Innholdsfortegnelse for May - June 2018 i Australian HiFi

Italian high-end hi-fi manufacturer Audio Analogue has released the second product in its ‘PureAA’ line, the AAphono… which is, obviously, a phono stage! ‘Audio Analogue’s PureAA line draws key ideas from its Anniversary amps, released to celebrate the company’s 20th anniversary, but aims to apply them in a slightly different way,’ said Boris Granovsky, of | Absolute HiEnd, which distributes Audio Analogue in Australia. ‘Whereas the Anniversary amplifiers are totally minimalist, models in the PureAA line have loads of features for music lovers who need a wider range of functions and connections in a single product.’ The Audio Analogue AAphono accommodates both moving-magnet and moving-coil cartridges, offering a selection of different gain and loading options for MC cartridges as well as a range of input capacitance and resistance options for…

Audioquest’s new Beetle is a small portable Bluetooth DAC that also has an optical digital input and a USB input. ‘Audioquest designed the Beetle as a multi-purpose DAC for today’s many different lifestyles,’ said Richard Neale of Amber Technology, which distributes Audioquest in Australia. ‘The obvious application is to use the Beetle’s USB input to enjoy clean, clear, naturally beautiful sound from any laptop or computer, but thanks to the Beetle’s asynchronous Bluetooth technology, you can wirelessly stream music from your mobile device, while surfing the web, checking Facebook updates, or sending email.’ The Beetle’s optical and USB inputs can handle bit-rates up to 24-bit/96kHz. It uses Bluetooth 4.0 A2DP 2.6 which can be upgraded via software provided by Audioquest. If you’re making use of the Beetle’s USB or Bluetooth…

Exposure has added a monobloc power amplifier, the XM9, to its compact XM series. Rated with an output of 80-watts into 8 , the Exposure XM9—despite its small size—does not use a switch-mode power supply, but instead features a linear power supply with a large 200VA custom-made toroidal power transformer… and not surprisingly, because Exposure’s chief designer, Tony Brady, is no fan of switch-mode power supplies. ‘While most smaller hi-fi components—and indeed a good many larger ones—fall back on switch-mode power supplies… they’re far from audiophile grade and pollute the mains supply with noise,’ he said. ‘I’ve also used only high quality resistors and capacitors in the XM9’s signal path and, in the output stage, Toshiba bipolar output transistors that have been carefully chosen for their superior dynamic performance.’ According…

Chord Electronics’ Qutest DAC, which it claims ‘sets a new technical benchmark for a small, home system digital-to-analogue converter’ is now available in Australia. The Qutest is based on the latest proprietary FPGA technology developed by Rob Watts for Chord Electronics’ Hugo 2 DAC/headphone amp, and includes user-selectable frequency-shaping filters and input selection controls, available via two fascia-mounted spheres. Unlike the Hugo 2, however, the Qutest lacks a headphone amplifier, rechargeable Li-on batteries and crossfeed circuitry… three reasons it retails for considerably less than the Hugo 2 despite the shared circuitry. ‘The new Qutest is the latest evolution of Chord Electronics’ most affordable standalone DAC, the multi-award-winning 2Qute, which it directly replaces,’ says Chris Strom, of Radiance AudioVisual, which distributes Chord Electronics in Australia. The Qutest has galvanically isolated USB-B,…

Musical Hall has instead seemed to have gone overboard making its mmf 1.5 look as flash as possible Roy Hall, the founder of Music Hall, is the person responsible for the very modern trend for quality turntables to be supplied all set up and ready to go. Before Music Hall started to build its ‘plug ‘n play’ machines, the manufacturers of audiophile-grade turntables worked on the principle that one of the indicators of the quality of a turntable was how much work the buyer had to do before being able to play an LP. At the extreme high end of the turntable market, this meant not only assembling the turntable by putting oil into the bearing, fitting the platter, locating the motor and wrapping the belt around both the drive…

Graph 1 shows the frequency response of the Harbeth 30.2 Anniversary loudspeaker, as measured by Newport Test Labs. It’s excellent, as you can see, with the lab reporting it as 47Hz to 26kHz ±3dB. I couldn’t actually find the specification for the Harbeth 30.2 Anniversary on Harbeth’s website—every time I clicked on the tab that said ‘Specifications’ it took me to those for the 30.1, which show its response as 50Hz–20kHz ±3dB. Not only is the 30.2 Anniversary’s frequency response extremely flat, there’s also no skew or tilt that would otherwise mean the speaker might emphasise the high or low end of the spectrum, so the response is not only flat, but also balanced. Comparing the same measurement with that Newport Test Labs made on the 30.1, it’s very easy…

