Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 535 - 2024 i Australian HiFi

Soundbites One of the more exclusive audio announcements at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January was that Roon was launching a new flagship server, marking the brand's first hardware launch since it was acquired by Harman International (parent company of audio brands Harman Kardon, JBL, Arcam, Mark Levinson, AKG and Revel) in November. The impressively titled Nucleus Titan is naturally designed to work with the service's digital music management platform, and brings several equally impressive features to the table, not to mention your choice of three snazzy new outer shells — metal, stone composite and wood. The Nucleus Titan features a precision-machined billet aluminium enclosure made from a solid metal block, with Roon citing advancements in “manufacturing processes and hardware customization” that have allowed it to deliver a stylish…

Soundbites HiFi Rose has a new integrated amplifier in its arsenal and, as is now expected from the Korean brand, it looks quite the stunner. The RA280 retains much of the same technology featured in the flagship RA180, whose intricate fascia turned more than a few heads when it launched two years ago. The RA280 is a less ornate but no less stylish edition. The feature set has been pared down to a more sensible o- ering, ditching its big brother's excessive (eight pairs of) speaker terminals and moving-coil compatibility, as well as the frenzy of dials, knobs, switches and sliders adorning the front panel. But don't worry, the more minimal aesthetic of the new model still sports a few tactical controls for volume, input selection, bass and tone adjustment…

Hi-fi Primer While streaming services deliver music-listening convenience by the bucket load, there's a lot to be said for taking the time to build your own digital music collection. Whether meagre artist payouts or a desire for better sound are fuelling your move, or you simply find yourself forking out a monthly subscription for music you already have shoved in a loft somewhere, there are plenty of reasons why a digital music collection makes perfect sense. But if the last time you built a digital music library was on an old iPod shuffle with some — ahem — questionably sourced MP3s, you may be wondering how you go about doing it, what kit you'll need and the ways you can listen. Thankfully, this handy guide should help you get your…

The in-room frequency response of the Dellichord FR6, as measured by Newport Test Labs, is shown in Graph 1 and is the averaged result of nine measurements, made in a square grid with the tweeter at the central axis, using pink noise as a stimulus. You can see that the response extends from 55Hz to 20kHz ±3dB (though 20kHz is simply the upper graphing limit for this test — the FR6's high-frequency response extends above 20kHz, as shown in Graph 2). Importantly, the linearity of the response across the most important part of the frequency range — the seven octaves from 100Hz to 10kHz — is within ±1.25dB, which is exceptionally flat. There's a very, very slight rise in the response between 300Hz and 2kHz that past experience would suggest…

We're seeing a lot of hi-fi brands looking back to move forward these days, creating products that are dedicated homages to, or have been overtly inspired by, those from their yesteryears, whether in celebration of a landmark anniversary or simply to leverage today's apparent nostalgic yearning. But very few have executed the feat as well or as interestingly as Yamaha with the high-end YH-5000SE headphones it released 18 months ago. If you're sat there thinking, “I don't remember any previous headphones of such naming”, you recall rightly. The new 'special edition' (hence the 'SE') model is a bold, ambitious and, if nothing else, thorough redesign of its HP-1 from the mid-1970s, which were not only the company's first headphones but also one of the first pairs to implement a planar…

Soundbites In preparation for its celebrations marking 100 years in the audio business in 2025, Japan's Luxman has announced the arrival of its new flagship L-509Z integrated amplifier. And it's so confident of the amp's abilities that the press release refers to it as a “one-body separate”! Building on the legacy of Luxman's previous L-509X flagship, which sat at the top of its integrated amplifier line for seven years, the new reference model produces a power output of 120 watts per channel into an eight-ohm load (or 240 watts per channel into four ohms). It also sees the brand's patented LIFES (Luxman Integrated Feedback Engine System) technology — first seen in the M-10X power amp, followed by the C-10X — used in both the preamplifier and power amplifier stages for…

If you've ever eyed up Naim's acclaimed Uniti streaming range but found it coming up short in the power output department, you might be pleased to know that the brand has just announced its most powerful streaming player to date. Almost doubling the power of the regular 80 watts-per-channel Uniti Nova, the Uniti Nova PE (which stands for 'Power Edition') is a convenient just-add-speakers streaming amplifier that packs 150 watts per channel (into eight ohms). It should therefore be capable of driving even the most demanding of loudspeakers, to fill the largest of rooms. However, there is something of a twist — and audio purists might want to look away now. The big news here is that Naim's general preference for Class AB amplification has been sidelined for Class D…

