipsch The Sevens
COMBINED AWARD WITH HOME
THEATRE VIDEO & DISPLAY GROUP
EISA HOME THEATRE DISC PLAYER 2023-2024
Magnetar UDP800
HOME THEATRE VIDEO &
DISPLAY EXPERT GROUP
EISA BEST BUY MINI LED TV 2023-2024
Hisense 65U7KQ
EISA BEST BUY OLED TV 2023-2024
Philips 55OLED808
EISA BEST BUY PROJECTOR 2023-2024
XGIMI HORIZON Ultra
EISA HOME THEATRE PROJECTOR 2023-2024
BenQ W4000i
EISA MINI LED TV 2023-2024
Hisense 65U8KQ
EISA HOME THEATRE MINI LED TV 2023-2024
TCL 65C845
EISA GAMING TV 2023-2024
TCL 55C745
EISA FAMILY TV 2023-2024
Philips 55PUS8808
EISA PREMIUM OLED TV 2023-2024
Samsung 77S95C
EISA GIANT TV 2023-2024
TCL 98C735
COMBINED AWARD WITH MOBILE
EXPERT GROUP
EISA PORTABLE PROJECTOR 2023-2024
XGIMI MoGo 2 Pro
MOBILE DEVICES
EXPERT GROUP
EISA BEST BUY SMARTPHONE 2023-2024
HONOR 90
EISA CONSUMER SMARTPHONE 2023-2024
OPPO Reno10 Pro
EISA SMARTWATCH 2023-2024
HONOR Watch GS 3
EISA PREMIUM PORTABLE SPEAKER 2023-2024
Bang & Olufsen Beosound A5
EISA PREMIUM SMARTWATCH 2023-2024
Huawei Watch Ultimate
EISA BEST BUY WIRELESS HEADPHONES 2023-2024
Philips Fidelio L4
EISA IN-EAR HEADPHONES 2023-2024
Philips Fidelio T2
EISA MOBILE DAC 2023-2024
iFi Audio GO pod
EISA BEST BUY PORTABLE SPEAKER 2023-2024
Pure Woodland
COMBINED AWARD WITH HI-FI
EXPERT GROUP
EISA PREMIUM WIRELESS HEADPHONES 2023-2024
T+A Solitaire T
IN-CAR ELECTRONICS
EXPERT GROUP
EISA IN-CAR HEAD UNIT 2023-2024
Alpine HDS-990 Status
EISA IN-CAR AMPLIFIER 2023-2024
Ground Zero GZUA 6SQ
EISA IN-CAR DSP AMPLIFIER 2023-2024
Mosconi Gladen One 8|10 DSP
EISA IN-CAR SOUND PROCESSOR 2023-2024
ESX QE812SP
EISA IN-CAR DSP SOFTWARE 2023-2024
Audison bit Drive
EISA IN-CAR SPEAKER SYSTEM 2023-2024
Ground Zero GZPC 165.3SQ-ACT
EISA IN-CAR SUBWOOFER 2023-2024
Morel Ultimo PowerSlim PS12D
EISA IN-CAR OEM PREMIUM AUDIO SYSTEM
2023-2024
Maserati GranTurismo with Sonus faber High
Premium Audio System
EISA IN-CAR INTEGRATION 2023-2024
Helix Compose Platform
EISA MOTORCYCLE AUDIO COMPONENT 2023-2024
Rockford Fosgate HD9813RG-STAGE3

Class A Audio: a one-stop shop
Kevin You has hi-fi in his DNA — and a high-end haven in his Melbourne store
T
here are 14 million stories in
Guangzhou city. One of the
best-known in Chinese audio is
Kevin You’s move from large-scale
loudspeaker manufacturer to
commercial retailer in Australia.
His hi-fi journey began nearly 30 years ago in
the densely populated province of Guangdong,
where he was born into a hi-fi family 8,000
kilometres from his future home in Melbourne.
His people owned several hi-fi stores, and that
is where a teenage You learned how to sell audio
— interacting with audiophiles on the shop floor
after school. Hi-fi was in the family DNA, he says.
Upon graduating in IT in China, he banked
enough to establish an audio business himself,
manufacturing speakers using European drivers.
It wasn’t easy at first, he remembers, and he did it
without direct family support.
You proudly proclaims himself a self-
made man who eventually employed about
300 workers making speakers (brand name
undisclosed for Chinese legal reasons, after
selling the business) which were then retailed
in stores throughout China. It was tough
going, he says, with a lot of demands involving
manufacture, staffing and logistics.
Although the business was “most successful”,
it wasn’t satisfying; the pressures were mounting
and You wanted a new relaxed lifestyle away
from the hunger of Chinese commerce. He
looked about and saw that his brother’s move to
Australia paid dividends in IT. “Business and an
easy lifestyle were the lure for me,” he says.
The move to put ‘life’ before ‘profit’ was a
big one that involved uprooting the family and
selling the manufacturing business he’d built
from scratch. By the end of 1999, China was in
the rearview mirror and a new life Down Under
beckoned. “I’ve never gone back, and don’t think
I ever will,” he says. “My whole family is here now,
my life is here.”