Dynaudio has a tradition of marking momentous occasions in its history by producing special editions of its loudspeakers. Yes, I know many manufacturers do this, but Danish manufacturer Dynaudio has been building speakers for so long that it now has a quite a few ‘specials’ in its catalogue… and back-catalogue. The ‘Special One’ closed off the company’s first decade in business. The ‘Special Twenty-Five’ was designed and built in 2002 for Dynaudio’s 25 anniversary, and the ‘Sapphire’ was commissioned for the company’s thirtieth anniversary. So by now you should have guessed that the Special Forty was built to commemorate Dynaudio’s 40th anniversary, in 2017. But is there anything particularly special about this model other than it was built as an anniversary edition and is likely to become a collectable model?…

Newport Test Labs measured the power output of the Micromega M-100 as 108-watts per channel, both channels driven, at 1kHz and all frequencies up to 20kHz (the highest frequency measured in this test), and as 102 watts per channel both channels at 20Hz. All measurements are a little higher than Micro-mega’s spec of 100-watts per channel into 8 . Measured into 4 loads, the Micromega M-100 only just exceeded its specification at 1kHz and 20kHz (201-watts per channel) but dropped just under specification when the test frequency was 20Hz, where it delivered 186-watts per channel, since this is just 0.3dB lower than specification, it’s inconsequential. The M-100 delivered the same power output irrespective of whether a single channel was driven, or both channels, made possible in part because the amplifier…

John Ong has been an integral part of the Melbourne audio scene for more than twenty years, where he’s worked in audio research and development, and audio design and manufacturing as well as in the retail sector. His most recent project, Sound Gallery, is about to celebrate its second anniversary, so we thought we’d check on its progress… Aushifi: When did you first become interested in hi-fi? John Ong: I guess it would have been when I was 12 years old. I always wondered how things worked… and especially how music could be reproduced from a box! I started pulling them apart—portable radios, cassette players—anything I could get my hands on really. I was really good at taking things apart, but not so good at putting them together……

Perreaux has released a new integrated amplifier, the 255i, which it says is the most powerful Class-AB integrated amplifier it has ever built, being rated at 250-watts continuous per channel into 8› and 500-watts continuous per channel into 4›. The new Perreaux 255i can optionally be fitted with a 32-bit/384kHz DAC and a phono preamplifier which can accommodate both moving-magnet (MM) and moving-coil (MC) cartridges. The 255i has three separate power transformers and four independent power supplies. According to Martin van Rooyen of Perreaux: ‘The 255i is designed to handle difficult speaker loads. Its MOSFET output stage is capable of continuously delivering a genuine 360-watts into an 8› load and 530-watts into 4›, so it will drive difficult speakers with ease, producing controlled, quality audio.’ On the rear panel, the…

Audio Research has released its Reference 160M Vacuum Tube Monaural power amplifier. It uses a new audio topology for Audio Research, with fewer and better components in the signal-path than in previous designs, switchable ultralinear/triode operation, proprietary auto-bias, and output tube monitoring and protection. ‘The array of features fitted to the new Ref 160M has never been offered before in any Audio Research amplifier,’ said Philip Sawyer, of Synergy Audio Visual, which distributes Audio Research in Australia. ‘The designers at Audio Research have created a new style that features a transparent faceplate that allows you to see the KT150 vacuum tubes while integrated into that faceplate is an innovative power meter whose output-level markings are illuminated by hidden LEDs.’ The four KT150 power tubes are automatically and continuously biased using…

Audio-Technica says its new belt-drive AT-LP7 turntable is the best turntable it’s ever made, and it’s now available in Australia, fitted with an Audio-Technical VM520EB phono cartridge, for $1,399 (RRP). The Audio Technica AT-LP7 is belt-driven, fully manual and comes with a J-shaped tonearm fitted with a removable AT-HS10 headshell that is in turn fitted with an Audio-Technica )VM520EB moving-magnet phono cartridge. The VM520EB has a 0.3×0.7 bonded elliptical stylus and Audio-Technica’s ‘dual magnet’ geometry, where the two magnets are positioned to mirror the angles of the groove walls. ‘The AT-LP7 is the finest turntable the company has ever offered,’ said Bob Peet, of Audio-Technica. ‘And thanks to our exclusive Dual Magnet design, where the magnets are precisely positioned to match the left and right channels of the record’s stereo…