Remember the JBL L75ms all-in-one music system that launched three years ago? It honed the same retro aesthetics as the company's L100 and L82 Classic loudspeakers (the chequered foam grille included) and had the big sound and all-encompassing features to take on the Naim Mu-so. Well, it now has a smaller, more affordable sibling, the L42ms. The compact all-in-one system offers two sets of analogue stereo inputs (RCA and 3.5mm) as well as HDMI-ARC for hooking it up to your TV. On the music streaming front, there's AirPlay 2 and Google Chromecast for accessing most of the music services out there, as well as Spotify Connect and Tidal Connect. The JBL Premium Audio app is an additional gateway to services such as Amazon Music and Qobuz, plus podcasts and internet…

Soundbites Sennheiser made quite the splash at January's CES show, launching not one but three new products — including the latest member of its iconic Momentum range. The Momentum True Wireless 4 wireless earbuds ($499.95) replace the excellent True Wireless 3, building on their skillset with “more than a dozen enhancements” alongside “larger-than-life sound” . Those enhancements come courtesy of Qualcomm's S5 Sound Gen 2 chip and associated Snapdragon Sound Technology for aptX Lossless codec support and ultra-low latency capabilities. There's also support for Bluetooth 5.4 and Auracast, the promise of improved ANC, and an above-par battery life offering 7.5 hours of listening on a single charge, extending to 30 hours with the charging case. Arriving alongside them are the new Accentum Plus wireless over-ears ($399.95), designed as a step…

On Test Dellichord FR6 Loudspeakers Loudspeakers + • Exemplary bass • Extended treble • Excellent midrange • Low efficiency • Lowish impedance RRP $4,995 Dellichord's Australian designer and founder, Andrew Hutchison, says that his newest loudspeaker design is 'deceptively simple'. However, I'd venture to say this description is not entirely accurate because the design of the Australian-made Dellichord FR6 is actually incredibly complex! Sure, if you look at them from the front the FR6 look like fairly ordinary, two-driver bookshelf loudspeakers, with a single mid/bass driver and a dome tweeter. But if you look around the back of the cabinet, you will find an enormous 'race-track'–shaped passive radiator. “So what?”, we hear some readers scoffing, “passive radiators aren't that unusual!” Ignoring for the moment that passive radiators are actually fairly…

Sound Travels Few people can claim to have promoted the audio industry in Australia as much as Herald and Weekly Times editor Peter Familari. Evidence suggests it's not an inflated claim. It was Rupert Murdoch himself who asked about his consumer supplement on a fleeting visit to check his accounts. He noticed a ledger filled with new advertisers and swollen with lucre. “Who's the bloke behind this audio and electronica advertising?”, he reputedly asked, while seeing they had come from his archival, The Age. He was told the byline belonged to the diminutive history master turned journalist four floors beneath him on Flinders Street. He brusquely complemented his section editor with a simple “good work,” grinning and rewarding Familari with a pay rise. Paying a single cheque for the dual…

The in-room frequency response measured by Newport Test Labs for the Richter Wizard Series 6Plus was spectacularly flat and extended, as you can see for yourself in Graph 1. The response was measured using pink noise as a test signal and is the averaged response of nine measurements, taken in a grid fashion with the central part of the grid being on the tweeter axis. The black trace shows the response when the bass-reflex port at the rear is completely open; the blue trace shows the response when the port is completely blocked. You can see that the on-axis response is very comfortably positioned within a 5dB envelope from 45Hz all the way out to the graphing limit for this particular test of 20kHz. Normalised, this response is 45Hz –…

This month (April) we will receive our final shipment of the Rega Planar 3 50th Anniversary Edition turntable. Based on the ever-popular Rega Planar 3, this limited-edition turntable is now out of production. The Panar 3 50th is much more than a fancy commemorative badge (although it does have one). Firstly, it has a distinctive walnut plinth. It is supplied with a Neo PSU Mk2 external power supply (normally a $549 option), the reference EBLT belt, a custom manufactured CNC'd aluminum drive pulley and comes fitted with their Exact moving magnet cartridge ($650). The Planar 3 50th Edition is selling for $1,899, only $450 than the current Rega Planar 3 (without cartridge). This is exceptional value for money, particularly considering the value already offered by the turntable it is based…