All the while as an IT ringer in a relative’s IT
business, his blood percolated with the notion
of reviving his life in audio. He contemplated
the manufacturing route at first but ultimately
decided to test the waters with a second-hand
retail shop using the back section of his relative’s
Sound Travels
IT premises.
“It took me some years to work out the market
here,” You confesses. “Manufacturing audio in
Australia is a marketing exercise and I decided
it’s impossible to compete with the international
brands that have a foothold here.”
You’s family retail business sold high-profile
Chinese brands in China, but he says that most
name-brands there do not sell big elsewhere in
the world. “It’s like starting again to launch the
profile of a popular Chinese brand in Australia
where it’s totally unknown; it’s high risk,” he says.
“In my shop, it’s
one-stop shopping
with all of the audio
gear you can imagine”
Australian Hi-Fi 79
 Sound Travels
“The Melody Chinese brand has done a good
job,” he admits. “But for me, it wasn’t a viable
option. Marketing is critical and it takes time to
develop connections and credentials. I simply
didn’t have the time to dedicate to importing, or
to audio manufacture. I’ve stuck to making audio
accessories like Extrema racks at my company
in China. I do, however, import Audiovector, a
Danish company of 40 years standing.”
You said he had the capital to make an impact
here but wasn’t sure how. He confesses he didn’t
understand the Australian buyers’ mentality.
Hence he started small, but with lots of quality
second-hand gear — brand-name goods which
he imported from all around the world.
Class A Audio was positioned as a one-stop
shop for a broad range of high-end gear, and it
led to his understanding of Australian buyers.
After a long pause, he says: “It took time, but
eventually I could profile the market and then buy
Buyers come with
prejudices sometimes
— “JBL is for rock only,”
for example. But that
is not so
80 Australian Hi-Fi www.whathifi.com/australianhifi
astutely so I didn’t have dead stock.”
He understood that his customers consulted
magazines like Australian Hi-Fi and Stereonet to
evaluate new products. Brand names mattered
here more so than they did in China. A shopfront
wouldn’t benefit him here, he determined.
To that end, he purchased an eclectic
assortment of gear, from Accuphase, Pass Labs,
Vitus Audio and PMC to Klipsch, Harbeth and
MartinLogan. Even Magico’s big-money flagship
loudspeakers and the latest Audio Research kit
are available at Class A Audio, he says.
“Not needing a shopfront was a considerable
saving when I started independently,” he says.
“People just go to the Class A website.”
In China, you can buy any brand and each
manufacturer’s gear is located in specific shops,
all congregated under one roof — like Chadstone
shopping centre. It’s a car city type of selling. In
my shop, it’s one-stop shopping with all of the
audio gear you can imagine.”
You moved to commercial premises in Notting
Hill, an outer eastern suburb of Melbourne. It’s
a huge 400 square-meter store space, totalling
11 demo rooms, crammed with gear from end to
end, room to room — and all of it is owned by You.
“It’s all paid for; there’s no stock audio on
consignment,” he explains. The aim is to stock
product that turns over quickly, avoiding the
consumer’s mental use-by date whereupon
the next model has superseded it. It keeps
customers engaged in new products, he says.
THE INTERVIEW
Peter Xeni: Did your second-hand customers
abandon you when you moved primarily into
new gear?
Kevin You: Not at all, quite the opposite. I
retained the original customers who then bought
the upgraded new models in some instances. If
they had a second Accuphase amp from Japan,
for example, some of the buyers would upgrade
to the latest version.
Back then, did you have the broad range of
second-hand stock you carry now?
I imported from all over the world. And all sorts of
gear too — various brands of amplifiers, speakers
and cables etc. I sold initially on eBay, Trading
Post and Gumtree. That was before 2000. When
the shop took off it gave me an understanding
of the Australian audio market. I was astounded
as to how huge it was — much bigger than I
anticipated. There was a mass market in Australia
for second-hand gear, and now that has shifted
to new gear.
You started much like a backyarder. So what
made it grow so rapidly?
Stock. I had lots of good stock. As I say, the
market was huge. I bought a lot of desirable gear
— McIntosh, MartinLogans, Quads, everything.
Don’t forget that I had plenty of capital from
the sale of my hi-fi manufacturing business in
mainland China.

At home I have gear like Accuphase, Pass Labs
Vitus Audio, PMC, Klipsch, Harbeth and Martin
Logan speakers; the gear I sell here.
A lot of what I see is expensive. You cater to
the well-heeled audiophile, and the novice...
We can assemble a good system for about
$10,000 or a little under. That’s the base. But
we have sold systems up to $100,000, and that
obviously includes everything from speakers,
a turntable and cartridge, cabling etc. You’d be
surprised, despite the economy, how much some
people invest in hi-fi.
With your high-end customers, what type of
music do they prefer?
Most of my customers like acoustic-style music.
Classical music, folk-pop and traditional oriental
music are staples of our Asian market and the
other two-thirds is Western music of all sorts,
from rock and roll to blues, catering for the
popular market.
Australia is a multi-cultural nation with people
from India to Malaysia to South Africa. How do
they learn about the products that any retailer,
including yourself, sells in Australia?