Convoy International, which distributes Bluesound in Australia, has announced price reductions across the entire Bluesound range, including the award-winning Pulse soundbar and Vault 2. Geoff Matthews, CEO of Convoy said, ‘Today consumers have the ever-competitive market global retail market available to them, and accordingly we have seized the opportunity to ensure our award-winning Bluesound products remain the preferred multi-room, high-res audio system, and to introduce our award-winning Pulse Soundbar and unique Vault to even more audio enthusiasts by implementing some cost efficiencies that have resulted in reduced prices.’ Bluesound builds a range of smart music system components that includes audiophile-grade wireless speakers, digital music players that allow you to stream all your music wirelessly to every room in your home including those recorded in high-resolution. It includes high-capacity rippers and…

French manufacturer Devialet has increased the peak power of its White Phantom powered speaker at the same time as local distributor Interdyn has reduced the price. Devialet says it has increased the peak power of the entry-point White Phantom by 60 per cent by upgrading its firmware, which means any existing owners will also be able to increase the peak power of their units, using the Devialet Spark app. (The continuous power output, of course, remains the same.) At the same time, Devialet’s Australian distributor, Interdyn, has reduced the price of the White Phantom to $2,690 (it was previously $2,990). ‘Devialet has turned the world of audio on its head once again,’ said Sam Encel, Director at Interdyn. ‘The Phantom now sounds more impressive than ever, and the brand has…

Readers interested in a full technical appraisal of the performance of the Music Hall mmf 1.5 Turntable should continue on and read the LABORATORY 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. Newport Test Labs is now measuring the frequency response of phono cartridges using two different measurement techniques. Graph 1 shows the frequency response and channel separation of the Music Hall Melody moving-magnet phono cartridge when is reproducing a pink noise test signal. This is a particularly difficult test for any cartridge because pink noise means that the cartridge is simultaneously reproducing all frequencies between 20Hz and 20kHz. Reproducing this…

Readers interested in a full technical appraisal of the performance of the Dynaudio Special Forty Loudspeakers should continue on and read the LABORATORY 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. Newport Test Labs measured the frequency response of the Dynaudio Special Forty as extending from 45Hz to 20kHz ±3dB. This is the response shown in Graph 1. The section of the trace below 2kHz is the averaged result of nine individual frequency sweeps measured at three metres, with the central grid point on-axis with the tweeter using pink noise test stimulus and with the capture unsmoothed other than by…

This thing is solid, with a capital ‘S’—and very obviously assembled by hand... Nagra’s CDP player is like no other CD player you have seen before, because the front panel display is built into the CD drawer, the front of which does not close flush with the front panel, as with most drawer-style CD mechanisms, but sits proud of it. It’s also small… so small that the face of the remote control is almost larger than the front of the CDP. Open the drawer and you’ll see that it is not some piece of extruded plastic plucked from the shelf of an OEM manufacturer, or even a piece of stamped metal. It’s a solid slab of aluminium alloy, through which protrudes the CD drive and laser assembly (a Philips CD-Pro2M).…

The 800 D3 represents a landmark in the company’s history, because it was specifically created to celebrate B&W’s 50th anniversary. As such, I expected to find some gold used in the 800 D3, this being the precious metal most-often used to celebrate 50th anniversaries in most countries around the world. B&W has instead used diamond, a material more commonly reserved for 60th anniversaries. To be more specific, the dome of the 800 D3’s tweeter is made of diamond, which you’d have to agree is quite a step up in materials science from the cloth and base metal domes that are usually used to build tweeters… and by ‘base’ metals, I mean aluminium, titanium and beryllium. Using a dome made from diamond is not without its costs, and the first cost…

OAD (Open Audio Designs) has released its first two amplifiers, the CP1 control preamplifier and UF1 power amplifier. Although Open Audio Designs is a new company, the man behind it, Melbourne electronics designer Jon DeSensi, will be well-known to Australian audiophiles, having previously founded Music Labs Australia. ‘OAD is a performance-oriented company that strives to advance state-of-the-art music reproduction at all times,’ said DeSensi. ‘Driven by genuine advances in technology and performance, the OAD brand uses “ultrafidelity” as both its trademark and hallmark, as this underpins everything that we do.’ The first two products available from OAD are the CP1 control preamplifier and UF1 power amplifier. The CP1 has an 11cm colour TFT LCD full colour display with a touch capability, so that all features of the CP1 are controlled…

