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N E W
Z E A L A N D ’ S
H I G H
F I D E L I T Y
M A G A Z I N E
A Kiwi Yank in
San Francisco
July–August 1997
John Paul reports from the
Stereophile hi-fi show
Sunfire Cinema
Grand
– firing on all five
INCREDIBLE SOUND,
AFFORDABLE PRICE…
FOR MUSIC AND MOVIES!
INTRODUCING THE
SENSATIONAL NEW
POLK AUDIO RT20P
Now there’s a Polk Audio
speaker for everybody!
Over 30 models available
– there’s one here for you!
5 year
parts and labour
warranty
Matthew Polk
Chairman, Polk Audio
The Polk Audio RT20P “Powered Tower” combines reference quality high and midrange
detail, with the drama of powered stereo subwoofers. Each cabinet has a 25mm trilaminate
dome tweeter and 160mm mid/bass speaker. In a separate sub-enclosure are two 200mm subwoofer drivers, powered by a built-in 100 watt amplifier. The result – a high quality, full range
speaker with deep, controlled stereo bass. And all this taking up no more floor space than your
average speaker. Said Julian Hirsch of Stereo Review magazine “I cannot recall experiencing
such a deep bass response in the same room, under similar measurement conditions, from
another full-range speaker system comparable in size and price to the [Polk Audio] RT20P.”
Polk Audio RT20P – just one of a superb range that includes…
Mini Monitor
$399 LSfx Surround Sound $1199
RT3 Bookshelf
$499 AB410 In-Wall
$399
RT5 Bookshelf
$699 AB610 In-Wall
$599
RT7 Bookshelf
$899 AB505 In-Wall
$699
RT8 Floorstanding
$999 AB705 In-Wall
$899
RT10 Floorstanding
$1299 AB805 In-Wall
$1399
RT12 Floorstanding
$1699 AWM3 All Weather
$699
RT16 Floorstanding
$1999 RM2000 Satellite
$999
RT20P Floorstanding $3999 RM3300 Sat/Subwoofer $1999
RTfx Surround Sound
$899 RM5300 Sat/Subwoofer $2699
M3 Surround Sound
$599 RM7300 Home Theatre $3999
CS150 Centre Speaker
$399
CS200 Centre Speaker
$499
CS250 Centre Speaker
$599
CS350 Centre Speaker
$899
PSW50 Subwoofer
$999
PSW150 Subwoofer
$1499
PSW300 Subwoofer
$1999
AWM5 Commercial
$999
SRT Home Theatre sys. $19000
Polk Loudspeakers are available from:
Whangarei – Hubands Retravision • Auckland – Eastern Hi-Fi, Link Drive and Newmarket • Hamilton –
Lakeland TV and Stereo • Tauranga – Simister Retravision • Whakatane – The Electricity Centre • Rotorua
– Eastern Hi-Fi • New Plymouth – Masons Appliances • Palmerston North – Manawatu TV and Sound •
Wellington – Absolute Audio and Vision •Christchurch – The Top Hi-Fi Shop • Dunedin – Good Hi-Fi •
Cromwell – Gary Anderson Appliances
Polk Audio was founded in 1972 by
Matthew Polk and George Klopfer.
Their dream was to make speakers with
the performance of the world’s best and
costliest speakers, but at a reasonable
price.
They did so by applying scientific
principles to speaker design and by
concentrating solely on the speaker
business.That’s why Polk is still known
as “The Speaker Specialists”.
Today Polk are one of the world’s
largest manufacturers of Home and Car
loudspeakers and their research and
development has yielded over 20
patents for advances in loudspeaker
performance and value.
Polk speakers have earned high
praise from the worlds Hi-Fi press as
well as dozens of awards for innovative,
high quality design.
If you are considering investing in a
new pair of speakers or are looking at
Home Theatre you really should audition a Polk Audio speaker system. From
$399 right up to the $19,000 SRT Home
Theatre systems, you won’t find a better
speaker for your money.
Distributed by
Pacific Audio
PO Box 9174,Auckland.
Phone 0-9-524 8032. Fax 0-9-524 8037
I
N
T
R
O
D
U
C
I
N
G
The
“Sound
of the
21st Century ”
M i ra g e
u sh e r s
new
The new OM-6 delivers perf e c t
millennium with a bre a k t h rough in
i ma g in g t h ro u g h it s u n i q u e l y
sound technology so radical it will
p ro f i le d c ab i n e t d e si g n , t h e
revolutionize the way the world
famous Mirage PTH™ tweeters,
thinks
l o u ds p e ak e rs .
e x t r a o rd i n a r y n e w mi d- ra n g e
Omnipolar® goes beyond bipolar
drivers and twin built-in 150 watt
to create a tr uly spherical 360˚
p o w e red subwoofers. The result is
sound radiation pattern with no
outstanding spaciousness, sonic
wrap-around distortion.
accuracy and unparalleled realism.
ab o u t
in
the
THE NEW SHAPE
OF
SOUND.
Distributed in New Zealand by
Sound Group Holdings
PO Box 33-791, Takapuna
Telephone 0-9-415 6680.
Facsimile 0-9-415 6683
O N LY
FROM
MIRAGE!
For an expert demonstration please visit:
Eastern Hi-Fi, Newmarket, Wairau Park
and Rotorua • Hi-Fi Gallery, Napier •
Lakeland TV & Sound, Hamilton •
Roger Angell, Whakatane •
Sound Expression, Wellington •
Soundline Audio, Wellington
NEWS
All the news…
A L L T H AT I S H A P P E N I N G I N T H E W O R L D O F H I - F I
YA M A H A’ S N E W H O M E
THEATRE RANGE
MEADOWLARK
SINGING
The US ra n ge of
f l oor- s t a n d i n g
time-aligned
transmission
line spe a kers are
n ow in NZ. The
Kestrel
(pictured) is the
entry
model,
with
the
Shearw a ter and
Heron above.
Frontline Audio
0-9-520 4434
Top of the new Yamaha range are
the RX-V2092 (pictu red, $2999) and
RX-V992 ($1999) receivers, both featuring Do l by Digital. The 2092 has
100 watts in all five channels, mu l ti room / multi-source functi ons with a
second remote. The 992 includes five
ch a n n els of 80 watts each , with a
m a nu a lly opera ted second room
s o u rce sel ector. Both inclu de learning rem o tes. SGH 0-9-415 6680.
AFFORDABLE THX SPEAKERS
Atlantic Technology manufacture what may be the most
affordable THX certified speaker system. The System
350 THX is also claimed to be the world’s first threeway THX system. Unique is the THX-certified horizontal cen tre speaker. The 350 THX also fe a tu res powered
subwoofers and a narrow tower design for the front and
surround speakers (shown on their optional pedestals).
At l a n tic Technology, based in the USA, also have a
number of smaller home theatre spe a ker systems.
Distributed in NZ by Pacific Audio 0-9-524 8032.
AudioEnz is published by
AudioVideo Publications Limited,
PO Box 100-554, North Shore
Mail Centre, Auckland 10.
Ph 0-9-479 7843. Fax 0-9-478 6303.
e-mail [email protected].
Editor is Mike Jones
All contents are © copyright 1997 to
AudioVideo Publications Limited.
4
DENON’S
MONSTER
Dolby Digital
and THX5.1 in a
powerful (210w)
package from
the
Denon
AVC-A1 integrated amplifier.
Avalon Audio
0-9-638 9000
CYRUS RACKS
’EM UP
The Cyrus Ha rk
equ i pment rack
(right) is a flex i bl e
and elegant solution to housing
Cyrus
components. Up to eight
Cyrus components
can be stacked,
and an optional
base
(shown)
allows free-standing use. The integral cable management
system
accommodates
mains power distribution as well as
h aving the capability to contain all
i n terconnects and
spe a ker
cables.
Cre s tmore
Pty
Limited 025-950663
FUTUREPROOF
YOURSELF
TODAY
Why look at buying an “AC-3” ready home theatre receiver when, for a
similar price, the Pioneer VSX-D606S comes complete with Dolby Digital
AC-3 built-in! Sound is all digital and discrete, channel by channel, to give
you the most realistic and dynamic home theatre possible. Pioneer’s
Accurate Imaging System of five x 100 watts high power output is
absolutely necessary with Dolby Digital, as Dolby Digital features five
d i s c rete full-range channels for the most effective surround sound.
Available at your Pioneer dealer for less than $2000.
Monaco Corporation. PO Box 4399 Auckland. Telephone 0-9-415 7444. Fax 0-9-415 7400
CAL HIGH-PERFORMANCE
M U LT I - D I S K
Claimed to be the first high - performance
mu l ti-disk CD player, the CAL CL-10
holds five disks in a digital servo tra n sport mechanism. D/A convers i on is via
Burr-Brown 20-bit convertors , with a
HDCD decoding filter. Power Boss
power supply regulation is used. You can
even hook your PC up to the CL-10 to
c u s tomise the perorm a n ce ch a racteristics. Oceania Audio 0-9-849-3114
TDL NFM 1
Replacing the
Near Field Monitor is the NFM 1
at $449. Interdyn
0-9-524 8488
WADIA
IMPROVED
MISSION’S
Mi s s i on’s successful 73 series
has four updated
models. There
a re three floors t a n ders , including the bi-wi reable 735i pictu red.