For example, if they want to know about a
product, they look it up on their phone and get
an instant translation to whatever language
they speak. Technology has bridged the
communication gap: they don’t need the
salesman to interpret the information because
it’s already there on their phone.
On a theoretical note, people in the Melbourne
Audio Club, for example, believe that the recent
technological leaps — in materials and design
— have led to a more clinical and homogenised
sound. Do you agree with that belief?
Yes and no. Take Bowers & Wilkins speakers,
for example. A customer may say they have a
distinctive sound. Do you think B&W can’t make
that Harbeth sound? Of course they can! B&W
has the know-how and engineering to make any
sound, including the Harbeth sound. It chooses
not to, it caters to different tastes.
Designers can now mimic other brands?
Yes, true. Because even only 10 years ago the
drivers and crossovers were nowhere near the
current quality. A modern driver has a flatter
frequency response.
Remember, I was a speaker manufacturer!
30 years ago, I could only tune the speakers to
a certain sound as that was the limitation of the
driver. Today we can tune a speaker to three or
more different sounds. The technology can do it,
and this makes them more accurate, with better
resolution.
I assume the new drivers cover a broader
frequency range...
Yes, the same driver — the midrange or whatever
— can do a lot more. Crossovers have improved
too and insulation is outstanding. Materials and
research have changed the character of older
brands. Harbeth speakers, for example, were
once considered old school — a speaker strictly
suited to high-brow [music] taste, like classical
or jazz, but the manufacturers today now cater
to everyone. That customer has probably never
heard Harbeths driven by huge mono blocks at
600 watts. They can do rock — and loud rock,
believe me.
Some products come with a signature sound.
So what do the buyers expect to hear?
Buyers come with prejudices sometimes — “JBL
is for rock only,” for example. But that is not so.
Years ago the speaker may have had a strong
character; a strong DNA. Over the years that
character has become less and less [prominent].
Speaker designs have now adapted to a broader,
genre-varying music market. The one speaker
can handle rock and classical together.
Why did you choose an outer ring suburb like
Notting Hill? And a huge office/warehouse
rather than a street shopfront?
Location! We have the M1 just around the corner,
we’re only 20 minutes away from the CBD, and
we’re connected to fast-growing areas such
as Geelong, Hoppers Crossing and Gippsland.
Sound Travels
Unlike other busy cities, such as Hong Kong and
Tokyo, we have hassle-free parking convenience.
How do you choose which products to sell?
We want to find the best ‘performance vs price
ratio’ products for our customers. Most of the
products in our inventory are considered the best
value at their price point.
Which product sells the most?
Well, we’re mostly high-end. And the bestselling
products we call “Class A”! We audition them all
and fine-tune all the audio components before
we demo them to customers to ensure they are
‘Class A’ performance level from our perspective
(at least at their price point).
So the future is looking good; people of all
persuasions love their audio here...
I absolutely love Australia! It’s all-inclusive.
Coming here is the best move I ever made.
Peter Xeni
CONTACT INFO
Name: Class A Audio
Address: 8/585 Blackburn Rd
Notting Hill
VIC 3168
T: (03) 8555 0735
E: sales@classaaudio.com.au
W: www.classaaudio.com.au
Australian Hi-Fi 81
On Test dCS Lina Network Streaming DAC

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


dCS Lina
Network DAC
• Natural, unexaggerated sonic character
• Impressive resolution
• Solid build
f the words ‘dCS’ and ‘entry-level’ spark
the thought of a truly affordable digital
product that embodies the qualities that
have made the brand so dominant at the
top end of the market, you are in for a
disappointment. While buying a new Lina
Network DAC is indeed the cheapest way
to own something new that incorporates the
brand’s trademark Ring DAC digital conversion
circuitry, this product certainly doesn’t fall
into what most people would consider the
‘accessible’ category.
What your $22,000 does buy you, though, is a
generous dose of dCS technology and a product
that puts all but the very best of its rivals firmly
in the shade when it comes to performance. The
company calls this product a ‘Network DAC’,
though something with its capabilities can also
be referred to as a music streamer.
DESIGN
Whatever you call it, this is a UPnP streamer that
packs most of the usual features and inputs you
can expect from a streaming product today.
Specifically, that means Spotify, Tidal, Deezer
and Qobuz are on the menu, as is Apple AirPlay
2. This unit is Roon Ready for users of that now-
established music management platform, too, and
has the usual trio of digital inputs options — USB
Type B, optical and coax (both RCA and BNC) —
alongside a pair of AES/EBUs that are a reminder
of the brand’s beginnings in the professional world.
There are omissions of note, though, and
they are Chromecast, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi
This is an even-handed
and transparent
performer that stays
faithful to the recording
for better or worse
• dCS Mosiac app is starting to feel clunky
• Some holes when it comes to features
connectivity. Given everything else it does, only
you can decide if any of these are deal breakers
for you. While acknowledging the convenience
of a wireless connection to a home network,
the recommendation at this serious end of the
market is to go down the wired ethernet anyway
for the extra stability it provides. And, similarly,
while the lack of Bluetooth is a miss, it is more
acceptable in a product that puts performance
so high on the list of priorities.
