Innholdsfortegnelse for January - February 2020 i Australian HiFi

Keen-eyed readers may have noticed something slightly different about our first issue for 2020. No, it’s not that we’ve updated our ‘50 Year’ Anniversary logo—though we’re very proud of that as we know of only one other hi-fi magazine in the world that’s been able to celebrate a 50th anniversary. No, what you should have noticed is that there’s now a ‘Future’ logo above the barcode. Yes, Future Publishing Australia, the Australian division of the giant UK-based publisher Future plc, is the new owner of Australian Hi-Fi Magazine. This is exciting news for everyone here at Australian Hi-Fi Magazine, because Future plc is an award-winning, global multi-platform media company that publishes more than 80 magazine titles across 56 countries, primarily in specialist consumer sectors such as music, photography, computers, computer…

Jerry Harvey Audio (JH Audio) has released the third generation version of its Layla Aion in-ear monitors which, in a co-branding exercise, carry the logo of South Korean manufacturer Astell&Kern. Hand-crafted in Orlando, Florida, each Layla Aion in-ear contains four balanced armature drivers for bass, four balanced armature drivers for midrange and four balanced armature drivers for treble. The bass response is adjustable, with users being able to adjust bass level by up to ±13dB. The layered carbon fibre body incorporates three internal chambers, created from resin using 3D SLA printing technology. Wiring is via silver-plated Litz wire cable. ‘The first Layla launched as a custom earphone in 2014 and instantly became known as the audiophile holy grail,’ said Jesse Ross of Addicted To Audio, which distributes both Astell &…

Designer Cees Ruijtenberg, the founder of Metrum Acoustics, and Lion Kwaaijtaal have started a new company, Sonnet Digital Audio. Their first product, the Sonnet Morpheus DAC, is now available in Australia from Sonic Purity. ‘This is a new and exciting period for us,’ said Ruijtenberg, ‘one where we will be seeing just how far we can push the audio envelope. Not only will we focus on manufacturing complete matched sound systems but on a broader level, our knowledge, latest research and continuing developments will be used to create new components for domestic use and for the professional recording studio sector.’ The concept for the new Sonnet Morpheus DAC was to integrate an effective lossless volume control in order to eliminate the pre-amplifier from the chain of audio components. ‘In the…

German manufacturer Clearaudio has released an ‘active’ version of its multi-award-winning Concept turntable. The new Clearaudio Concept Active turntable has an integrated headphone amplifier, so that if you listen via headphones, you can just plug them directly into the turntable and start spinning your vinyl straight away. It also has an MM/MC phono stage and pre-amplifier built in, so you can connect it directly to a pair of active loudspeakers. And because it has its own volume control, you can also connect it directly to a power amplifier. Plus, of course, you could plug it into the line-level input of any integrated amplifier or AV receiver. ‘The exceptionally affordable Clearaudio Concept turntable has been an undisputed success for the brand, winning an impressive seven What Hi-Fi? Awards, a Sound &…

TURNTABLE When the compact disc was introduced in the early 80s, nearly everyone in the world said it was the end of the vinyl era. The CD was smaller, played for longer, was more robust and, according to co-inventors Philips and Sony, would deliver ‘perfect sound forever.’ Turntables disappeared from hi-fi stores and started appearing at garage sales throughout the suburbs. Australian record companies shut down their local LP pressing plants. By the end of the 80s, more than 400 million CDs were being manufactured every year. Meanwhile, in faraway Austria, Heinz Lichtenegger was designing his first turntable, and in 1991 established a company to build it—Pro-Ject. Seemingly against all the odds, Lichtenegger’s Pro-Ject P1 turntable went on to become a success story for the fledgling company. Skip forward nearly…