Other
models inclu de
the 734i, a three w ay with a
boundary -location de s i gn. The
733i is a two w ay
speaker.
One boo k s h el f
m odel , the 732i
fe a tu res
the
tweeter below the
woofer. Cre s tmore 025-950663
PQ Im ports have been apointed
exclu s ive agents for the Wadia range
of digital components. The range
inclu des the single box 850 ($7995)
which is said to be sold here at below
the US equivalent pri ce . The Wadia
860 (pictured) is $10.995. The flagship of the Wadia range is the Wadia
7 transport and Wadia 27 Decoding
Computer at $19,500 and $13,000
respectively. Both ach i eve 22-bit re solution. A unique benefit of Wadia
are that they are upgradable – the
earliest models can be upgraded to
be com petitive with current models.
PQ Imports 0-7-886 4149.
SHORTS
SoundPower Hi - Fi of Auckland have reloc a ted to 110
Ki tchener Road, Mi l ford. The new phone number for
reaching Michael Henry of SoundPower is 0-9-489 3692
Audible Valve Technologies valve amplifier is now
available in rimu finish at $1399. Ph 025-854 989
Cardas Cables has developed a line of low resonance
cables ranging from $130 to $999 for a 1m pair of interconnects, using their “Golden Section stra n d i n g”.
Frontline Audio 0-9-520 4434.
Ca l i fornia Audio La b s h ave replaced the DX-1 with
the DX-2 CD player, with a beefier power supply and
improved analog stage. The CL-15 has a Power Boss
power supply, Burr Brown 20-bit D/A processor and
HDCD filtering. Oceania Audio 0-9-849 3114.
Hi-Fi Marketing have appoi n ted Carol Hobday as
their new Monster Cable/Car Audio representative.
Energy subwoofers include high efficiency Digital
Sigma-Delta Modulation amps. SGH 0-9-415 6680.
VON SCHWEIKERT
VIRTUAL REALITY
(VR) SPEAKERS
The Virtual Reality (VR)
spe a kers
from
Von
Schweikert Re s e a rch are
n ow available in New
Zealand from Frontline
Audio.
The entry level VR-3
sports a 10-inch bass driver,
a 5.5 inch carbon fibre
midrange and rubber
damped 1-inch metal dom e
t weeter. The VR-4 uses the
same midrange and tweeter,
but has two 8-inch woofers
Bass response is flat to
20Hz. Frontline Audio 09
520-4434
SHURE RETURNS
A new version of the
S hu re V15 – the
V15VxMR has been
released. Featu ring a
Beryl ium tu bular
cantilever
and
Micro-Ridge stylus,
the VxMR is $399.
Six other Shure cartridges are also available . Jands Electronics 0-9-366 7021
6
DOL BY DIGITAL F ROM ONK YO
Onkyo’s TX-DS838 In tegra features Dolby Digital
surround sound processing and dual 24-bit Motorola
proce s s ors working toget h er for su rround duties. B&W
NZ Ltd 0-3-365 5677
A TAS TE OF
I T A LY
The increasing
i n tern a ti on a l i s ation of the hi-fi
market is bringing
products
from
around the world
to NZ, including
Chario loudspeakers from It a ly.
Three ranges, all
with real wood finishes, are available
from $699 to
$18,000.
The
Syntar 200T is
shown at left.
Pacific Audio 0-9520 8034.
P I N I N FARI NA DESI GN FO R V I D I K R O N
Vidikron’s com p act Helios vi deo proj ector inclu des an advanced implem en t a ti on of Texas Instru m en t s’ Di gital Light Processing su b s ys tem and a
sleek new chassis by Pininfarina. Sound Group Holdings 0-9-415 6680.
P IONEE R’S DOL BY DIGI TAL AMPS
Pioneer have release one amplifier and two receivers that
include Do l by Digital surround sound. The VSA-E06
a m p l i f i er (pictured) and VSX-D906S receiver also inclu de
THX5.1 post processing and Hex mosfet output devices.
Both units output five by 100 watts in six ohms.
Pioneer’s current range of laserdisc players are all Dolby
Digital ready, as they feature an AC-3 output. Monaco
0-9-415 7444.
A R C A M
H I - F I
C O M P O N E N T S
Everyone loves an
award winner
We always knew Arcam hi-fi components were some of the best sounding
on the market and Britain’s top hi-fi rev i ewers agree. Here’s a few of the
recent reviews and awards they’ve won.
Arcam Alpha 7 CD player ($1499) “ Best CD Player of the Year”– What
Hi-Fi? Awards issue 96. Arcam Alpha 8 amplifier ($1599) “Best Amplifier
of the Year” What Hi-Fi? Awards issue 96. Arcam Alpha 7 amplifier ($1199)
five star review What Hi-Fi? Sept 96. Arcam Alpha 9 amplifier ($2399) five
star review What Hi-Fi? Oct 96. Arcam Alpha 8 CD player ($2199) five star
r ev i ew What Hi-Fi? Sept 96. A rcam Xeta One home theatre amplifier
($3000) “Best home cinema amp” British Federation of Audio 1996. Arcam
AV50 home theatre amp ($2799) five star review What Hi-Fi? Aug 97.
We could continue extolling the virtues of the superb Arcam Alpha amplifiers, CD players and tuners, but suffice to say, if you’re looking for a superb
sounding hi-fi or home theatre system, give the Arcam Alpha series a listen and see how they compare with other leading components – because
that’s one comparison we know they can win!
8
Trichord Research
Trichord’s philosophy has always been to attain the ultimate in sound
quality and musical presentation using the most appropriate and up-todate technology available. “Excellence through innovation.”
This has resulted in a range of products which we believe will give
you more insight into your musical collection, and more musical
satisfaction and enjoyment as a results.
Clock 2 upgrade – reduces jitter, smooths harsh glare . . . .$295
Power Supply for Clock 2 upgrade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$195
Digital Output Board improves clarity and dynamics . . . .$795
Analog Interconnects to serve Trichord products . . . . . . .$595
Genesis CD player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$2099
Revelation CD player – improved circuitry . . . . . . . . . . .$2599
Pulsar Series One digital-to-analogue convertor . . . . . . .$3999
Digital Turntable transport for Series One DACs . . . . . .$1999
Pulsar Series One optional upgrade power supply . . . . . .$1299
SMITHS SOUND
HI-FI HOUSE
SoundPower Hi-Fi, 110 Kitchener Road, Milford, Auckland. Ph 09 489 3692
587 Mt Eden Road, Mt Eden, Auckland. Ph 623 2600
Distributed by Transline Audio ph/fax 0-7-578 5211
For more information or a brochure on Trichord products please phone or
fax Transline Audio, or call in to
The Perfect
Tube
Companion
for your
Audio Video
System
&
Pure Tube Preamplifiers
Power Amplifiers from VTL
TL2.5 and TL5.5 Line Stage Preamps with remote control
ST-85 and ST-150 Stereo Amplifiers
MB-125 through MB-1250 Signature Monoblock Amplifiers
Pictured above: TL5.5 Preamplifier and ST-85 Stereo Amplifier
Power
&
Value for Money
Compare the “watts per dollar” of VTL with any other tube amps
ST85 – 85 pure tube watts for only $3695
PQ Imports
PO Box 607, Tokoroa
Phone 0800 33 Hi Fi (0800 33 44 34)
Fax 07-886 6851
Email [email protected]
Trade and Dealer enquiries welcome
NZ
AGENTS FOR
THREE
OF THE BEST… PROAC, VTL, WADIA
“The VTL 175 monoblock offers an outstanding
combination of sonic and technical virtues at a
more than reasonable price… outstanding
extension and control… a prescription for
long term musical satisfaction.”
—Michael Fremer Stereophile June 1997
Music so
alive that
it touches
your
soul
EUPHONIC EUPHORIA
by Jo hn Pa u l
The Stereophile Home Theatre
and Specialty Audio Show
D R A M AT I C D I G I TA L D A F F I N E S S A N D D E L I G H T
O
ur dear editor applied the
silly Japanese technique of temporarily promoting me for this
“big overseas assignment”. From my NZ
official title of “Headphones Manager and
Useless DIY Dogs-Body Writer” to the
bloa ted American BS acceptable “Senior
Technical Editor ” for AudioEnz Magazine
(Wow ! ) , I searched many San Francisco
h o tel rooms for sonic ecstasy. Fortunately
found it, but not without some agony.
DIGITA L VERSATI LE (V IDEO?)
DISC WORRIES
Keenly ob s erving that the writing said
Home Theatre before Specialty Audio on
my badge, I figured I better get the hard
stuff over with first. My real “d ay ” job
involves quite a bit of video, so the first
s ch edu l ed seminar titled “Vi deo – Future
Formats And Their Effects On Specialty
Retail” aroused both my profe ss i onal and
hobbyist curiosity.