General standards of build are as high as
you would expect for the money. The Lina’s
casework feels incredibly solid and, at 10.3 kg,
has a pleasant heft to it. Take a look inside and
it is hard not to be impressed by the quality
of construction and obvious care in the way
the circuit is laid out. The front panel display
looks a little basic but shows all the important
information and remains readable from a
distance. It doesn’t show album art, though,
which is a bit of a shame but not exactly a major
loss given the art will appear on the phone or
tablet running the dCS Mosaic control app.
You can access the unit’s set-up menus from
the front panel as well as the aforementioned
app. If you are using the main unit controls for
the job, note that it isn’t a proper touch screen
and that the four dots work as the controls. The
app has been developed over the years into
something that is pretty comprehensive but
now feels a little slow and clunky at times. It is
probably time for the company to have another
look at this one!
There are a range of set-up adjustments
available, from setting the Lina’s output voltage
to picking the ideal digital filter for your taste
and system. Thankfully, dCS has chosen to pare
back the number of filter options from its pricier
models and here there are two that work with
PCM streams and four for DSD signals. You can
also decide whether the Lina switches the signal
to DSD or DXD during the conversion process.
The differences between all these choices are
relatively subtle, but during this test, the F2 PCM
filter setting was the most favoured. As for the
various DSD filters, the preference tended to shift
On Test
$22,000
according to the music being played. Needless to
say, your own experimentation is advised here —
to reveal your preferences, yes, but also to have
fun doing it! The choice between DSD and DXD
processing, meanwhile, was pretty clear, with the
former option coming out on top.
The Lina DAC didn’t have a volume control
when it was launched, though a subsequent
software upgrade added that functionality so that
now the Lina can front a wonderfully minimalist
system by driving a power amplifier or pair of
active speakers directly. The ability to change the
maximum output voltage, within the range of 0.2v
to 6v, allows the unit to be optimised for use with
a wide range of products, too.
That volume control software upgrade is an
important point to note. dCS has an established
record for making software upgrades available
for older products, even those out of production.
These upgrades can add functionality or even
improve performance, and where possible, they
tend to be free. This is certainly something the
company should be commended on.
PERFORMANCE
Any product at this level demands a top-class
system, and for this test the dCS was plugged
into a Burmester 088/911 MkIII pre/power
combination, driving either reliable veteran ATC
SCM 50 speakers or Wilson Benesch’s new A.C.T.
3Zero floorstanders (which, if you remember,
received a glowing review in the issue before last).
Yamaha’s exceptional YH-5000SE headphones
also come into play to test the Lina DAC’s various
headphone crossfeed processing modes.
The Lina DAC holds true to the brand’s
honesty-first philosophy. It doesn’t deal in sonic
fireworks or ‘wow’ moments unless they are
already in the recording. This is an even-handed
and transparent performer that stays faithful to
the recording for better or worse. Feed it a bright
and slightly aggressive effort such as Eminem’s
Recovery and that’s exactly what you get. There
isn’t an exaggeration of the flaws of the recording,
but the Lina DAC makes them pretty clear.
Equally, it doesn’t over-egg things, as some can,
Australian Hi-Fi 83
On Test dCS Lina Network Streaming DAC
The holy grail of headphone playback? The Lina
Network DAC can of course be enjoyed in a
fully fledged hi-fi system, but dCS has targeted
head-fi fans here by rounding out the range with a
dedicated clock and headphone amplifier

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


and still allows you to enjoy the good parts.
The Eminem/Lil Wayne duet No Love thunders
along with plenty of verve. Earlier dCS designs, for
all their neutrality and insight, could sound a little
soulless and sterile, but that’s not the case here.
The Lina DAC sounds surefooted with rhythms
and conveys the hard-charging momentum of the
track well. It captures Eminem’s passion brilliantly
dCS promises to deliver the head-fi
community “the definitive system for
headphone playback” with its latest
product series, Lina. The Lina Network
DAC here is one of three components in
the range alongside a headphone amplifier
and master clock. They can be purchased
individually or as a complete system that
makes up a rather attractive, neat stack
(pictured left).
The concept for the Lina range
originated from the development of the
UK-based company’s 2018-released
Bartók, a hugely capable one-box music
streamer, DAC and headphone amp that
was designed for both headphone and
speaker listening. During the journey to
create Bartók, dCS engineers learned a
whole lot about amplification and playback
— so much so that they decided to design
dedicated electronics for headphones.
Feedback received for the Bartók from
both the head-fi and hi-fi communities
was supposedly very positive. Through
making the system, dCS learned a great
deal about headphone amplification and
playback as well as the unique requirements
of headphone listeners. This experience
— coupled with the Bartók’s success —
inspired the leap to go one step further and
create a new product range tailor-made for
headphone listening. Lina is the culmination
of two years of development.
Lina introduces all-new electronic and
mechanical designs, including circuitry
that it says tested the limits of PCB design.
And a new touchscreen UI is, if you like,
the cherry on the proverbial cake. Of
course, the Network DAC can be used in a
loudspeaker-fronted system too.
