Innholdsfortegnelse for March - April 2021 i Australian HiFi

High-end audio equipment is expensive. I know you don’t need me to tell you that, but I will anyway. But why is it so expensive? Mostly it’s because the people who design and build high-end components are not trying to build a product that sells at a price-point that their marketing research tells them is the ‘sweet spot’ for that particular category. They’re instead trying to build something unique, a product they’d like to own themselves. Most importantly, they want to build a product they (and you) can be proud of. I recently had a salutary lesson in component costs myself. After what was a freakish accident that involved a set of ‘way too big speaker wires, cable elevators, a cam boot and a cup of tea, I found myself…

I have become so accustomed to receiving shoe-box sized subwoofers for review (they being the flavour of the month, what with all the apartment buildings going up in Sydney) that when Klipsch’s SPL-150 arrived on my door-step, I had one of those Crocodile Dundee moments, you know, that one where he mocks a New York mugger: “You call that a knife? This is a knife!” I had exactly the same feeling once I’d unpacked it and discovered that gigantic copper-coloured bass driver. In a world where most subwoofers sport much smaller 254mm diameter bass drivers, or 305mm drivers, Klipsch has fitted a massive 381mm diameter bass driver to its SPL-150. That makes a difference to the amount of air the SPL-150 can move. A big difference. THE EQUIPMENT Since I…

On-ear headphones — supra-aural rather than circum-aural — are often neglected as a breed in favour of either in-ear buds or full-size over-ear headphones. Some don’t like the permanent press of fabric against ear; the fit can feel tighter, even when, as with the PX5, the softness of the earpads are more like having little pillows either side of your head. Besides, the advantages are considerable. They avoid, of course, the invasion of your ear-canal and potential hazardous pressure development of in-ear designs, while they score significantly for size compared with over-ear models, as is immediately apparent when comparing the PX5 design directly with the PX7. They weigh 241g compared with the PX7’s 310g, and they take up significantly less storage space, though again here the headshells turn flat but…

DAWNWALKER Ages [Bandcamp] As wistful, windswept and epic as their name suggests, Dawnwalker have evolved hugely since their 2018 debut. Ages is an album designed for total immersion, as the London four-piece explore the outer reaches of progressive metal, post-rock and a strain of dark, lysergic folk. The production has a shoegaze-like warmth and density to it; the perfect way to present songs like sprawling opener The Wheel, with its brutal metal detours and moments of woozy ambience. Everything is shrouded in reverb, but played with punch: especially the the fast, furious black metal sections in Ancient Sands. For all its diversity, Dawnwalker leader and songwriter Mark Norgate has written some emotionally potent songs. Burning World mixes dreampop elegance and post-metal stomp, building to a hair-raising mid-song crescendo, before spiralling…

It’s back – B&W have relaunched their very successful Trade-Up campaign for 2021. Your existing speakers, irrespective of brand or condition, are worth a minimum of 10% of the value of the B&W speakers that you are purchasing. This equates to more than $4,000 if you are trading up to a pair of their top-of-the-line B&W 800D3s. Plus everyone who participates in the promotion will go into the draw to win a pair of B&W PX-7 Carbon Edition headphones — and there are five pairs to be won, with a new draw on a two-weekly basis. For more information, or to see what your trade-in is worth, go to our website — https://lenwallisaudio.com/bowers-wilkins-upgrade-your-sound/…

“So tough they come with a lifetime warranty” There are times when you need a pair of good outdoor speakers — and we mean really good. Speakers that not only sound excellent, but which will stand up to the most extreme climatic conditions. The Terra Tr60-MTM is such a speaker. Featuring two 6.5-inch cast-frame mid-bass drivers and a 1.1-inch inverted titanium fluid-cooled dome tweeter, these speakers will handle a massive 225-watts of undistorted power. Plus they are efficient (91dBSPL) meaning you do not need a big amplifier to drive them to high volume levels. The UniCavity polyethylene enclosure is created in one piece via a unique rotational moulding process. Even the screw posts that hold the brackets are part of the mould. The speaker connections are via a one-metre pigtail…