Neon, colour-changing record player, anyone? Brian Eno is launching yet another vinyl-spinning feast that is as much for the eyes as it is for the ears, following his original 'Turntable' released in 2021. The fittingly named 'Turntable II' is, like its predecessor, built around a frosted-cast acrylic and LED light design, with the platter and base able to change colour — this time 'independently and seamlessly' phasing through combinations of 'generative colourscapes'. 'The pattern of lights, the speed at which they change and how they change are programmed, but programmed to change randomly and slowly,' the announcement reads. Speaking about the Turntable II's artistic and aesthetic ambition, Eno said: “It's the softness of these colours and the way they merge with each other that is so seductive… when it doesn't…

Cambridge Audio has whipped the covers off its highly anticipated mid-range music streamer. The CXN100 replaces the acclaimed CXN V2 model, which has a long list of accolades to its name, so you could say the new successor has rather large shoes to fill — Shaquille O'Neal-wearing size 22s perhaps, to put those achievements into perspective. Since the CXN V2 went out of stock towards the end of last year, I've been eagerly awaiting news of an heir, and the CXN100 certainly seems up to the task of continuing the legacy. It might not look all that different from its predecessor — if it ain't broke… — but Cambridge Audio says the new network player is a “complete mechanical redesign” and “true generational step up in sound quality, functionality and…

Linn has announced a new flagship mono power amplifier that it says can 'drive any given speaker optimally… under any conditions'. Quite the claim, eh? The Klimax Solo 800 is the Scottish company's first large, passively cooled mono model, taking the reigns as the amplifier range-topper from the much more compact Klimax Solo 500 which has been in Linn's lineup since the late 90s. But whereas that relative veteran can offer 500 watts of power into four ohms, the new Klimax Solo 800 is capable of delivering 800 watts (or 400W at eight ohms, or 1.2kW into two ohms). Linn is confident that the Solo 800 'measurably outperforms its larger rivals', with CEO Gilad Tiefenbrun claiming that its “distortion and noise measurements are lower than anything the industry has seen”…

On Test Sonus faber Duetto Stereo Loudspeaker System Stereo Loudspeaker System + • Well-implemented wireless speaker • Gorgeous sound • Great looks - • No direct input selection (yet) • Can't defeat auto power down • 'Hidden' settings RRP $6,995 Take a pair of Italian-designed speakers and add amplifiers, network streaming and external inputs including HDMI, and hey presto — you have a complete hi-fi and TV system in just two boxes! When I first visited Sonus faber's product page for the Duetto (it has since changed), it was led by an artily-faded image of a young couple facing a pair of these luxuriouslooking speakers on their dedicated stands, flanking a leafy bay window. The couple are touching, apparently held rapt by the music, although they might possibly have just nodded…

On Test DS Audio DS 003 Optical Cartridge Optical Cartridge + • Exceptional resolution and clarity • Strong dynamics and bass • Doesn't work with conventional phono stages RRP $9,995 1948 was a big year for fans of analogue. The long-playing (LP) record that we know and love was launched then, as were the first moving-magnet and moving-coil cartridge designs required to play it. To this day, the two cartridge types still dominate to the extent that it would be easy to think that there was no other way of doing that specific job other than by having a small magnet move relative to a coil or vice-versa. DS Audio would beg to differ. The company isn't the first to design an optical-type cartridge. There were examples from the likes…

Music Reviews Top Picks Song Exploder This has become one of the most listened-to and acclaimed music podcasts going, now celebrating its 10th year running. The premise is simple: an artist speaks about one of their songs, breaking it apart — exploding it, if you will — to explain how the track came to fruition. Song Exploder's ever-growing popularity has meant it has welcomed the likes of R.E.M., Lindsey Buckingham, Madonna and Kae Tempest during its 260+ episodes thus far. And to celebrate its 10th anniversary, there is now a special, deluxe edition episode of its very first pilot episode (which aired on 1st January 2014) that focuses on The Postal Service's The District Sleeps Alone Tonight, with new interviews and insights added in. Listen at https://songexploder.net/ Switched On Pop Should…

EXHIBITORS Amber Technology Amber Technology will exclusively showcase the renowned PSB Speakers. Room 23 will serve as a haven for audiophiles to explore and experience the Canadian brand's latest offerings, many of which will be making their Australian debut at the show. Visitors will have the exclusive opportunity to be among the first to witness and immerse themselves in the newest advancements in audio technology. That sounds pretty good to us! Audio Active Sony's QD-OLED TVs use the very latest OLED panels and are powered by the Cognitive Processor XR to deliver the ultimate in eye-popping clarity, the widest colours, near-infinite contrast ratios and perfect blacks. Matching Sony for clarity and accuracy in the audio realm will be Theory Audio Design from Orange County, USA, delivering a new level in…