George Poutakidis, Director of Addicted
to Audio, the exclusive reseller of dCS
Luna in Australia and New Zealand, says:
“Head-fi customers will surely be excited
to trial this world-leading technology built
just for them. The dedication and passion
put into this device comes through in its
performance and design.”
The dCS Lina line is available now, priced
at $22,000 for the Lina Network DAC,
$15,900 for the Lina Headphone Amplifier,
and $12,750 for the Lina Master Clock.
and delivers every syllable of his rapid-fire delivery
with the clarity anyone — including Eminem
himself! — would hope for. More than that, his
voice comes through with naturalness and proper
expression. There is natural warmth on display, or
at least as much as he is willing to show while he
shoots missiles in all directions.
Elsewhere there is plenty of punch and a
generous dose of power and authority in the lows.
This is a coherent performance from the top-end,
which is crisp and refined, to the deepest bass
notes which remain taut and tuneful.
Those qualities are equally apparent when
it is fed Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. Here, the
dCS conveys the scale and authority of the
orchestra brilliantly. It keeps a firm hold of low-
level instrumental strands even when the music
gets demanding, and its sense of composure
never falters. This is an organised and controlled
performer that ticks every box when it comes
to the mechanics of hi-fi, from having a focused
and beautifully layered soundstage that remains
stable regardless of the complexity of the music
to deliver the sound with an utterly neutral
though not sterile tonal balance. Detail levels are
excellent, as is the convincing, unexaggerated
way this unit handles the leading edge of notes.
And large-scale dynamic shifts are rendered with
skill while more delicate changes in intensity are
reproduced with the finesse they deserve.
There’s no need to break down the Lina’s
performance by input, either. While there has
never been any question about the quality of
dCS’s DAC designs, there hasn’t always been
the sense that the streaming module performs
to quite the same sky-high standard. That isn’t
an issue here: the Lina is just as good as a music
streamer, across any of its sources, as it is using
the digital inputs.
Regarding the various headphone processing
modes, the standard crossfeed setting works
particularly well, as does the first ‘Expanse’
option. Both of these manage to shift the
Yamaha headphones’ soundstaging more to
On Test
The Lina is just as good
as a music streamer,
across any of its
sources, as it is using
the digital inputs
that which you get from loudspeakers, and there
seems to be very little in the way of distracting
phase effects. Of the two, the dCS ‘Expanse’ is
the one selected for most of the test. The second
‘Expanse’ mode doesn’t work so well, for the
record, sounding a little disjointed.
CONCLUSION
The Lina DAC is a hugely talented unit that
performs to an excellent standard. It is a fine
entry point into the world of dCS and certainly
gives a large dose of the performance of the
company’s pricier products. While there’s the
odd question mark over the omission of certain
features that might disappoint some, this
remains a terrific unit and one that is easy to
wholeheartedly recommend. It may be entry-
level in dCS’s world, but the Lina DAC still serves
up a huge portion of the company’s magic.
CONTACT INFO
Brand: dCS
Model: Lina Network DAC
RRP: $22,000
Warranty: Three years
Distributor: Addicted to Audio
Address: 65 Trafalgar Road
Epping 3076 VIC
T: (03) 9810 2900
W: www.addictedtoaudio.com.au
Australian Hi-Fi 85
 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 sound.
 FORWARD THINKING FOR
EXCELLENCE IN AUDIO
P421
MONO POWER AMPLIFIER
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STEREO POWER AMPLIFIER
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 Ohm Acoustic speakers delight show attendees
Visitors to the Decibel Hi Fi room were surprised at the room-filling per-
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Some people checked behind the speakers to see if there were multiple
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The cloth covering also attracted attention, as it enables the buyer to
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It was also noted that they were positioned close to walls and furniture—
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Ohm speakers are now made in Australia by Decibel Hi Fi, with the cab-
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speakers have been built for over 50 years. 28th to 30th 2023.
There are four models in the current Australian line up, varying in the
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Australia at factory direct pricing from Decibel Hi Fi. Ph: 0486 022 877 E: enquiry@decibelhifi.com.au
 Established in 2004 we have spent the last 19 years
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www.classaaudio.com.au to get the best possible at the best possible price.

8/585 Blackburn Road · Notting Hill VIC · 3168 03 8555 0735 · sales@classaaudio.com.au
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 Music Reviews
7 of the best-produced
recordings of all time
Words by Mary Stone
“The recording is not what
one hears, but what one
must make others hear”– George Martin
To the uninitiated, it can seem like great music
production is an obliquely dark art. Often it
appears to demand great technical prowess,
sculpting instruments into little perfect sonic
bubbles of EQ. But it can easily veer into mystical
shamanism, requiring the gentle coaxing of
legendary performances from bewildered
musicians while unorthodox mic positions
abound. Besides long hours of hard work, the
best-sounding albums consistently happen when
the recording studio is used as another tool to
capture and communicate an artist’s vision. There
are far too many excellent examples to cover in
one list, but below are some groundbreakers, a
few gleaming sound-check classics (consider this
your Steely Dan disclaimer) and, hopefully, one
or two you may not have considered as studio
masterworks before...