Th ere have been announcem ents from
BCL (the TV and Radio Tra n s m i t ter
folks), Sky TV and NZ Telecom about
assorted digital programme supply. So
what we’ll get from them, and what we’ ll
find in the shops to deal with all this new
stuff is going to be qu i te intere s ting. But
at this seminar I found it a bit different
than what I think we’d like.
For instance, this panel hosted by Mike
Fidler who is head of Sony ’s DV D
Ma rketing gro u p, featured Joe Ka n e ,
founder of the Im a ging Scien ce
Fo u n d a tion and a major voi ce in
WideScreen Review magazine, plus
Sherman Langer of Projecta Vision who
seemed to proudly wave the Toshiba flag.
When qu e s ti on ed, they were all quite
non chalant abo ut the DVD movie release
encoded geographical zone system. That
is, USA and Canada are Region One and
use Regi on One DVD discs that requ i re a
Region One player wh i ch is n ot com p a tible with Eu rope (Regi on Two) discs or
p l ayers. So on out thro u gh to New
Zealand/Australia who share our Region
Four with the three-quarters of a billion
or so largely Spanish speaking folks of
Mexico, Central and South America. No
probl emo sen or? I theenk we get no beeg
Yanqui Ingleesh movies too soon, no?
A CHALLENGE
A gentleman from a major Mexico City
retail firm openly confronted the panel “to
try an stop me from going out this afternoon and buying as many Sony, Panasonic
or Toshiba Region One DVD players and
discs as I can carry in my car to return
with tomorrow to sell in my shops!”. The
a u d i en ce wildly ch eered him, as the panel
waffled and squirmed like thirteen year
olds caught with their fingers in dad’s
Dolby Pro Logic surround from normal stereo headphones?
10
booze cabinet.
A foll ow up comment sugge s ted punters order newest discs via the Net. The
panel caused a huge giggle by saying, “software vendors positively wouldn’t be
allowed to ship product out of their
Regions”.
It’s amazing how the Japanese and
Yanks have let Ho llywood wind them up
so thoro u ghly on their sel f - s erving movie
marketing schemes to seriously inhibit a
long overdue domestic technological
upgrade . I mean, we do need DVD ’cause
VHS is so fuzzy and cruddy!
Joe Kane then shifted the topic to what
I thought would be a safer area. He said he
would like to envision the future where we
could have relatively inexpensive , if bu i l t
in sufficiently large quantities, display
devi ces that are just single format but
t h oroughly opti m i s ed for very high vi su a l
perform a n ce . These could then be used
with external input boxes or “outboard
scalers” to interpo l a te whatever we want
(or can afford) to watch.
This maximised simple visual display
without on-boa rd signal de-modulation
and processing is a smart approach
because trying to build a big tube, flat
plasma screen , video proj ector or wh a tever with on board compatible capability for
NTSC/PAL analogue or digital, DV D
stream, Direct satellite reception (A or D),
16 x 9, SVGA com p uter (or high er ) , digital HDTV, optical Wide Area Network feed
or whatever else, is simply way too expensive . The current large crop of over $30
kilobuck high grade data projectors that
can do most of the above stuff painfully
proves this fact. Bet ter to just have a very
good basic display device, then use extra
little boxes as needed for “whatever”
inputs.
But the sti n ker to this was the Toshiba
man adding, “AV dealers will have to follow the retail computer industry lead in
educating customers to accept that they
need to frequently purchase ( my italics)
hardw a re or sof t w a re upgrades for forthcoming technical improvements.” The
Sony guy happily agreed, and an icy co l d
shiver ran through my old bones.
Call me old fashioned, possums, but I
prefer buying something nice then keep-
A simple quiz:
Atlantic Technology’s new
System 350 THX is
a. Dolby Digital
AC-3 ready
b. one of the finest
home theatre
speaker systems
c. one of the finest
audiophile
speaker systems
d. affordable
e. All of the above
At Atlantic Technologies we had only one goal in mind when we designed our
System 350 THX. To create a no-compromise THX speaker system that we’d want to
own ourselves. That meant it had to meet some very tough requirements.
Performance The System 350 THX had to sound just as good when reproducing
music as it did when playing a motion picture. That’s why we created the world’s
first 3-way THX speaker system.
Aesthetics
Each speaker had to fit into virtually any living space. So we used
a narrow tower design for the front and surround speakers. This provided for the
smallest footprint possible
Placement
Unlike most THX centre channel speakers, we wanted ours to lie
horizontally. And it had to have a tiltable base for added flexibility.
Affordability Compared to other THX speaker systems, it had to be affordable.
So we made the whole system available for $9000. Including a pair of 200 watt
subwoofers.
Did we meet our goal? Ask your local Atlantic Technology dealer for a demonstration today. We think you’ll agree that the System 350 THX is one of the finest home
theatre systems you’ll ever hear. It will “…rock your world on movies and music,
with no apologies and few rivals.”*
PO Box 9174, Newmarket, Auckland
Phone 0-9-524 8032
Fax 0-9-524 8037
“A THX system that looks
good in a living room
and sounds great with
any program material?
Who wouldn’t want it?”
— Home Theater Technology
October 1995
ing it for a long time. We agonise about the
high-end audio “m erry go ’round”, but
high-end goodies don’t become obsolete
trash in mere months like so mu ch computer stuff does. And these jokers want the
AV (and high-end? Ha!) retailers to imit a te computer stores, as Toshiba-man
added, “shift their strategic methods for
selling the newer technologi e s”. I really
don’t like the drift of this daffiness. Is their
next stra tegy “u s e - by date” play inhibit
encoding?
BEST SOUND
Obviously the options with DVD are
discon certi n g. But one fe a ture that I hope
(and pray) will happen with DVD is the
Academy for the Advancement of Hi gh
End Audio backed plan for higher quality
audio using 24-bit word length at 96kHz
sampling.
In the Ca n orus room they played master dub excerpts via a Nagra D, 2 4-bi t / 9 6
kHz machine for the new Stereophile
Gershwin Rh a p sody disc through the
excellent Focus Audio Model 88 spe a kers .
The sound was very clearly naturally more
open and cleanly superior to many other
nearby quality loaded rooms.
My second taste of the higher capac i ty
format was in the Waveform Aco u s tics
room with their Mach 17 “egghead” speakers tri-amp’d via their Bryston built electronic crossover into Cl ayton Audio Cl a s s
A monoblocks.
With a John Ma rk s - en gineered Nagra
D recording of a choral group in an overly
reverberant church, I was amazingly transported to that less than perfect but
The Plinius/Ariel Acoustic room – the new Ariel 8t driven by a Plinius SA-250
aco u s tically frighteningly real venue.
In d ividual voi ces were incredibly easy to
pick and I was soon lusting for the “f a i r,
petite” lead soprano. But first, I had to
strangle that ever present star- complex
ten or who sustains long and dramatically
over- enunciates du ring en s em bl e . Si m p ly
superb vocal realism.
Continuing with extra bits and such,
Sony demonstra ted their Di rect Stream
Digital (DSD) mastering and archiving
format against conventional 16 bit/44.1
kHz and 24 bit/96 kHz sys tem s . The Sony
system is a basic 64-times normal CD rate
(2.8224 mb) delta sigma (differen ce
between samples) sys tem that of fers tri ck
options in that the high rate datastre a m ,
John Paul with the Pope (Gene Pope of Pope Music)
12
easily mass stored on Digital (video)
Betacam (46Gb capacity) or hard drive ,
can also be manipulated around the music
signal in va rious ways to provi de su peri or
down - converted conventi onal 16 bi t - 4 4 . 1
kHz CD. This is apparen t ly similar to the
Meridian 518 Processor noise-shaping
ro utines wh i ch optimise bits for most relevant use within a given music signal.
A piano, bass and drums trio playing
an extended spacey intro into Ken ny
Dorhams’ Blue Bossa (happily I’m on very
familiar terri tory here, so trust me!) was
the sample piece played from their black
boxes.
Regular 44.1kHz portrayed a decent
typical studio quality recording over the
n i ce , big Sony SS-M9 spe a kers . The 24/96
was massively, heaps better, more open,
det ai led , relaxed, clean and natural. Nex t ,
the DSD was pretty similar to the 24/96
but to my ears had better transient attack,
and openness with even more “l ook into”
the band definiti on and set-up ambi en ce.
Magnificent!
The Sony demonstra tor said they didn’t use the Nagra favo u red dCS 902 A/D
24-bit convertors played in other rooms
and they weren’t sure the 24 bit Apogee
convertors used here were the Cello-modified types. So it’s somewhat chalk and
cheese. Though a big ear opener was the
massaged DSD stream down converted to
regular 44.1 wh i ch sounded pretty damn
good compared to the conventional 44.1
version. Sony-man tried steering the audience by saying they believed it to be better
than 24/96 but after a few more run
AV
details
and
specifications
Dolby
Pro
Logic
Surround
for
home
theatre
AC-3
ready
–
5.1
channel
external
decoder
input
built-in
High
power
discrete
amplifiers
for
front
and
centre
channels:
130W
+
130W
in
stereo
mode
100W
left,
centre
and
right,
plus
30W
+
30W
surround
in
Dolby
Pro
Logic
mode
32-station
FM/AM
random
preset
memory
tuning
Ten
analog
inputs
Four
composite
and
four
S-Video
inputs
Four
composite
and
four
S-Video
outputs
Programmable
and
PreMemory
remote
control
The
b est
of
both
w orlds…
Conventional
wisdom
will
tell
you
that
a
well-specified
home
theatre
receiver
cannot
also
be
a
good
music
stereo
amplifier.