The organ in the Aarhus Musikhuset, the Aarhus Music House, has 3,200 pipes. If you’re into organs this is an impressive number. Only a fraction of them are on display, and when it was being installed the folk doing it told everyone here that an instrument is not an instrument unless you can walk around in it. This organ can go down to 16 Hertz, a bass note that is so low in pitch that you feel it rather than hear it. It thoroughly earns the adjective that is thrust on so many lesser organs; this is indeed a mighty organ. I listened as Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition was played on it, a very loose transcription to be sure but really interesting, and the 16 Hertz depth was plumbed…

In 1983, Meridian Audio was the first British company to manufacture a CD player, and in 1990, the first to introduce for the domestic market active loudspeakers with power amplifiers inside the cabinet. Meridian created the first digital surround-sound processor, and the first loudspeaker using Digital Signal Processing. All of these have been acclaimed for their performance, winning awards around the world. The technology Meridian has developed is now being used by other companies globally, defining how we experience home entertainment today. The number of unique technologies developed over the course of the company’s history is impressive in itself. That these technologies have set standards for the rest of the industry goes even further to prove a reputation for innovation and the pursuit of perfection. One particularly notable example is…

The first thing that strikes you when you see the Meridian M6 active speakers is their shape — they look not-unlike small felt-clad missiles. When you hear them, however, their performance clearly makes them weapons of mass audio! How can a speaker of this size and shape sound so good? Well, while avoiding the technobabble to focus on the heart of the matter — audio, or rather, music performance — Meridian has been manufacturing fully active systems since the 1970s and their expertise is clearly on show here. Combining specific materials, clever design, coupled with proprietary digital signal processing, makes for a speaker system that excels at convincing you that you have bigger, more expensive speakers in your room. So, what’s an active speaker system? There are numerous explanations and…

Readers interested in a full technical appraisal of the performance of the Focal Kanta N°3 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 Focal Kanta N°3 as 37Hz to 40kHz ±4dB, which is an outstanding result that shows both the bass and treble extension of which this speaker is capable. This is the response that’s shown in Graph 1. This trace is a post-processed, so that below 500Hz the trace is the averaged result of multiple sweeps using a pink noise stimulus. The section of…

ADAM SIMMONS The Usefulness ofArt (Fat Rain FAT021) The breadth of the music matches the scale of the ambition. These five albums dig deep into the oeuvre of brilliant Melbourne composer/multi-instrumentalist Adam Simmons, beginning with Concerto for Piano and Toy Band, a dense, giddy conversation between pianist Michael Kieran Harvey and the eight-piece Adam Simmons Creative Music Ensemble (CME). The titular suite, which, alongside its intense beauty of melody and improvisation, carries dialogues between startling fluctuations of sheer mass, from the leader’s spectral bass clarinet to avalanches of 15-piece ensemble sound. Travelling Tales places Simmons' assorted reeds against a heady, edgy composition for 20-piece string orchestra. The Calling, by contrast, uses a 14-piece CME containing six drummers and percussionists. The usefulness of art? A Rodin quote. ANDY MILNE & DAPP…

The recently-released McIntosh C53 is the first product to feature McIntosh’s new DA2 Digital Audio Module (DAM) which is upgradeable. The DA2 Digital Audio Module builds upon the DA1 already fitted to many McIntosh products because in addition to having all the same connections as the DA1 (2 coaxial, 2 optical, 1 USB and 1 proprietary MCT for use with McIntosh’s MCT series of SACD/CD Transports), it also has an HDMI Audio Return Channel (ARC) input (audio only). This allows it to be connected to video components with HDMI (ARC) output to bring screen sound to a new level. The HDMI input converts multi-channel Dolby and DTS audio to stereo for proper playback through the C53. The DA2’s USB input can support native playback of up to DSD512, surpassing the…