This is one of the only OLED TVs under 55” that is available on the market. In the past we have had many situations where clients requested the best TV screen available, but in a more compact size — it has been necessary to settle for an LCD screen, or one of the LCD variants. Nothing has been taken away in terms of performance and connectivity compared to LG’s larger offerings, and one of the surprises has been the sound. The performance of the inbuilt speakers, whilst still not perfect, is surprisingly good. Yes — you may get by without needing to add that soundbar.…

Famous Canadian loudspeaker manufacturer has developed some extraordinary technologies over the years, and its Paradigm Premier 800F is a perfect example. The company has really thrown all its recent technological break-throughs into this four-driver, three-way floor-standing design. EQUIPMENT The most obvious of those technologies sits in front of the Premier 800F’s 165mm-diameter midrange driver, which has a carbon-infused polypropylene cone with a Thiele/Small diameter of 130mm. In front of it is what Paradigm calls a patented ‘Perforated Phase-Aligning’ (PPA) lens, which it says “increases and smooths its output without colouring the sound”. The idea of putting a dispersion/phase-alignment device in front of a driver is not a new idea — loudspeaker manufacturers have been putting them in front of tweeters for more than half-a-century, and indeed Paradigm has fitted one…

Schiit Audio is now famous or should that be infamous... most likely because of the company’s scatological name. So why the subtitle? Why might the founding of this company have been so improbable? According to its co-founder, Jason Stoddard, also the lead author of this book, there were several reasons it was improbable. He lists them as: • No outside funds, no venture capital, no crowd-funding. • Founders had been out of the audio business for 15+ years. • Direct sales • Started with no staff, from Stoddard’s own garage. • Products built in the USA. • First products were inexpensive. Improbability is not a fixed value, as readers of Douglas Adams’ fabulous book Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy will be well aware. There are many values of improbability. One…

Newport Test Labs first measured the frequency response of the Klipsch SPL-150 using a near-field technique that removes room-related effects, effectively obtaining the same response that would be measured in an anechoic chamber. This technique requires that the output of the bass driver be measured separately from that of the bass-reflex port, which is the reason for the two traces shown on Graph 1. The black trace on Graph 1 shows the frequency response of the SPL-150’s bass driver when the crossover control is set to approximately ‘half past 10’, which the lab reported was the setting that gave the ‘flattest’ response when conducting this test. You can see that the response is within ±3dB from around 23Hz up to 90Hz, which is an excellent result. The red trace shows…

THE WEATHER STATION Ignorance [Fat Possum/Inertia] Rich with deft and diverse instrumentation, mazelike production and breezy, low-key guitar lines that really come to life on repeat listens, the fifth Weather Station album is a true tour-de-force of conscionable musicality — it comes three years after their self-titled effort, but it’s the kind of album most bands would spend decades slaving over. The stirring flourishes of strings, flute, saxophone, synth and other instruments add a sense of luminous, extraterrestrial whimsy to what are otherwise very pensive and melancholic tunes; not a minute passes by without at least a flicker of something alluringly avant-garde, leading to what I am confident in stating is The Weather Station’s most charismatic — and effortlessly most exciting — offering to date. STUMPS All Our Friends [Cooking…

It has been a very constructive few months for Len Wallis Audio. Amid all the recent disruption we have taken the opportunity to have a look at our offerings, and in some areas, found we came up short. This has prompted us to add several new products to our range, in some cases additional models from our tried and respected existing brands — and in some cases new brands entirely. One positive impact the pandemic has had on our industry is that people are taking the opportunity to spend more time with their music. This is not only evident in the ever-increasing number of people investing in vinyl (particularly among the younger generations), but with a very marked return to two-channel systems. Our industry has been dominated by Audio Visual…