Conventional
wisdom
is
wrong.
The
Denon
AVR-2600
proves
that
you
can
have
the
best
of
both
worlds
by
being
a
remarkable
stereo
amplifier
that
–
at
the
flick
of
a
button
–
adds
all
the
enthralling
excitement
you
could
wish
for
from
home
theatre.
The
Denon
AVR-2600
–
possibly
the
only
AV
receiver
worth
listening
to
music
through.
It
genuinely
gives
the
best
of
both
worlds.
Simply
superb
sound
The
AVR-2600
is
too
new
to
have
reviews
avaulable,
but
its
predecessor
–
the
closely
related
AVR-2500
–
received
these
glowing
plaudents:
“…the
AVR=2500
is
today’s
best
[NZ$••••]
receiver…
simply
blew
away
the
other
recievers
(and
the
panalists)
with
its
powerful,
clear
sound”—Home
Theater
Technology
“We’ve
spent
more
time
with
this
receiver
than
any
other
in
recent
memory,
and
with
good
reason
–
the
sound
is
simply
unbelivable…
if
you’re
in
he
market
for
a
[NZ$•••]
receiver,
you
can
do
no
better
than
the
AVR2500.”—Home
Theater
Technology
“The
sound
from
the
Denon
was…
clean,
powerful
and
dynamic”—Stereophile
Guide
to
Home
Theater
Proudly
imported
by
Avalon
Audio
Corporation,
587Mt
Eden
Road,
Auckland.
Ph
0-9-638
9000.
Fax
0-9-638
8888
throughs of each version, I know my own,
and think the general preferred consensus,
was DSD, 24/96, “m a s s a ged DSD” and
quite poorly distant, old standard 44.1 CD.
SPOILED ROTTEN
The bi ggest thing after these three sess i ons for me, was that anything played on
standard old formats, no matter how
expensive and elaborate, couldn’t begin to
compare. Re a lly! Even the punchy loud
Wilson Grand Slamms with huge Audio
Re s e a rch valve monoblocks still lacked
that inner detail, clarity and clean attack
that the higher bit systems accurately pres en ted. Likewise, re s pect a ble set-ups from
Audio Physic, Cabasse, Audio Artistry
Beethoven, MBL, Von Schweikert and others . So sorry. Vinyl or CD source , va lve or
solid state, once you get a taste treat of the
“fresh” higher bit/sample ear food , a ll el s e
is processed, plastic, frozen junk food.
Heard that before? They were right.
The real higher bit/sampling stuff from
this day forw a rd has seriously got me, to
quote a favourite jazz title, captured
delightfully “Bet ween The Thigh s”.
Whether it becomes 24-bit at 88.2 kHz
“old compatible” or 96 kHz shouldn’t be a
huge worry as digi - m avens say bits are
cheap and back w a rd or forward conversion tricks are easy enough. The main
thing is that it just gets happening before
DVD bit redu ction sys tems su ch as Do l by
Digital AC-3 (5.1) become de-facto
acceptable for music.
Who said vinyl was dead – there was plenty of interest at the show
So while the digital dilemma con ti nu e ,
i t’s sweet to recall that the best sound at
the show naturally came from live breathing (wetware) performing musicians in
the Tara Labs and the NHT rooms. Special
credit to Ken Ka n tor who mic’d a harp s ichordist, or electric guitarist, or vocalist in
room 1040 and let you monitor that live
direct feed over his NHT 3.3’s in ad jacen t
room 1041. I’m sure many ears were
opened up to the mys terious black art of
microph one placem ent as their auditi oning parameters changed.
REALITY BITES
It appears that DVD has to succeed to
Best sound at the show
14
give music loving audiophiles better
recorded sound. And if judged by many
industry statements, it’s going to be Home
Theatre that’ll make it happen. But the sad
fact is that there were some superb looking and sounding displays at this show that
offered much better sound reproduction
than yo u’ll hear in probably 98% of
EnZed, Yank or UK commercial theatres
and virtually all were playing Hollywood
dip-stick action boom, blast and bang
movies. Quite often during demo’s
they turned the sub-woofers way up,
“sour- ro u n d s”(sic) too high, and centre
dialogue to headache inducing, ear splitting levels.
In the big Cell o / Vi d i k ron/Fa ro u d a
room they po l i tely presented the picture
differences from Waterworld laser disc versus (the su perior) DV D. They then let us
be shot full of holes from all directions by
(the superior) DTS (Digital Theatre
Sound) machine-gun bullets which
seemed to hurt more than the Dolby
Digital AC-3 (5.1) bullets. Ouch! Forget
approx i m a tely $80,000 US, I’m not
inclined to spend $8 NZ to see Kevin
Costrate (sic) get shot up in the local
Hoyts!
It just seems silly that with a paying,
presumably soph i s ti c a ted and knowl ed geable audience, on trade days no less, that
McIntosh Labs with B&W Speakers, M&K,
JBL, Ma rtin-Logan, Carver and several
other decent brands co u l d n’t play music
or “n on - ex p l oding” adult drama movies.
Th ere were very bri ef t a s tes of the Eagle’s
Hotel California, and Clapton Unplugged
but there weren’t any of the widely available music con cert, fine opera and ballet
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laser discs seen or heard. These could’ve
been simply wonderful, and incidentally
demonstrated higher domestic acceptability for any of these state of the art Hom e
Theatre systems.
Instead it was the same old shit you see,
painfully hear, and oh boy, golly-wowie,
feel in the ch e a po app l i a n ce and discount
rack system/TV stores. Arnie and Bruce
bel ong there rattling the ref rigera tors and
equaliser lights. Not in a serious music
l oving hobbyists situation where , ye s , we
like to hear small differences in things that
do not “re a l i s ti c a lly ” ex p l ode every fif teen
minutes. If I’d paid the admission fee, I
wo u l d ’ve exploded till they refunded my
money.
Dear Home Theatre Ven dors, Please,
G ROW UP! (End of bitching. We now
return to our regularly scheduled music pro gramme).
WORTH MENTIONING
Plinius demonstra ted their amps and
new M-16 rem o te pre-amp and M-14
phono units with the slim Aerial 8t speakers, which are a tall, thin side-firing woofer
version of the widely acclaimed Aerial
10t’s. Peter Thomson with importer Victor
Goldstein got an appreciably better sound
in their small room than many others in
similar strife.
An interesting aside is that I was drawn
into the Alon By Acarian with Cary Audio
Designs room by some very nice sounding
vintage Miles Davis playing over high efficiency Acarian Lotus SE speakers powered
by Ca ry SE valve amps. I started chatting
about the Miles re-releases with some guy
and after a few moments he noti ced my
“ i n ternational” badge and spontaneo u s ly
offered “of all the solid state amps, I like
the NZ Plinius amps best for my speakers”.
I then checked his badge and it was Carl
Ma rch i s o t to spo uting this! He’s de s i gn ed
the highly respected Alon spe a kers and
been instrumental in some of the better
Dahlquist designs past. I asked him if I
could pass that powerful endorsement on,
and he said “Yes, yes, please do.”
NAD had a misera ble small room with
a noisy air- conditi on er, too much static
product with too many spotlights all doing
nothing useful. But they opened my ears
with their magical 2.2 Digital Room
Correction System. Four Mo torola DSP
56002 engines fed by 20 bit, 64x DeltaSigma conversion puts the equivalent of
over 600 band-pass filters into actively
compensating standing waves, early reflections, f lutter echo and left right spe a kers
plus dual sub-woofer (.2) imbalance s .
Turning the air conditioning off and playing some old time gut-bucket blues and
romantic symphony piece s , they made a
pair of small pricey Celestion Ki n gstons
go from ho-hum small speaker, mostly two
dimensional “n i ce” up to an honest wow !
What a three dimensional clear, clean,
deep and wide, practically wraparound
soundfield! I said that they had finally
come up with an actual solution to Lshaped listening room s . And NAD owner
Peter Lyngdorf laughed and said “Ya, true.
And ve can make a matched pair vith a
Klipschorn and a Kingston too!”
It was more huge an improvement than
the earl i er menti on ed 24-bit/96 kHz over
regular 16/44.1. Actu a lly, h aving both the
high bit rate/sampled sources with this
very fancy room correction together
You don’t have to die to go to heaven
conrad-johnson It just sounds right
The passage to
audio perfection
California Audio Labs
Q u a l i t y Yo u C a n H e a r
For more information and the name of your nearest dealer, contact
Oceania Audio Ltd, PO Box 41-085 Auckland. Phone 0-9-849 3114. Fax 0-9-849 3307. Email [email protected]
16
–
Get
real
–
GET
Onkyo
Home
Theatre
Onkyo
TX-DS838
advantages
• Non-negative
feedback
power
amplifier
for
the
front
channels
with
dual
inverted
Darlington
circuitry
• Tangible
evidence
of
Onkyo’s
commitment
to
bring
you
unmatched
home-theatre
flexibility.