Romanian high-end audio company Meze Audio has released the Rai Solo in-ear monitor, a lower-priced version of the Meze Audio Rai Penta IEM. ‘Meze Audio intends that its Rai Solo becomes the IEM of choice for entry-level audiophiles,’ said Christopher Strom, General Manager of Radiance AudioVisual, which distributes Meze in Australia. ‘The Rai Solo promises users an affordable way to immerse themselves into a pure listening experience while enjoying the ergonomic elegant design that is typical of Meze products.’ ‘The Rai Solo shares a lot of design philosophy DNA with our flagship, Rai Penta,’ said Antonio Meze, founder and lead designer at Meze Audio. ‘The two have a similar shape, with soft rounded edges that are designed to embrace the natural curves from one’s ear so they fit perfectly.’ The…

Roon Labs has unveiled an entirely new technology it calls Valence that predicts which new music releases you will like, plus adds additional functionality to Roon. It’s contained in Roon 1.7. Valence is a system built on a cloud database that uses machine-learning algorithms in conjunction with its information about the musical tastes of the now-more than 100,000 Roon users to model the way different pieces of music are related—such as by shared musicians, shared producers, shared lyricists—to suggest music you might like that you’ve never previously heard. ‘The result is the ultimate music expert, which presents the world of music through a lens personalised just for you,’ says Roon founder Enno Vandermeer. ‘For example, in most streaming apps, ‘New releases’ are just a list of everything that’s been released…

New moving-coil design from Japanese specialist cartridge designer Noriyuki Miyajima has a cantilever made from the spine of a cactus. The Miyajima Saboten L (the ‘L’ indicates that it has a nude line-contact diamond stylus) is a low-output moving-coil (MC) design where the line-contact diamond stylus is fixed to a short, tubular end-piece of aluminium, which is cemented to the end of the cactus spine in such a way that the stylus tip is very close to the central axis of the cantilever and coil assembly. In common with all of Miyajima’s stereo cartridges, the Saboten L’s generator system uses a patented ‘cross-ring’ geometry where the cantilever fulcrum and coils are positioned exactly in the centre of the magnetic field, which Miyajima says delivers ‘a more faithful handing of dynamic…

McIntosh has released its MC901 Dual Mono Amplifier which it describes as ‘a one-of-a-kind, ultimate solution for bi-amping loud-speakers: a 300-watt vacuum tube amplifier and a 600-watt solid-state amplifier on one chassis.’ Although McIntosh describes the MC901 as a ‘monobloc’ it’s not a true monobloc (which would be only a single amplifier) but two completely different amplifiers built on the one chassis. One amplifier is a single-channel valve amplifier rated at 300-watts; the other a solid-state amplifier rated at 600-watts. The valve amplifier has eight KT88 output valves driven by four 12AT7s and two 12AX7As and uses the same patented Unity Coupled output transformer circuit McIntosh has been using since it was founded in 1949. The solid-state amplifier uses transistors in combination with McIntosh’s ‘Autoformer’ output stage. These circuits mean…

INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER Exposure is a British brand that… err, has actually lacked exposure in Australia for many years. Hopefully, that will change now that Exposure has appointed a new Australian distributor (Audiofix). THE EQUIPMENT Change, however, is something that happens very slowly at Exposure, which delights as many audiophiles as it annoys. The Exposure 2010S2 D, for example, despite having seen many changes in internal circuitry, including many upgraded internal components, looks pretty much the same—externally, at least—as the original Exposure 2010 that I am fairly sure was released sometime last century. In other words, Exposure has been using basically the same chassis, metalwork and front panel for more than 20 years… a chassis that is, by the way, available in either black or silver. Some audiophiles are, of course,…

Blue Designs is a Californian company manufacturing in China, though last year it became part of Logitech, which is Swiss… and just to confuse things even more, BLUE is actually an acronym for Baltic Latvian Universal Electronics. Australian pricing seems, well, variable. Harvey Norman online sells at $697 (not available in-store); Kogan has the black ones at $599 and I’ve seen Dick Smith advertise the white/brown version at $419! Their quality is self-evident; I love the golden-age-of-radio logos which are LED indicators, each surrounded by three control buttons, and the aviator-style ear-pods—it’s classic and modern at the same time. They feel rock-solid with their solid yet pivoting yokes, which make for safe and solid storage even without the high-quality solid bag provided, which has the sole disadvantage of size, being…