The Marantz MODEL 30 Integrated Amplifier and SACD 30n Network Audio Streamer and SACD Player have been in the works for the last three years and they are now at Len Wallis Audio. The new products from Marantz embrace elements of classic Marantz design and combine a fresh modern approach to design aesthetics to create a crisp new form factor for these components. To create MODEL 30, Marantz blended contemporary technical innovation with Marantz Hi-Fi traditions to pay homage to the brand’s roots while offering the best possible sound. The all-analog design features a fully discrete two-stage build, with independent power supplies for the pre-amplifier and power amplifier. The power supply circuit, designed exclusively for the preamplifier, enables a stable power supply that Marantz says will be “unaffected by fluctuations…

VPLVW590ES The Sony VPL-VW590ES is Sony’s top lamp-based, native 4K projector. There are more premium models in the family, but they feature laser light sources instead. This more traditional approach keeps the VW590ES relatively affordable, as native 4K projectors go, while still offering plenty of contrast and, according to Sony, stunning detail and rich, faithful colour. The body is 50cm wide and weighs some 14kg making it suitable for either ceiling- or rack-mounting. There are two HDMI 2.0 ports and a single USB 2.0 port for your source material. The internet connectivity is for firmware and service only. Picture throw of 1.5-metres to 7.6-metres is possible, with a 2.5-metre image possible at distances between 3.1-metres and 6.4-metres. It also allows the movement of the projected image up to 85 percent…

The GT5000 turntable, A-S3200 amplifier and CD-S3000 CD/SACD player mentioned above form part of Yamaha’s Elite series, together with the CS5000/MS5000 pre-power amplifier combination and their fabulous NS5000 speakers. On Thursday, April 15th, 2021, at 6.00 p.m. sharp, Len Wallis Audio and Yamaha Australia will be holding a presentation evening for the range in our store. Numbers will be limited, so if you would like to come along to listen to this excellent range — and meet some of the Yamaha representatives — please give us a call on (02) 9427 6755 or email sales@lenwallisaudioaudio.com.au to reserve a place.…

To round out our now-extensive selection of high-quality electronics we have also added the top-of-the-range EVO 400 series of amplifiers from Dutch specialist Prima Luna. We have been a stockist of Prima Luna for many years but have not ranged the 400 pre, power and integrated amplifiers until now. Prima Luna is universally regarded as one of the industry’s bargains and listening to this series reveals why — great performance and realistic pricing. For example, their EVO 400 integrated amplifier sells for $7,295 — this is an impressive amplifier for that money. The Prima Luna Evo 400 pre-amplifier and its matching power amplifier sell for $6,995 each.…

One of the most underrated categories in our industry is speaker stands. We have previously gone out on a limb and stated that we believe a good pair of speaker stands (along with proper placement) has a greater positive impact on your system than a good pair of speaker cables. It is very important that the speakers are held rock-solid, and that there is no transfer of energy from the speaker to the stand or vice-versa. For years our speaker stands of choice have been from Sound Organisation in the UK. We no longer have access to this range, so we have needed to go out and fi nd a suitable alternative — and that alternative is Solidsteel. We did not have to search far. Brad Serhan of Serhan &…

The fascination with vinyl continues, for obvious reasons. We have recently added another turntable to our extensive stable — this time from Clearaudio, a company that co-incidentally started in 1978, the same year as Len Wallis Audio. Initially they were a cartridge manufacturer, and remain so today, but in more recent times they have built an enviable reputation for manufacturing some of the fi nest turntables in the world. The Clearaudio Concept is without doubt one of the best sub-$3,000 turntables on the market. Construction is first-class, doing justice to its German heritage, and it comes fitted with a Clearaudio moving-magnet cartridge (a moving-coil model is available as an upgrade). There is also a tonearm upgrade available, plus a version of the turntable that has a phono stage built in.…