Gold-plated
inputs,
eight
pre-out
outputs,
seven
pairs
of
heavy
duty
multi-way
speaker
binding
posts
and
three
digital
inputs
(AC-3
RF/optical/
coaxial)
to
bypass
the
receivers
analog-to-digital
stage
• TX-DS838
on-screen
displays
define
simplicity.
The
three
main
displays
overlap
so
you
don’t
get
lost
in
a
labyrinth.
The
intuitive,
selfexplanatory
menu’s
lead
you
by
the
hand
to
help
you
set
up
your
surround
sound
system.
• Unlike
receivers
that
have
20-bit
devices
labouring
with
24-bit
devices,
the
dual
24-bit
Motorola
processors
work
harmoniously
together
Onkyo’s
TX-DS838
Integra
would
have
to
be
one
of
the
most
exciting
Dolby
Digital
AC-3
products
released
this
year.
Hot
on
the
heels
of
Onkyo’s
TXD-S939
(“The
King
of
Hollywood”),
this
product
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impress.
Its
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use
and
stunning
performance
makes
it
a
must
for
the
Dolby
AC-3
connoisseur.
Built
for
performance,
the
TX-DS838
is
guaranteed
to
knock
your
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So
for
an
unforgettable
experience
talk
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would be, perhaps, awesomely beyond
superb. Though back on earth, this also
suggests the clever question of whether it’s
better to simply have a flash top range, say
$20,000 spe a ker and try to get it singing
sweet ly in the room , or is it bet ter to have
a very good $10,000 spe a ker and drive it
t h ro u gh the $10,000 NAD 2.2 DSP box ?
Based on the NAD’s absen ce of added
co l o u rations or arti f acts and it’s inherent
magic tricks, I’d take the latter option in a
flash. I’m re a lly sch eming on getting this.
[Along with your $100k “s m a ll” Cello sys tem, which you mentioned is only about
$99,829.53 away!—Ed.]
Speaking of Celestion Ki n gstons, in a
nearby room Celestion featured new models from famed designer of the excellent SL
series Bob Smith. Models A1, A2 and A3
are all elegant balances of smoothness,
clarity, power handling, dispersion, low
distortion etc. And, they all sound very,
very good too, especially at their re a s onable prices. I’d say these and the Jo s eph
Audio RM7’s and RM22’s were the best
sounding affordable products at the show.
The little Joe’s with a kevlar cone and
the small floor tower with an aluminium
cone, both using a silk dome tweeter really
sang true on some Billie Holiday and rock
and ro ll that reviewer Ma rtin Colloms
supplied. MC and I both agreed the music
presentation was subtly changed with
Shun Mook discs (three) shuffled atop the
RM22’s. I say save your money, you can
break the top surface waves with stacked
and trimmed cork drink coa s ters or even
a lightweight paperback book. Try it?
Bryston amps were displayed with
American co-import PMC (Professional
Mon i tor Company) UK made transmission line spe a kers. Although their ATC
s o u rced midrange and tweets sounded
simply great via the Brystons, the very
solid, tight tra n s m i s s i on line bass seemed
mis-timed or lagging in PRAT against the
rest of the music. But interestingly, after
about 10 or 15 minutes this perception
seems to go away.
In c i dentally, I noti ced Brys ton’s internal build quality is as ti dy and tech n i c a lly
gorgeous, less the gold trim, as the fine
audio jewell ery from FM Acoustics, Jad i s ,
YBA, and other stratos priced goodies.
Audio Note had a reel to reel deck playing what I thought was some 50’s Louis
Armstrong through the Avantgarde
Acoustic Uno horn system. It was an older
recording with hiss, and some modulation
noise (leading edge fuzz), and limited bass,
18
The NTX flat panels on display – not Maggies!
but still very lively, immed i a te and cl e a n .
The room was way too small for the horn
drivers to integrate properly, so you heard
too much of the mid or tweet horn
depending on wh et h er you were standing
or sitting.
Their other room with their basic
starter sys tem gets my worst sound at the
show. That is, after the many way too loud
home theatre set-ups. This small system
with an integra ted amp, basic vinyl deck,
non-descript CD player and high efficiency spe a kers re a lly needs some serious
co l o u ration adjustments and distortion
fixes or else should be put right back
alongside $199 rack systems.
Epos and Creek had a decent set-up
with the new Epos 12’s and 30’s displayed.
The 30 looks and sounds like a re-tuned
Epos 25 which I’m not yet certain is for the
better or worse.
Kevin Voeck s , de s i gn er of many better
Sn ell spe a kers, presented his Revel
d’Appolitto type pair plus active crossover
and amplified sub-woofer system in a very
well set-up larger suite. Classy jazz singer
Joe Williams from a Tel a rc disc in a Krell
p l ayer was wonderfully right there in the
room with us. Very impressive.
I was immediately taken with the highest qu a l i ty valve amp-like midrange
smoothness with tuneful and tight bass
plus sweet open highs from the excellent
big Pass Aleph single-ended amp driving a
pair of Vanders teen Model Fives. Probl em
here is that the Vandy 5 has an in-built
active bass section, so I only heard the Pass
mids and highs, but a lovely sound
nonetheless! I visited here again twi ce ,
once with my own discs, and once when I
fo ll owed what I thought was an excell en tly played live acoustic guitar wafting up a
corri dor. My own wi dely auditi on ed discs
sounded gre a t , and the fine “u n - l ive” g u itar was from a John Williams V PI ’d vinyl.
Remember my “other room better sound”
essay? I’d give this a “100% Pass!”.
Paradigm featured their new built-in
amp/cro s s over active systems, but I can’t
tell you much about them because they
were only playing in a Hoon (sic) Theatre
set-up (Tom Cruise, Mission Impossible
(my dilemma too!)). Th ey could cert a i n ly
go loud and their ti dy “s m a ll” new active
15” sealed sub-woofer easily goes down to
an earthquaking 14Hz.
N XT flat spe a ker panels were hanging
and playing pleasant background music in
a small room and I got jumped by Mission
big cheese Henry Azima for mentioning
“they sounded similar to Ma ggi e s”. He
firmly poi n ted out that Ma ggies are still
point sources, while he emphasised the
NXTs are random and totally diffuse radiators. More later.
CONTINUING INTEREST
Other mags will report other things,
but I reckon the DVD daffiness and possible high bit/sample and DSP delights were
the show’s most significant bits (sic).
One other thing is, MBL of Germany,
the makers of some thoro u ghly gor geous
and unique electronics and speakers are
looking for a bona-fide (stockist) NZ
dealer. Just don’t mention the war!
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ith years of design expertise and a state-ofthe-art in-house R&D facility, Paradigm
engineers and acousticians set out to build
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bring you closer than ever to the live event!
W
And, while this stunning performance heightens the
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SYSTEMS
by M i k e Jo n e s
A musical AV system?
PROMISES FULFILED BY DENON AND KEF
I
try to regularly pop into my local
hi-fi stores to see the new equipment
and talk to the guys on the floor about
wh a t’s hot. Around two ye a rs ago I was in
Auckland’s Smiths Sound, where manager
Phil McIsaac was waxing enthusiastic
about a Denon AV receiver.
One of the things I’ve learned about
Phil is that, when he says a piece of hi-fi
gear is good, then it is. So wh en Phil to l d
me that the Denon AVR-2500 was an
excellent amplifier that just happened to
also be a Dolby Pro Logic receiver, I was
all ears. I immediately made a mental note
to look up that receiver with a view of
including it in AudioEnz.
Call me backward, call me slow, call me
what you will, but it was two ye a rs until I
20
finally got around to doing something
about it – only to find that the 2500 had
just been replaced by the Denon AVR2600. (Th ere still are some 2500’s aro u n d
at the time of writing, at attractive prices).
So the 2600 it was to be. I approach ed
Paul Webb, the general manager of Denon
and KEF importer Avalon Audio for a
music based system that could also be used
for home theatre. Paul supplied the Denon
DCD-1015 CD player ($799), Denon’s
AVR-2600 Do l by Pro Logic receiver
($1899) and KEF’s C35 loudspe a kers
($1099). System price was $3797.
Denon’s 1015 was a strong contender
on release a year or three back (we
reviewed it in Au d i o Vi d e o), and it still
holds up nicely. Everyone ack n owledged
that the receiver and speakers could benefit from a better CD player than the 1015,
but it was inclu ded primari ly to keep the
system price down.
The centrepiece of the sys tem was the
AVR-2600 receiver. I understand that it is
very similar to the older 2500, but with a
bit more power (130 watts in stereo mode;
100 watts across the front and 30+30 watts
to the rear in surround mode), plus it’s
labell ed as “AC-3 ready”. All this means is
that you can later plug a Dolby Digital
decoder into the 2600.