Meridian’s 200 Series is something different in the world of wireless multiroom audio. Many companies have had a go at the market defined first by Sonos, delivering their own ecosystems of wireless speakers, soundbars and streaming electronics, and most follow a similar formula. Meridian, a company which operates at the highest levels of hi-fi, has done things rather differently. For starters it has gone small. While high-end Meridian components routinely tip the scales over 20kg, the 210 Streamer reviewed here weighs just 660 grams, a ‘half-width’ component only 4.2cm high. It joins the rest of Meridian’s 200 Series, a set of compact yet capable multiroom-equipped units that can deliver a whole house of audio, and are designed to do so while being hidden away, controlled via an app on your…

Tom Waters: Do you have a first memory, a first unforgettable musical experience that left an impression? CL: My first impression was when my oldest brother bought a system comprised of Altec Lansing speakers (I can’t remember which model) and separate Sony components, which he’d set up in the family lounge room. He played lots of the music I like, which was 70’s type music. I was gobsmacked at the difference between his system and my parent’s old system. The second instance was when I was at university. I visited my flatmate’s parent’s home somewhere down in Ulladulla. I wasn’t into HiFi then (more the music back then). His dad had a separate music room, and I was gobsmacked (again!) with what I heard. I knew it must have been expensive…

INTEGRATED HUB know. I too wondered what an 'integrated hub' might be, having never previously heard of such a component. I guess that the problem is that now that there are so many different ways to store and deliver music hi-fi manufacturers are not only having to make sure the components they sell can accommodate all those different ways, but also have to come up with simple ways of telling customers that their products are equipped to handle all these different ways… as well as give them an idea of what type of amplification might also be built in. Obviously, Ayre Acoustics' attempt to do this integrates the words 'Integrated' and 'Hub.' Presumably, we're supposed infer that it’s not only an integrated amplifier, but also a 'hub' for all your…

COURTNEY BARNETT MTV Unplugged (Milk!/Remote Control) Though her studio output is damn near impeccable, Courtney Barnett is a concert crusher at heart. Her shows are characteristically monstrous, manic and magnetic. Her MTV Unplugged session could not be more diametric. The CB3 are in tow, of course, albeit stripped to their basics while Barnett herself wields a bright, resonant acoustic and sings drier and more pastoral than we're used to. In an eight-track set, three covers seems exorbitant, yet when she and Paul Kelly hit the chorus of a gloomy Charcoal Lane (Archie Roach)—or when the final refrain of So Long, Marianne rolls around and you're forced to wonder if Leonard Cohen foresaw such beauty when he wrote it—the argument falls flat. Dismally short but delightfully sweet, MTV is an essential…

The Technics Grand Class SL-1200G turntable is finally available in Australia, four years after its launch. Launched globally in 2016, the SL-1200G combines a coreless direct-drive motor, precise motor control technology, a high-rigidity platter and a 230mm magnesium tonearm with a gimbal pivot. Technics’ unique coreless motor eliminates the tiny variations in rotational speed, known as ‘cogging’, that affect most direct drive turntables. ‘The SL-1200G provides the smoothest possible rotary control by the use of an encoder at the bottom of the motor which detects the precise rotating angle,’ said Aaron Waters, Product Marketing Manager (Audio and Video) at Panasonic Australia, which distributes Technics. ‘Furthermore, a twin rotator construction reduces the bearing load while maintaining high torque and also limits minute vibration during rotation. This makes it possible to reproduce…