Vespertine
Björk (2001)
As a producer, Björk is no stranger to
constructing whole sonic universes. While
she may have more groundbreaking and
Detail- avant-garde albums, 2001’s ‘Vespertine’
— her first to be recorded entirely on
rich, Pro-Tools — demonstrates the Icelandic
artist’s mastery of complex textures. She
invents a form of homespun electronica
vivid, in which the interplay between synthetic
and natural sounds forms an architecture of introverted chamber music.
honest
For three years before making the album, Björk recorded noises
around her home — from the shuffling deck of cards heard on Hidden
and
Place, to feet in fresh snow on Aurora — and magnified them to create
‘microbeats’. Sounds were chosen that would maintain sonic integrity
plain
even when downloaded as an MP3, and most tracks contained 30 to 40
of these microbeats combined together in a process she described as
“crocheting a huge blanket with a tiny needle”.
smplyIn an album dominated by electronic sounds, traces of the analogue
world — be it static and glitches on Cocoon or the warm harmonics of
beautiful.
Never Too Far
Dianne Reeves (1989)
Usually classified as adult contemporary,
with its late ‘80s/early ‘90s snare and
sizzling reverb tails, ‘Never Too Far’ boasts
a tremendous sonic variety of African
and Latin influences framed by Reeves’
powerful, virtuosic voice and backed by a
band of jazz luminaries.
Producer George Duke, who played keys
with Frank Zappa and contributed synths
and sequencing to Michel Jackson’s ‘Off The Wall’, imbues the album
with an expressive, electric element, from the bluesy keyboards in Come
In to the bouncy Synclavier in Fumilayo, gently folded into the mix.
Meanwhile, on songs such as the latter and Eyes On The Prize, fusions
of call-and-response and funk, Duke showcases his talent for combining
complex rhythmic textures, as interlocked beats and hooks skip together
with clarity and ease.
With so many competing styles, it’s the quality of the production
and Reeves’ vocals that make the whole record adhere. Her voice is
incredibly present with a naturally open sound that’s often pushed to the
extremities of her range, and, as a result, ‘Never Too Far’ is full of expertly
captured delicate moments of vulnerability.
Aja
Steely Dan (1977)
Often accused of being peddlers of yacht
rock, Steely Dan are notorious for their
obsessive studio process, strictly running
their own sessions with military precision.
This attention to detail garnered a clutch
of Grammys for their long-time engineer
Roger Nichols and producer Gary Katz, as
well as the devotion of live sound engineers
who rely on their brand of crisp, tightly
honed funk to check their rigs are all in working order.
Steely Dan’s reputation for pathological rigour is well-earned. On ‘Aja’,
their sixth and most successful album, the band spent a year-and-a-half
in the studio, remixing the album 13 times in the process and enlisting
more than 40 session musicians with 19 different guitarists brought in to
play versions of the guitar solo on Peg.
But to dismiss them as sounding ‘clinical’ would be to deprive yourself
of some of the most expert production ever committed to tape. Yes,
there’s the perfect tiptoeing bass intro to Black Cow and cut-glass high-
hats, but the record is also deeply idiosyncratic, full of swerves and
disorienting sounds, such as the minute-long drum solo that closes
the title track performed by the legendary Steve Gadd, cloaked in
otherworldly synthesizers and horns.
In 2010, ‘Aja’ was added to the United States National Recording
Registry for its artistic, historical and cultural significance. Even four

. into just two blistering albums, ‘Spilt Milk’
Toto IV
Toto (1982)
It should come as no surprise that a band
made up of session musicians would be
capable of creating a sublime sound.
While in 1982 Toto were struggling to
replicate the commercial success of their
debut album, the band dug their heels in,
bringing in even more studio musicians
to create a polished, multi-layered
record that gave them two of their most
successful singles — Rosanna and Africa — and garnered six Grammys,
including Producer of the Year.
It’s clear that every performer on ‘Toto IV’ has amazing mastery of
their own dynamics; for such an unapologetically pop record, there is an
astonishingly full-sounding acoustic range and lack of compression. But
the band also experimented with how technology could help to enhance
their vision, and throughout the long recording process they lived in a
Winnebago in the studio’s car park, tinkering day and night.
To cram the complicated arrangements onto 24-track machines,
engineer Al Schmitt used three separate recorders simultaneously, with
one track of each machine running SMPTE time code to keep everything
in sync. In a technique borrowed from Paul Simon, after each track
was finished, the master would be copied and mixed down to continue
working with for over-dubs to maintain the sonic integrity of the first
generation of tapes.
When it came to mixing, there were still too many tracks to fit on
the sound desk, so mix engineer Greg Ladanyi worked in sections,
painstakingly cutting verses and choruses together as he went along,
with the band lined up to take on fader duties — and the process
repeated until absolutely perfect.
Reach
Jacky Terrasson (1995)
For ‘Reach’, Jacky Terrasson’s acoustic
jazz piano trio was recorded by Mark
Levinson (yes, that Mark Levinson) in
close quarters, and that’s exactly what it
sounds like: a piano trio in a small room.