From the viewpoint of convenience the
2600 is a winner. It has plenty of inputs
and outputs for both audio and video
components and includes a delightful
learning rem o te contro l , wh i ch also controlled the Denon 1015 CD player. After
l iving for years with non-remote ampli-
f i ers, I co u l d n’t believe how nice it was to
have everything work from the one
remote. This is luxury!
Launching the music into my room was
the KEF C35 loudspe a kers. A shortish
floor standing spe a ker (737mm high), the
C35’s have a single Uni-Q driver tow a rd s
the top of the front baffle. KEF’s Uni-Q
drive units have a tweeter placed in the
centre of the woofer cone. This should
improve the sound dispersion from the
spe a ker, compared to a conventional
(tweeter above woofer) arrangement.
Put it all together in my lounge and
h ow did it sound? Very good, in fact. As a
system it allowed me to en j oy my music
without getting in the way. I listen to a very
wide variety of music – probably aro u n d
20–30 CDs per week – and need to be able
to hear the music and feel the em o ti on in
my music. This I was able to achieve
through this system. As suggested, the CD
player was the we a kest link – spending
more money would solve that!
For home theatre use I hoo ked the
Denon 2600 up to my Energy
bipole/dipole surround spe a kers and
watched (and listened) to a couple of
movies, including The Long Kiss
Goodnight, Fried Green Tomatoes and the
opening of Star Trek 6, and TV sound.
The 2600 portrayed and projected voices clearly (surely the most important
aspect of a movie is the dialogue, not the
thumps and crashes of action movies), but
with plenty of power for action.
So, a success for the Denon/KEF system. Pick of the three – the AVR-2600.
th
e b
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March ’97
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734
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Buying power in bulk
AMPS, AMPS AND MORE AMPS
Q
uestion: name a home audio
product available tod ay which
wasn’t available 10 years ago.
(Hint – it’s not CD players!)
Answer: Multi-channel amplifiers.
Today’s mu l ti - channel amps are a sign
of the times. In the 70s who needed one –
in fact in the 80s who needed one?
In the 90s with the growth of home
theatre and mu l ti - room sys tem s , the ti m e
for the single chassis, multi -cha nnel amp
has come.
The convenient design make the multich a n n el amp the equ iva l ent of the multiCD player – but what’s even better is
knowing that the com p act de s i gn actu a lly
m a kes for cost effective power whether
yo u’re starting from scra tch or adding on
to an existing system.
Demand for multi-channel amplifiers
has been growing, but only recently have
multi-channel amplifiers been manufactured with real gut-shaking power output.
Reading through magazines devoted to
the modern “audio-video lifestyler” suggests that the multi-channel amp is the
90’s panacea to all audio ills from reducing cluttered rack space to providing a
novel way of powering multiple room systems.
Take your pick – but the reasons to buy
a multi-amp are gro u n ded in solid hom e
theatre theory. Traditional good home
theatre practi ce suggests all amplifiers
should sound the same ac ross all five (or
seven) channels leading to a seamless integration of the multi-channel surro u n d
sound-field.
And with the advent of Do l by Digital
and DTS surround – the new theory says
all amplifiers should not only sound the
same, they should have the same output
power as well.
That leaves the home theatre (or multiThe multi-channel amp enthusiast also
room) enthusiast with three choices:
needs to be su re that the amp will power
a) buy an all-in-one processor-amp (all not on ly current, but future applicati on s .
amps on board)
Some multi-channel amps are a big investb) buy a rack of same-brand amplifiers
ment and users better be sure that five
c) buy a single chassis multi-channel amp channels of amplification is enough!
(all amps on board)
While more than five ch a n n els may be
Multi-channel amps sound good in the high-end of home theatre, i t’s worth
theory and the convenience of the thinking ahead.
approach is undeniable, they offer re a l
practical benefits as well:
BUYING IN BULK
1) less rack space
The multi-channel amp equ a tion is
2) less cost (than buying separates)
based on a simple equ a tion: buy in bulk!
3) less chance of amp mis-matches
If you buy a good quality two channel amp
4) fewer power plugs! (than multiple why not go to five! The ben efits are obviamps)
ous and using a do llar per watt ra tio conMulti-channel amps are also conve- firms it’s good value for money!
nient for those who already own a procesIt seems it’s one of those too good to be
sor-amp (with pre - o uts) who want more true stories – why didn’t they always make
muscle but don’t want to upgrade to an multi-amps? Well nece s s i ty is the mother
entirely new unit. A simple patch to the of i nvention and the modern trend
new amp and more
tow a rds
multiple
power – just add
channels for home
The Rotel is a genuinely t h e a tre (or music) is
soundtrack!
The re a s on to
evidence of smart
buy a multi-channel engaging amp all round – I thinking and real
comes down to
world
responses
actually found myself
answering a simple
from manufacturers
question.
to the demands of
putting on familiar CDs
Can I get con s i sAV in the home.
tent amplifier sound
My first multiagain and again
and output power
channel amp was a
with flexibility in
Yamaha MX35 2/4
use from any other amplifier configura- channel amp, it was indicative of the AV
tion?
thinking of the time, with minimal power
Before buying a multi-channel amp and only 4 channels.
purchasers might consider:
Later I had the NAD 906 home – wh a t
a) power output vs cost
a great little amp, again maybe underpowb) flexibility
ered, but it had three sep a ra te tra n s formc) am I adding power on to an existing ers and was bridgeable – a good design and
amp-processor?
a worthy addition to home theatre systems
d) am I bi-amping? (more about that which needed a kick-up in the power
later)
stakes.
AMPING IT UP IN THE 90S
So now it’s the late 90s. Home theatre
is the buzz word in the market and the
n eed for better proce s s ors , bet ter spe a kers
and bigger amps is high.
Enter the Rotel THX RB 985 five chann el amplifier, at five chan n els x 100 watts,
the beefiest multi-channel amp I had tried.
Frankly – I liked the Ro tel from the
m i nute I got it out of the box. It’s simple,
22
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Corp.
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Auckland
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0-9-415
7400
clean fascia, no-fuss design and beefy trannie (visible thro u gh the top panel vents)
filled me with confiden ce that Ro tel had
got it right.
At 100 watts per channel (40 amp peak)
it is a robust amp perfect for most domestic home theatre systems. Typically the
Ro tel had a clean and engaging sound –
and I enjoyed using the amp in my system
as a music-only amplifier.
The Rotel is a genu i n ely en ga ging amp
all round – I actually found myself putting
on familiar CDs again and again just to
hear the mid-range shading it brought out
on my CDs that I hadn’t noticed before.
a normal (if beefy) two channel amp, with
But home theatre is why you get the
nothing on the front except a small joule
Ro tel and it fired all five channels com- meter, satin smooth aluminium finish and
prising my JBL L5 main, JBL Control 5 not even a power button, the Su n f i re is,
centre s , JBL dipole surrounds and two well… eccentric.
BSR passive subwoofers.
Typically with a Bob Carver design,
That’s a lot of spe a kers to feed and the there’s alw ays something a little “u n conRo tel was bright and chirpy and keen to ventional” under the hood. This time it’s
show off – you could hardly call this a not switch ed mode power su pp ly (a l a the
lethargic amp!
controversial
Mt
As always, familiar
series) but a nifty
scenes with hu ge Sunfire is possibly the best n ew devi ce that Bob
dynamic swi n gs from
calls a “tracking
sounding audio home
vi deo were used to
down
converter”
test the amp’s muscle
(…sounds a little
theatre multi-channel
– the low end intro to
like the “flux capaciIndepen d en ce Day
tor” in Back to the
amplifier yet produced
will test the best of
Future) which is at
amps and it sure testthe heart of the 200
ed the Rotel with the unit’s front panel red watt output power.
clipping indicators telling me the amp’s red
The Su n f i re has been designed with a
line had just been crossed.
unique feature – the Cinema Grand feaTo be fair, the volume level at the safety tu res two pairs of outputs for con n ecting
c ut - off point was louder than any normal the main speakers to a current and voltage
listening environ m ent and I do u bt that in s o u rce – the remaining channels are all
normal viewing they would engage. The voltage source.
Ro tel is best suited to systems that need
The idea is that current source provides
the extra beef and users who are not a tu be like warmth and the vo l t a ge source
abusers!
the mu s cle nece s s a ry for bo t tom end (for
Safe to say though, that a home trial bi-amping purposes), which is exactly
should be used to see how the amplifier what I did first. I was keen to see what the
tonal balance and the real world listen i n g Su n fire would do with two ch a n n els feedlevel works at your place . Overall – gre a t ing my top end of my Infinity Ka ppa 8’s
value for money at $1599 – but still the
and the other two channels feeding the
Rotel left me wondering what the big boys bottom end bass.
could do.
Was it the best performance I have ever
Enter 200 watts of f ive channel mu s cl e h ad from my Ka ppa 8’s? Prob a bly. Th ere’s
courtesy of the Sunfire Cinema Grand. I’d no do u bt that something special is going
l ong been taken with Su n f i re cre a tor Bob on with the Su n f i re – more bottom end,
Carver – having owned a Carver amp for smooth mid-ra n ge and the same “gra n dm a ny years – and now the new cre a tion
ness” feel of the big Plinius or NAD amps
f rom Bob’s latest com p a ny was about to which I had used before.
get a run at my place.