Few people familiar with our industry will need any introduction to Pro-Ject turntables — Pro-Ject have been the world’s largest manufacturer of turntables for some time now. Their strength lies in the mid-market, and the new Debut Carbon Evo is a perfect example. The Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Evo sells for $879, and it has a lot going for it: • Speed control as standard. No need to lift the platter and move the belt when changing from 33⅓ to 45rpm — simply flick a switch. • Damped and adjustable feet. • Carbon-fibre tonearm. • Damped metal platter. • Pre-fitted with an Ortofon 2M Red moving-magnet cartridge. • Available in a number of modern colour finishes. ACCESSORIES DragonFly Cobalt DAC AudioQuest’s best-selling portable Dragonfly Cobalt Headphone Amplifier/DAC was the proud winner…

Graph 1 shows the in-room frequency response of the Paradigm Premier 800F, measured by Newport Test Labs using pink noise as the test stimulus. The response is very, very flat. If you look at the 90dBSPL graphing line together with the 87.5dBSPL line just below it, you can see that the 800F’s response is essentially contained in the space between these two lines from around 140Hz all the way up to 40kHz. That’s 140Hz to 40kHz ±1.25dB! So from the upper bass, right across the midrange and up to inaudibility the 800F is within ±1.25dB. In Graph 2, Newport Test Labs has measured the high-frequency response of the Paradigm Premier 800F using a gating technique that allows 1Hz resolution, and this time running the same test with the speaker grille…

Tim de Paravicini, co-founder (with his wife, Oliva) of EAR Yoshino, a polymath who built and designed every component in the audio chain, from cutting lathes to studio recorders through to loudspeakers, has died, aged 75, of liver cancer. At one stage in the 90s, Paravicini’s EAR 859 valve amplifier, a true Class-A design delivering 13-watts per channel, was Japan’s best-selling valve amplifier—more of them were sold in that country than all other valve amplifiers together. Many in the audio business called Paravicini “the world’s best valve circuit designer.” He was also something of a curmudgeon, so an almost equal number, whilst admitting his multiple and extraordinary talents, described him as being contrary and rather difficult to get on with. What many imagined was his nickname (‘the Baron’) as a…

Despite its decidedly non-French-sounding name*, Triangle is a completely French loudspeaker manufacturer that builds its speakers entirely in that country, including building its own drivers, of which its famous horn-loaded tweeter with its distinctive gold-coloured phase plug (as used on the company’s topline Magellan model), is the best-known. Triangle was founded by Renaud De Vergnette in 1980, in the town of Soissons, which is approximately 100km north-east of Paris, and has remained there ever since. The town is one of the most ancient in France and during the Hundred Years War in 1429 was famously liberated by French troops under the command of Joan of Arc. *In fact, the word triangle is spelled the same in both French and English. It also has exactly the same meaning in both languages:…

JONI MITCHELL Archives Vol 1 [Rhino] As you can guess from the subtitle, this collection of five discs reveals Joni at the very start of her career, beginning with a radio broadcast that finds her performing nine tracks, including House Of The Rising Sun and Molly Malone. The set concludes with a live recording made at Canterbury House in 1967, on which we hear more familiar self-penned tracks, including Little Green (about giving up her daughter for adoption) and The Circle Game. The beauty of this collection is that we first hear her strumming her guitar and singing standard folk repertoire in her unusually austere soprano voice, but then we hear her as she matures into a unique artist, first with unusual covers, and then singing her own material. Along…

The decision to add a new range of electronics to the Len Wallis Audio stable is never taken lightly; the last time this happened was many years ago when we took on the Naim range — which proved to be a very wise decision. After months of consideration and auditioning we have decided to do it again — and are proud to announce that we are the latest Australian dealer to be appointed as a McIntosh outlet. McIntosh needs no introduction to anyone with a fleeting interest in our industry. Founded in 1949 McIntosh has come to represent to the audio industry what Harley-Davidson represents to the motorcycle world: Performance, reliability and tradition. (In 2002 McIntosh built an audio system for Harley-Davidson). The breadth of the McIntosh offering is vast,…