Japanese optical cartridge pioneer DS Audio has just launched its first audio accessory, the ST-50 stylus cleaner. The ST-50 isn’t your typical stylus cleaner. It comprises a cleaning pad made of the same urethane resin used to filter the air in high-tech clean rooms. To use it, you simply tape your turntable’s platter in place so it can’t rotate, then place the ST-50 onto the turntable platter and lower the tonearm (preferably using a tonearm lifter) so the phono stylus sinks into the gel pad. Do this three times and DS Audio claims your stylus will be completely free of dirt and dust. ‘In the same way that the urethane resin prevents dust from contaminating a clean room by absorbing micro-level dust particles, the ST-50 effortlessly removes particles of dust…

German manufacturer Clearaudio has released a new tonearm, the Clearaudio Tracer, taking its tonearm line-up to ten, if you count both its standard radial tonearms, of which the Tracer is one, and its tangential tonearms. ‘When creating the Tracer tonearm, Clearaudio’s design team drew on a number of engineering tricks typically associated with high-end watchmaking,’ said Nigel Ng of Advance Audio. ‘Its design features a high-precision, low-friction tungsten/sapphire bearing and a carbon tonearm tube, which means the design is both extremely rigid and very lightweight, giving a just-right combination of stability and agility.’ Anti-skating force is adjustable using a simple dial, rather than some more complex method, and the azimuth of the aluminium headshell is also easily adjusted. The underslung counterweight reduces the overall centre-of-gravity of the arm, yet tracking…

French manufacturer Focal has announced that its popular ‘Listen Wireless’ headphones are now available in three coloured finishes—Blue, Olive and Purple—in addition to Black (released in 2017). The new coloured versions are called ‘Listen Wireless Chic’ models and retail for $419 (RRP). They’re a closed-back design using Bluetooth 4.1 aptX wireless that have 40mm-diameter drivers with Titanium/Mylar diaphragms. For more information, contact BusiSoft AV on 1300 888 602 or at www.busisoft.com.au…

Graph 1 shows the effect of bungs and low-pass filter on the near-field frequency response of the Richter 10.6 subwoofer’s bass driver. The black trace shows the driver’s response when both bungs are fitted, the blue trace shows the driver’s response when only one bung is fitted, and the red trace shows the driver’s response when no bungs are fitted. The trace also shows the difference between the response when the low-pass filter is out of circuit (black and blue traces) and when it’s in circuit, but set to its maximum crossover frequency of 160Hz. You can see that when the low-pass filter is active, the high-frequency response rolls off at around 18dB per octave above 150Hz, whereas when the low-pass filter is defeated, the natural roll-off of the driver…

Micromega’s M-100 Integrated Amplifier is very obviously not your ordinary integrated amplifier. This isn’t only because it’s not just an integrated amplifier, but also a DAC and a Streamer. It’s also because it’s the wrong size, the wrong shape and doesn’t have the usual array of controls you’d expect to find on an integrated amplifier. So what was this famously French company thinking when it brain-stormed this design? THE EQUIPMENT Whatever they were thinking, one thing is absolutely certain, and that’s that the designers were thinking outside the square… a long, long way outside the square… thinking, maybe, of a flattened rectangle, or an activity aid at an aerobics step class. I suspect that when you see your first M-100, you’ll either love the look, or hate it. To help…

Newport Test Labs measured the output voltage of the Nagra CDP’s unbalanced outputs as just over 1 volt, as you can see from the tabulated test results. This will be more than sufficient for all integrated amplifiers, but if you intend to drive a power amplifier directly, you should check that its input sensitivity is lower than 1 volt, otherwise that amplifier won’t be able to deliver its rated output power. The output voltage balance between the left and right channels was excellent, at just 0.019dB, and the phase error between the channels was particularly low: only 0.03° at 16Hz and 0.01° at 20kHz. At 1kHz it was perfect: there was no phase error at all between the channels. The frequency response of the Nagra CDP CD player as measured…

Newport Test Labs measured the frequency response of the B&W 800 D3 as extending from 28Hz to 28kHz ±3dB, which is an outstanding result and very close to B&W’s spec of 15Hz to 28kHz›±3dB. This response is shown in Graph 1, where the trace below 1kHz is the averaged result of nine individual frequency sweeps measured at three metres using a pink noise test stimulus with the central grid point on-axis with the tweeter and with the capture unsmoothed. This response has been spliced using post-processing to the gated high-frequency response (measured at a single point at one metre directly on-axis with the B&W 800 D3’s tweeter while its protective cover was in place). You can see that the ±3dB variation is caused by roll-off in the low frequencies (below…