But there is something odd about the
The quite exqu i s i te looking Su n f i re Sunfire – put it down to the designer’s aim
Cinema Grand amplifier ($5195) bellies its of producing an amplifier that produces
m a s s ive specs – looking all the world like
the best of both solid state and tube sound
24
traits and it’s like the Su n f i re has its foot
firmly in neither one camp or the other.
But you will be blown aw ay by the
Su n f i re’s ability to go real deep while
retaining a silky sweet smooth top end.
Stunning stuff which makes one yearn for
a pair of ribbon tweeters!
But what about home theatre – after all
if was going to retain this configuration
with four of the five Su n fire amps driving
only my Ka ppas I would need another
Sunfire to power the rear channels!
Could the Su n f i re handle the impedance loads of my Kappa 8s in bi-wire mode
– with the centre ch a n n el as well? A simple
question with a simple answer – no.
At 200 watts per channel you would
think this would be enough to power
almost anything but I managed to shut the
Su n f i re down briefly thro u gh its pro tection circuits while the volume level was
high again on Independence Day.
But the Su n f i re did what it was
designed to do – it went harder and longer
than any other multi-amp and the protection cut in.
Carver’s Sunfire amp is special – possibly the best sounding audio home theatre
multi-channel amplifier yet produced.
Be sure to give the Su n f i re time to
warm up over several days and stand back
– you won’t forget it easily.
HOME THEATRE BONUS
But the bonus for home theatre users is
that they can now plan ahead – for those
who started early on, we all wish multichannel amps were around – we could
have started with a solid base and built
from there instead of cobbling together
whatever amps were lying around.
Th a t’s the differen ce ten years has on
you! In the 90s multi-amps are in demand
and you can bet that all manufacturers will
soon have one in the product range.
Watch this space.
Affordable high-end
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Australian Hi-Fi Best Buys
RC 970BX mk2/RB 970BX mk2 pre/power
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“Uncomplicated styling, good sounds and the ability to grow with
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Concertino
An appreciation of music and a love
of violin making gave rise to the birth
of Sonus Faber. Franco Serblin
devised the idea to create a speaker
cabinet as an instrument which
amplifies sound, not merely a
container for it. His inherited
knowledge and study of violin
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precious woods. Each batch of Italian
walnut is scrupulously chosen, dried
naturally for two years and stabilised
in a kiln. Once the wood is perfectly
seasoned, each plank is cut into
staves. The tongue and groove staves
are then joined, sealed and the final
structure shaped, smoothed and
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speaker is in essence a hand-made
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is a reflection of impeccable taste.
RRP $1599
“Their twin bass/midrange drive units and reflex transmission
line design, capable of handling 120W, ensure that bass is
retrieved from 20,000 fathoms deep. And it’s tight and controlled. Regardless of how complex the music becomes, the
TDL’s agility and fast response means they always keep abreast
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PRO-JECT
Pro-Ject 1.2 Turntable (includes Ortofon OM10
cartridge)
RRP $499
“Able to suppress surface noise to almost inaudible levels…will
get you re-exploring your record collection, then reward you by
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Pro-Ject 2 Turntable (includes Ortofon OM10
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“This deck’s strongest point is its musical coherence and the
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…AND NOW TO THE LEFT
b y Ll o yd M a co mb e r
The world of ECM Records
SECOND LINE NEEDED!
T
i red of listening to your ever predictable album co llection? In need
of s om ething more than just Miles,
Mozart or those Moods collections? If
your musical interests fall into the broad
net of jazz, classical or world mu s i c , then
m ay I interest you in the aural and vi su a l
landscape that is ECM Records.
peter Le s ter Bowie (I Only Have Eyes For
You), a sense of ambience and space is evident around every recording.
THE MUSIC
MANFRED’S THE MAN
Since 1969, those who have cared to listen have fo llowed the works borne from a
Munich record com p a ny con cerned
alw ays with rigorous quality control.
Musician, producer, company director and
founder of ECM Records, Manfred Eicher,
launched ECM (Edition of Contemporary
Music) without any regard for the (still)
standing conventional notions of commerciality. Eicher’s background as production assistant at nu m erous orch e s tral and
chamber music sessions held him in good
s te ad for his peculiar approach to recording. Eicher’s knowledge and attention to
detail from recording classical en s em bles
was translated to the even small er en s embles playing jazz music which were to form
the basis for many early ECM productions.
ECM Records first release was Ma l
Waldron’s Free at Last. Recorded in
November ’69, the album was released in
limited edition and pressed on the highest-quality vinyl. It sold out in quick time,
with sales proceeds financing its production. And so ECM Records was put on the
map. Today, some 600 titles later, p lus an
ever increasing number of titles in its New
Series, ECM Records touches all corners of
the jazz, classical and world music idioms.
TAKING TH E P LU NGE
It was 10 years ago in a second hand
record shop that I stumbled upon my first
en co u n ter with an ECM album. It was by
trumpet/flugelhorn player Kenny Wheeler.
The cover was pink and I could only guess
that the music was jazz. I didn’t buy the
album, but I committed its strong, austere
cover artwork to memory.
Over the next few ye a rs , as my apprec iati on of jazz music grew, it was inevi t a bl e
that I would come ac ross other albums
from the same stable. My growing interest
in the drums led me to pick up one su ch
album fe a tu ring dru m m er ex tra ordinaire,
Peter Erskine. After examining the album’s
liner notes I decided to take a punt. Not
surprisingly, the cover art work was conspicuous by its simple yet striking de s i gn.
The album was Ma rc Jo h n s on’s Bass
De s i re s, a quartet of expansive and considered modern jazz mu s i c . With this album,
I had made inroads into a subset of jazz
music that was as attractive and stimu l a ting on the inside as it was on the outside. I
was hoo ked .
ECM DISTINCTION
The signature sound of any ECM work,
which sets it apart from most any other
record house, is the silent and inky bl ack
backdrop to the musicians. This recording
environment that Eicher has developed so
consistently well over the years has been
instrumental to all ECM productions.
Whether it’s the solo aco u s tic guitar of
Ralph Towner (Solo Concert), the jazz
s t a n d a rds Keith Jarrett’s Trio (St a n d a rd s
Vols 1 & 2), or the brass fantasy of tru m-
26
In the mid ’80s, and as a celebration of
ECMs 15th birthday, the first Works series
of ten albums were released. The artists
represented were musicians who had been
working with ECM since early days.
The Americans included the distinctively different pianists Chick Corea and
Keith Jarrett, guitarist Pat Metheny, vibraharpist Gary Bu rton , mu l ti - i n s tru m en t a list Ralph Towner and drummer Jack
De Johnette. An o t h er fe a tured artist of the
Works series was Brazilian multi-instrumentalist Egberto Gismonti.
The remaining three artists, bassist
Eberhard Weber, saxophonist Ja n
Garb a rek and electric guitarist Terje
Rypdal were Scandinavian or German. As
introductions, the Works series is a suitable way of covering the 15 year span of
each artist.
Alternatively, consider my own selecti on of favourites, and albums wh i ch may
act as en co u raging transitional steps for
those already listening to other forms of
jazz, classical and world music.
ACOUSTIC JAZZ
Keith Jarrett St a n d a rds albums are
excell ent first stops for those already died i n - t h e - wool jazz standards lovers. Jarrett,
that love him or hate him pianist with a
tendency to grunt and moan is joi n ed by
double-bassist Gary Pe acock and dru m m er
Jack DeJohnette in a series of albums based
THE
HEART
OF
GOOD
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of audio systems. Of course, we’ve retained those features which made the
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tubes deliver sweet-yet-detailed treble response, tight, powerful bass and
midrange performance that approaches perfection. The CDV-2 will convey
your favourite music with a sound so palpable, so three-dimensional, you’ll
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27
a round those jazz standard s . Con s i der
St a n d a rds Vols 1 and 2 and St a n d a rds Live
for their own ren d i ti ons of classics.
My own personal favo u ri tes are the Bi ll
Evans Tri o - i n s p i red albums led by exWeather Report, Steps Ahead and recent
Steely Dan dru m m er Peter Erskine. If your
wish, a f ter a hard day at the of f i ce, is to
recline before some soothing jazz piano
trio music, t h en look no furt h er than any
of these albums. Together the trio of
Erskine, double-bassist Palle Daniel s s on
and pianist John Tayl or are masters of th ei r
own trade. Th eir colla bora ti on on all three
a l bums (You Never Know, Time Bei n g, As It
Is) is a con s i s tent and su ccessful one.
ELECTRIC JAZZ
Aco u s tic, el ectric guitar and mando l i n
player John Abercrombie has a long established career record with ECM. For my
money, notable works include the series of
a l bums wh i ch see Aberc rom bie joi n ed by
acoustic bassist Marc Jo h n s on and drummer Peter Erskine on albums Current
Events and Abercrombie/Johnso n / Erskine
of the Arts, fe a tu res with two recent
albums, Zig Za g and Musica De
Sob revivencia. Eg berto Gismon ti, and his
own brand of traditi onal European
inspired jazz and the sounds of the ra i n forest, is well sampled in the 1984 Wo rk s seri e s
album, featuring tunes from from 1978–81.