The album was recorded in 1995 at
the end of a six-month tour. Terrasson,
drummer Leon Parker and bassist Ugonna
Okegwo played in the same space, with no
partitions, and every accent and offbeat tempo shift reflects the intuitive
interaction of players who appear to anticipate one another’s every move.
Levinson used a two-microphone recording technique capturing
tracks in single takes. The spontaneous quality of the music is enhanced
by the open, airy atmosphere; nothing is close mic’d and no compression
was used.
The dynamic range and subtlety can be a challenge both for your
loudspeakers and your ears, but it’s one that pays dividends. Listening
to Parker’s drums’ candid, minimalist sound is particularly revealing;
the timbre of each hit shimmers and rings with incredible aural nuance.
96 Australian Hi-Fi www.whathifi.com/australianhifi
Spilt Milk
Jellyfish (1993)
In the early ‘90s, West Coast pop-rock
group Jellyfish had a short but eventful
existence, managing to cram what should
by rights be a decades-long creative arc
being the second.
Combining intricate harmonies,
decadent orchestration and sunshine
melodies, the record was a failure
commercially in part due to its unashamed craftsmanship at a time when
grunge authenticity was coming to the fore.
Indeed it is sometimes even accused of committing the cardinal sin of
being ‘overproduced’. It bursts with late-stage grandiosity and wears its
influences on its sleeve, from opener Hush — a ‘Pet Sounds’ lullaby with
A Day in the Life warped orchestral line — to the bombastic Queen-style
romp of Joining A Fanclub including a leftfield nod to Roy Wood in the
sparkling saxophones lurking in the background of the searing guitar.
But this is much more than an exercise in pomp and pastiche.
Producer Albhy Galuten (famed for his work on ‘Saturday Night Fever’
and creating the first commercial drum loop) carefully captured the full-
bodied tones of every single instrument, taking days to perfect each one.
The album’s title was chosen in reference to it being both over budget
and behind schedule, as the ‘Spilt Milk’ sessions dragged on for six
months while the band agonised over intricate arrangements, retakes
and tweaking. It’s an overload of ideas and sounds that should be in
competition with each other but instead delight as a collective.
Random Access Memories
Daft Punk (2013)
Since recording techniques transitioned
from primarily analogue to primarily
digital, if an album’s production starts
running over six figures, it’s often a sign
that something has gone seriously wrong.
But for EDM pioneers Daft Punk, the
extravagant cost of their final album,
‘Random Access Memories’, was entirely
necessary for the duo to achieve their
goal of making “music that others might one day sample” by paying
tribute to what they believe constitutes the greatest era for music — the
1970s and early 80s.
Citing Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Rumours’ and Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side Of The
Moon’ as just two of their reference points, Daft Punk (aka Guy-Manuel
de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter) choose to go back to time-
consuming analogue recording methods to help them achieve their
desired sonic aesthetic, along with hiring some of the finest musicians
alive — ‘Off The Wall’ drummer John Robinson, famed bassist and Easy
Lover co-writer Nathan East and, last but not least, Nile Rogers.
Using parallel signal chains, every element on the album was recorded
twice: once directly into Pro-Tools and once to 24-track analogue tape,
which was then re-recorded into the same digital session, with the sound
that best suited each song chosen for the final mix. “The digital was
slightly crisper and the transients were better”, described Producer Mick
Guzauski, “but in some cases, we needed the more laid-back sound of
the analogue. The important thing was they had that choice.”
Every track delves deep into the essence of distinctive styles and
moods, from disco to funk to prog to Lloyd Webber-levels of musical
theatre-style decadence, together forming a painstakingly produced
exploration of the realm between analogue and digital that re-captures a
lost era of music-making and the forgotten art of listening to an album.
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Music Reviews Top Picks
Pretenders
Relentless PARLOPHONE
It’s a perfect album title, as Chrissie Hynde’s
Pretenders have been persistently knocking
out marvellous records since 1979. If
further evidence of their greatness were
needed, remember how they walked away
with Glastonbury this year. Johnny Marr, Dave Grohl and even Paul
McCartney furiously thumbing-up from the wings were all well and
good, but surplus to requirements. The Pretenders rocked like bastards,
especially dexterous guitarist James Walbourne, through a timeless set
of songs. On top of it all was Hynde’s golden voice, an instrument that
has, if anything, improved with age. You couldn’t say the same about all
the big names (hello, Mr A Rose) who togged out in Somerset.
Like Pretenders’ last album, ‘Hate For Sale’ from 2020, a critical hit
that deserved to sell more, ‘Relentless’ was co-written by Hynde and
Walbourne. Granted, it takes a few listens, but once it swims into focus
it’s another knockout.