It has been a long time since we have seen a range of budget loudspeakers create the level of interest that Triangle have with their Borea series. Well made, great performers and, most importantly, extremely keenly-priced. We have just received two new models: Borea BR07 Floor-standing Speakers: This is a two-and-a-half way speaker utilizing a 25mm silk dome tweeter with a 160mm cellulose paper mid-bass driver supplemented with a 160mm fibreglass bass driver. Simple design done right. $1,700/pair. Borea BRA1 Speakers: There is no doubt that Atmos style overhead speakers make a marked difference to the immersive experience of a home theatre system — but it is not always possible to add speakers in the ceiling. As a result, the majority of multi-channel receivers purchased today are still used in…

Ruark Audio has given its ever-popular R1 DAB+ radio a stylish makeover. This new model improves upon its third-generation predecessor with a Danish-inspired wooden grille and, more importantly, a USB-C port that can both play from and charge compatible devices. Hooray! Fans of the previous generation may notice that the R1 now comes with new finishes in ‘cream’ or ‘espresso’ and the cabinet has once again been acoustically treated to reduce vibrations – a key reason why these little radios offer such accomplished sound despite the compact 175 × 130 × 135mm footprint. Behind the hand-crafted wooden grille sits the linear Class-AB amplifier and Ruark’s NaturalSound+ driver. You also get DAB/ DAB+ and FM radio, adjustable EQ settings, a 3.5mm headphone output, a switchable aux input and Ruark›s familiar RotoDial…

Yet another new brand for Len Wallis Audio. We were not looking for a new product to join our stable of Home Theatre brands, but every so often a product comes along that simply cannot be ignored, and that was the case with Anthem. This 20-year-old Canadian-based company has been making a name for itself as a premium manufacturer of electronics, mostly AV receivers. They are in the process of releasing a new range, and even before they reach the market it is obvious that this will be an exceptional series. The first things you will notice with this product is the build quality. Their power ratings are also realistic (or, should we say, honest), and the best news is that they remain competitively priced. You will also notice that…

Every so often something very special comes along — and right now that something is the Berkeley Alpha DAC Reference Series 3 digital-to-analogue converter. Admittedly at $35,000 this extraordinary piece of technology is not going to be on everyone’s shopping list, but it is regarded by many as the finest DAC in the world — and there are several $100k+ DACs vying for that crown. Every piece of your audio chain has an impact on the eventual performance of your system, and this includes the DAC. We have the Berkeley on audition in our hi-end room — and the impact it has on any system we assemble in that room is undeniable. We are far from being the only ones who are impressed with this unit: “The Series 3 extends…

Linn have released a new tonearm for the Majik LP12 turntable. The Linn Krane is a high-quality tonearm which, combined with Linn’s new Karousel bearing, significantly elevates the performance of the Majik LP12 turntable and provides even greater value. The new high-performance tonearm features a static-balanced design and is hand-assembled using high-quality aluminium and stainless-steel components. It includes a polished Tungsten and Sapphire vertical bearing with dual ceramic horizontal bearing assembly, both of which are long-lasting and provide very low friction/rotational mass. Krane has a range of adjustments making it easy to set up, including a laser-etched scale for accurate and repeatable VTA adjustment, and azimuth adjustment combined with a fixed offset angle to ensure perfect alignment of the cartridge and stylus. An adjustable headshell design ensures effective length is…

Desktop audio systems continue to improve in performance and functionality every year, and one of the very best units now available on the market is the Technics Ottava SC-70 Mk2. Although visually similar to the Mk1 version Technics have made a number of improvements to its performance and added additional features. It now has Chromecast and AirPlay, plus it can also be used in a wireless multi-room environment utilizing their SC-C30 or SC-C50 wireless speakers. Its performance can now be optimized to the acoustic space it is placed in, and it has a new Control Ap. All the earlier features remain, including Internet Radio, Spotify, Tidal, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, DAB+, and USB playback, amongst others. Most importantly, the price also remains the same— $1,649. Great value!…