Canadian amplifier manufacturer Anthem Electronics has released what it claims is the world’s most advanced and versatile multi-zone distribution amplifier system, its Anthem MDX Series. MDX modules are rated at 60-watts into 8Ω per channel, with both 8-channel (i.e., four stereo amplifiers) and 16-channel (eight stereo amplifiers) modules available. Amplifier topology is Class-D. Each one has independent Anthem Room Correction (ARC), bass management, bass/treble adjustments, and level control settings, plus there’s a 24-bit/192kHz digital-to-analogue converter (DAC). ‘Anthem’s digital/analogue matrix switching allows any analogue RCA, digital coaxial, or digital optical input to be assigned to any output—either pre-configured via the web interface or switched in real-time via IP/RS-232—using customized pre-set DSP settings if required,’ said Bruce Thierbach, General Manager of Audio Active. ‘Amplifier channels can be bridged for increased power and…

Sonos has purchased the French-based company Snips. Snips specialises in on-device voice control. The purchase will enable Sonos to add a voice assistant to its products that will work without an internet connection, enabling added privacy. Currently, voice assistants such as Alexa and Siri only work when the devices using them are connected to the internet, because speech recognition and speech generation are done ‘in the cloud’. Snips’ AI voice platform, on the other hand, claims to be a solution that uses proprietary technology to allow voice processing to take place on the device itself. ‘This localised processing maximises accuracy, efficiency and privacy while minimising footprint and cloud dependency,’ said Patrick Spence, CEO of Sonos. ‘Snips’ voice assistants are custom-built for specific tasks and designed to run alongside other general-purpose…

Australia’s own Vinyl Record Cleaning Company (VRCC) has expanded its range of vinyl record cleaning solutions and services. VRC ‘Easy Spread n’ Peel’ (ESP) vinyl record cleaning film is now available in three different concentrations. ‘From older, long-stored collections through the regularly-played and well-maintained portfolio to the just-acquired, brand-new LP, there is now a matching ESP formulation,’ said Stephen Price, founder and owner of VRCC. ‘In launching this unique differentiated product range, VRCC is responding to the demand for targeted record cleaning and fidelity restoration. Long-stored vinyl records typically demonstrate cleaning challenges, such as mould growth and tightly bound particulate contamination, whereas brand-new records generally require only a light clean to remove production residues.’ For smaller and brand-new collections, where volume is not a consideration, the company has introduced the…

When it comes to upgrades, Jelco doesn’t do it by halves! To celebrate its 100th anniversary, this famous Japanese company is upgrading all its tonearms to MkII status with upgraded wiring and counterweights. The new Jelco MkII tonearms now incorporate newly-developed high-purity oxygen-free silver-coated-copper arm-tube wiring and a detachable headshell fitted with silk-weave OFC Litz interconnect. Jelco says the new arm-tube wiring, which it calls PCUHD (Pure Copper Ultra High Drawability) contains less than half the amount of oxygen contained in standard OFC 4N conductors, and is a world-first for the company. It then adds a coat of high-purity (5N) silver to the wire, which it says ‘further adds to sound transparency and resolution.’ All Jelco MkII tonearms are also now equipped with a new counter-weight that can accommodate a…

Newport Test Labs measured the single-channel-driven power output of the Exposure 2010S2 D at 100-watts per channel at 1kHz into an 8Ω load, with measured power output dropping to 91-watts with a 20Hz test frequency and to 78-watts with a 20kHz test frequency. These output figures nearly doubled when the amplifier was driving a 4Ω load, with the Exposure 2010S2 D delivering 182-watts at 20Hz, 189-watts at 1kHz and 156-watts at 20kHz. These single-channel test results are indicative of the amplifier’s peak power output. Tested using the Australian standard for measuring amplifier power output (that is, both channels driven into 8Ω loads), the Exposure 2010S2 D returned 75-watts per channel at 20Hz, 84-watts per channel at 1kHz and 75-watts per channel at 20kHz, as tested by Newport Test Labs. Exposure…