The preceding singles boded well. Let The Sun Come In slotted in
seamlessly at Glasto and reminds all listening that you don’t have to get
Explosions In The Sky
End BELLA UNION
This is the seventh album from this quartet of
reflective, instrumental Texas post-rockers,
and although it’s not intended as EITS’
last ever album, it starts from the concept
of finality — be it the death or simply the
end of a relationship. Yet it has about it a
surging, affirmative energy and a defiance,
as reflected in titles such as It’s Never Going
To Stop. Opener Ten Billion People is teeming and, by EITS standards,
tumultuous, triumphant even. In truth, it’s difficult to divine a distinctive
theme on this album, inasmuch as EITS’ pieces tend to follow a familiar
trajectory: opening ruminatively, such as the submarine depths, the
darkening turquoise plumped on Loved Ones, for example, or the guitar
whale song of The Fight before Chris Hrasky’s drums crash in as on the
shrewdly titled Peace Or Quiet, sending the tracks soaring, cascading.
Predictable as this dynamic may be, EITS are never ponderous, never
less than beautiful. They made us wait seven years for ‘End’, which
follows 2016’s ‘The Widerness’, and we’d happily wait another seven for
more of their sublime self-described “cathartic mini-symphonies”.
When Rivers Meet
Aces Are High ONE ROADS
Just three albums into their career, husband-
and-wife team Aaron and Grace Bond just
seem to get better and better. This album’s
two mellow tunes, Golden and By Your
Side, demonstrate the kind of creative and
performing chemistry that simply flows from
the heart. While the sweet, romantic stuff
is pretty impressive, there’s no denying the
heavy blues firepower they muster on the
other eight tracks. With the clear aim of creating an uncompromisingly
hard-rocking album, the riffing on Seen It All Before, The Secret, the title
track, and seismic album closer Five Minutes Until Midnight is singularly
monumental — an incendiary blend of genre authenticity and primal
guitar muscle, while Grace’s crystal-clear vocals positively soar on Play
My Game and Perfect Stranger. Preceding albums ‘We Fly Free’ and
‘Saving Grace’ were exceptional, but this raises the bar yet again.
98 Australian Hi-Fi www.whathifi.com/australianhifi
old and fade to black. “Live forever, that’s the plan.” Just like all those
great songs she’s already given us, then. A Love moves with that same
joyous chug she’s made her own since those first nigh-on faultless
Pretenders records, while I Think About You Daily, floating on a glorious
string arrangement from Radiohead man Jonny Greenwood, is just
gorgeous, a torch song of longing from a voice that could make you weep
even if it was just reading out the winning Lottery numbers.
There’s further wistfulness in the tremolo beauty of Hynde’s voice and
Walbourne’s playing on The Copa, and the way she climbs up the syllables
of ‘November’ in the stately The Promise Of Love. Look Away underlines
gently the overriding notion that love is a pain in the arse.
When they turn it up, Merry Window has a touch of Zep on one of their
Eastern field trips, especially when the coda lifts the tempo. Vainglorious,
over far too quickly, cops a feel of early triumphs like The Adultress and
Precious, and Just Let It Go sports satisfying widescreen twang from
Walbourne before Hynde takes over for another beautifully sung chorus.
The Great Pretender might claim during jagged opener Losing My
Sense Of Taste that she doesn’t care about rock ‘n’ roll, but the album’s
winning combination of melancholic regret and determined celebration
puts the lie to that. She’s still a dyed-in-the-wool rocker fighting the good
fight, and still a hero.
Public Service Broadcasting
This New Noise (Live) TEST CARD
Who better to celebrate the BBC’s centenary
last year than vintage valve-amp electro-
rockers Public Service Broadcasting? Lightly
remixed by frontman J Willgoose Esq, ‘This
New Noise’ is a polished live recording of the
London band’s ambitiously rich 50-minute
paean to the wireless age, as premiered at
the 2022 BBC Proms show at Royal Albert
Hall with conductor-composer Jules Buckley and the BBC Symphony
Orchestra. Overlaying PSB’s Radiophonic burbles with sepia-tinted
brass, silken strings and antique audio quotes, these tracks radiate Bisto
nostalgia and Festival Of Britain idealism. Thankfully, after a tasteful start
PSB galvanise themselves into pomp-rock mode with the emotionally
charged fanfares of A Candle Which Will Not Be Put Out. Then the lyrical,
mournful What Of The Future? imagines a desolate future Britain without
the BBC via the inspired device of having the players gradually lay down
their instruments until only silence remains. A heartfelt hymn to a national
treasure, this is the acceptable face of patriotism, the evergreen sound
of England’s dreaming.
Slowdive
Everything Is Alive DEAD OCEANS
It’s six years since Slowdive, who reunited in
2014, released their first album for more than
two decades. Since they surfed the shoegaze
wave in the 90s, the genre itself has been
rehabilitated: young people, especially in
America, think it’s wonderful. Its vagueness
and nebulous suggestiveness appeal and
fascinate in a boxed-in, stat-driven world.
Slowdive are now hailed as top-tier masters of their moods, and while
this new album works nobly to move things forward, with spells of uplift
and hope and (on singles Kisses and Skin In The Game) an undercurrent
of pop structure, it will also gratify those who just want to hear the big,
layered, melancholy mood that the music also known as dream-pop
delivers when it’s clicking. It gets a touch ploddy in the middle, but the
motorik of Shanty and electronic pulse of Chained To A Cloud (the most
shoegaze title ever, right?!) channel sanguine sunshine. Thriving.
WINNING

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