DAC/NETWORK PLAYER/HEADPHONE AMPLIFIER Gold Note is an Italian brand with a portfolio of firmly stereo high-end products. Those products cover vinyl, CD and streaming digital sources, through to amplifiers to loudspeakers. Here we’re starting at the start of the audio chain with the Gold Note DS-10, a combined network streamer, DAC and headphone amplifier. THE EQUIPMENT The Gold Note DS-10 is a handsome piece of equipment, its case machined from quite thick aluminium sheets, the angled cooling vents adding a particular style to the unit. On the front is a 57×45mm colour display panel, an infra-red receiver, a power LED, a headphone socket and a single knob which Gold Note refers to as an ‘SKC’ (Single Knob Control). Indeed, it is the only physical control on the unit, but as…

We are proud to announce a network of highly professional Specialist Dealers who possess a thorough understanding of the brand, dedicated demonstration facilities and a passion for music. As a Meridian client, you can expect the very best in product performance, attention and after-sales customer care. A Special Network of Professional and Passionate Audio Specialists is at your service: LEN WALLIS AUDIO 64 Burns Bay Road Lane Cove, NSW 2066 02 9427 6755 www.lenwallisaudio.com sales@lenwallisaudio.com MIRANDA HI-FI 12 Petrie Plaza Canberra ACT 2601 02 6247 4844 www.mirandahifi.com sales@mirandahifi.com HEY NOW HI-FI BY GEOFF HAYNES 22 St. Kilda Road St. Kilda VIC 03 9525 0022 www.heynowhifi.com.au hello@heynowhifi.com.au BY APPOINTMENT ONLY THE DIGITAL PICTURE Unit 28,27 Motorway Circuit Ormeau, QLD, 4208 1300 322 811 www.thedigitalpicture.com.au info@thedigitalpicture.com.au LIVIION 813 Nepean Highway Bentleigh, VIC…

“High resolution audio perfect for the most demanding architectural installations and dedicated home theatres” — that’s the promise of Meridian Audio’s DSP750 in-wall digital active loudspeakers. The DSP750 is the newly-launched flagship of Meridian Audio’s Architectural range of loudspeakers — in-wall and in-ceiling models that combine reliability and versatility with the same market-leading digital and driver technologies that go into Meridian’s highly-regarded in-room speakers. Powered by Meridian’s exclusive ‘CLASS-M’ DSP engine and integrated with ‘DYNAMIC’ Hi-Res amplifiers, this product range is perfect for delivering Meridian’s renowned audio quality discreetly within any media room or home cinema. The DSP750 takes its place as Meridian’s highest performer among its architectural loudspeaker range, which also includes the DSP520.2 and DSP640.2 in-wall loudspeakers, and the DSP320.2 inc-eiling/in-wall model. What makes these loudspeakers unique is…

Newport Test Labs measured the power output of the Ayre EX-8 at 1kHz, both channels driven into 80, as being 100-watts continuous per channel, exactly on specification. Power at the frequency extremes dropped a little below this, by 0.5dB to 93-watts at 20Hz and at 20kHz. The single-channel output results were slightly higher, and more uniform, suggesting the slightly lower power figures at the frequency extremes are due to the Ayre EX-8’s power supply. This would seem to be borne out by the test results into the lower, 40 impedance, where the Ayre returned a test result of 125-watts per channel, both channels driven… not quite the increase in power I'd usually expect into the lower impedance load. Frequency response, as measured by Newport Test Labs, was very linear as…

ELVIN JONES Midnight Walk (Speakers Corner Records) This album features an all-star ensemble (Thad Jones/trumpet; Hank Mobley/tenor; Dollar Brand/piano; Donald Moore/double bass; Steve James/electric piano and George Abend/percussion). Side One opens with a stirring title cut. The track kicks off with a group vamp, then Brother Thad takes the first solo. His crystalline, no-vibrato trumpet sparkles with blues intonation. Mobley adds some muscle on tenor before handing off to Brand. Side Two is notable for a pair of Thad Jones compositions. On Cross Purpose a bop swing framework unleashes the initial trumpet solo. Jones embraces a piercing elegance in an extended run. Mobley follows suit as the piano, bass and drum encompass old school jazz manipulation. Speakers Corner has done a stellar job in remastering to 180-gram vinyl. The mix…