CLASSICAL – ECM NEW SERIES
double live set Travels is a worthwhile
snapshot of Metheny’s early works and his
ever developing guitar/guitar synth sound.
Metheny ’s ECM albums are without the
l a tin reinforcem ents so prom i n ent on the
recent albums for Geffen records.
WORLD MUSIC
For those familiar with the perc u s s i on
rich world music featured in Auckland’s
Radio bFMs Audible World programme,
try the self titled
Oregon
album
WEB WATCH
f rom 1983, or the
The ECM web page can be found at
later
Crossing
http://www.ecmrecords.com/
album. Oregon’s
sound is the peralbums. Al s o, the same trio are joined by
fect union of e a s t - m eet s - west instrumensaxoph onists Mi chael Brecker on Getting tal mu s i c . Lon g time ECM recording arti s t
There and John Surman on November.
Ralph Towner plays guitars and keyboards,
Now with Geffen Records, Pat while the late Colin Wa l cott adds his disMetheny ’s first albums were with ECM. tinctive percussion and sitar.
From around 1976, the young Metheny
Possibly the most hauntingly beautiful
began his recording career with the album album featuring music of the east is Zakir
Bright Si ze Li fe with bassist Jaco Pastoriu s Hussain’s 1987 album Making Music. Percusand drummer Bob Moses. From 1980 sionist and tabla player Hussain is joined by
came As Fa lls Wichita, So Falls Wichita fellow Pakistani Hariprasad Chaurasia on
Fall s, a startling co llection of tunes aided flute s , John Mc L a u ghlin on aco u s tic guitar
by keyboardist and main aid, Lyle Mays, and Jan Garbarek on saxophones.
and perc u s s i onist Nana Va s con celos. The
Am ong the scores of albums fe a tu ring
Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek, two
which appeal for their integration of western and eastern instrumentation, a re I
Took Up The Runes and Visible World. As
well as show casing Garbarek’s icy and
eerie tenor and soprano sax playing, I Took
Up The Runes introdu ces popular Fren ch
dru m m er Manu Katche (more known for
his work with Peter Gabriel and Sting).
Both albums are possibly the easiest
approaches into the often sharp and soaring call of Garbarek’s saxophones.
Brazilian guitari s t / p i a n i s t / compo s er
Eg berto Gismonti, who visited Wellington’s
s h ores for last ye a rs In ternati onal Festiva l
28
From the late 1970’s, Ma n f red Eicher
recognised the releva n ce of modern composers like Steve Reich and John Adams.
An en co u n ter with Estonian composer
Arvo Part persuaded Eicher to cre a te the
ECM New Series. Consequ en t ly, Part was
the first artist to feature in this brand
series with his album Tabula Rasa.
The New Series looks not on ly to work s
of tod ay, but also music reaching back
through the centuries. Many artists featured
are well known out s i de of their work with
ECM – com posers John Adams and Steve
Reich, musicians Gidon Kremer, and the allmale vocal group The Hilliard Ensemble.
Al re ady establ i s h ed artists on ECM for
their contributions in the jazz idiom, Keith
Jarrett and Jan Garb a rek both feature in
the New Series. Ja rrett, notably for his
J. S . Bach Goldberg Variations and Well
Tempered Klavier series and Garbarek with
The Hi lliard Ensemble in the seemingly
unlikely album Officium f rom 1993. In
Officium, Garb a rek adds his saxophone
voi ce , in an appropri a tely restra i n ed fashion, to the vocal layers of The Hilliard’s, in
European ecclesiastical music largely from
the 14th and 15th centuries. Despite its
app a rent mismatch of instrumentation,
Officium has earned ECM significant
recogn i ti on worldwi de both with the critics and the public.
With any lu ck I’ve managed to intere s t
some readers in starting their appreciation
of the ECM label. The world of ECM can
provide many a musical treat.
Intro and Credo loudspeakers
Your Naim specialist is: Shore Hi-Fi, Auckland 0-9-486 4494 • The Audio
Consultant, Hamilton 0-7-843 8436 • Sound Advice, Hastings 0-6-877 8875 •
The Real Music Co, Wellington 0-4-385 8353 • Living Sound, Nelson 0-3-546
8363 • The Top Hi-Fi Shop, Christchurch 0-3-365 2041 • Express Sounds, Timaru
0-3-686 0262 • Sight & Sound, Dunedin 0-3-474 0443
You can spend
!more money!
but
you cannot buy
better electronics.
Classé Audio’s devotion to the creation of audio products
of impeccable quality is an approach that an audiophile
magazine recently called “a combination of art and science
(that) exemplifies the best that high-end has to offer.”
Classé Audio has a worldwide reputation for
unsurpassed musical performance, reliability, consistency
and overall musical balance.
Classé Audio products are now available in New
Zealand and backed by one of NZ’s leading audio
distributors. Audition them today at leading hi-fi stores.
Von Schweikert Research Virtual Reality (VR) Speakers
“This [VR-4] must be one of the most comprehensive and most complete speakers on
the market”—HiFi and Music Magazine
Sep 96
“These speakers [VR 4.5s] encourage me
to learn…about music, about taking joy all
over again in music. I can’t imagine a
higher recommendation”—Fi Magazine
Feb 97
“The VR-4s are the finest loudspeakers I
have had the pleasure of hearing…I’m
buying the review pair”—Positive
Feedback Vol 5 No 6
Hear the full-range VR-4 loudspeaker that
reviewers say outpoints the Wilson
Watt/Puppy 5, yet costs less than one-third
of its price. Bass response flat to 20Hz,
impedance 6 ohms, sensitivity of 90dB. A
rear ambience tweeter ensures true 3D
sound staging and unrivalled imaging.
The full-range VR-3 (flat to 26Hz) about
which SoundStage said “an outright
steal…seek these speakers out…the best
value in high-end audio today” is also
available for audition.
For further information contact Peter at Frontline Audio.
Ph (09) 520-HIFI (09 520 4434) or e-mail [email protected]
For more information please contact
Sound Group Holdings, PO Box 33-791, Takapuna
Ph 0-9-415 6680. Fax 0-9-415 6683
29
THE ROAR FROM THE CROWD
Mail bag
YOUR CORRESPONDENCE
CLEANUP TIME
Editor,
I must take issue with the su gge s ti on s
of Andrew Fox re: record cleaning with
“Down to Earth” (or any detergent for that
matter) [AudioEnz March 1997]
Years ago I spent an intere s ting day
with the people at Ni t ty Gritty. Their
chemist showed me electron micro s cope
pictu res of records that had been cl e a n ed
with various different methods and then
played 500 times each. They had before
and after pictures which clearly showed
the varying degrees of damage to the
groove walls afterwards.
I asked specific ally abo ut the tap water
and detergent method as many people had
a s ked about this. He pointed out that
detergents break down the plasticisers in
the vi nyl, making it more brittle.
Su b s equent playing will chip off parts of
the modulations (especially higher fre-
quencies) he showed me the ph o togra ph s
proving this. Also noted was the ch l orine
(bleach) present in most tap water and the
effects that it has on the records.
Having been shown the dra m a tic deterioration caused by such methods I feel
that it is vital to warn your readers of these
facts before they inadvertently damage
and shorten the life of their precious vinyl
collections.
Ni t ty Gritty have developed Pu re 2,
their record cleaning fluid so that it maintains the correct pH of the vinyl, does not
attract and bind con t a m i n a n t s , cleans off
the “mold release compound” without
harming in any way the vinyl.
It is this careful scientific analysis that
has been apprec i a ted by serious collectors
the world over, and by those who simply
must have their vi nyl maintained in the
best possible way for future generations to
apprec i a te the rich history available on
vi nyl (such as the US Congress Library
and The Smithsonian Institute).
Remember that you can buy Pure 2
fluid at a very re a s on a ble price and use it
to clean records (using An d rew’s met h od,
sans the water) even if you do not own a
vacuum cleaning machine.
At the cost of less than a dozen LP’s I
consider a Ni t ty Gritty to be an essential
part of a ny vi nyl co llectors gear, as no
doubt do you and Charles Thompson.
May the force (stylus that is) be with
you!
Paul Quilter
PQ Imports
Paul Quilter is the Nitty Gritty Importer.
His suggestion to use the Pure 2 fluid instead
of wa ter and detergent is an excellent idea.
Both Charles Thomson and I own and use
Nitty Gritty reco rd cleaning machines and
can recommend them to vinyl collectors.
– the bottom line in bass
True low bass from America’s famous subwoofer manufacturer!
From the high performance VA-Series (from $895) to the
critically acclaimed F-1800RII ($4495) there are eight different
Velodyne models to choose from.
Velodyne subwoofers incorporate features found on no other
brand, such as High Gain Servo which analyses the signal
3500 times a second to ensure clean, powerful sound without
distortion.
Find the Velodyne that’s right for you – whether it’s an 8” or
18”, 100 watts or 1000.
Call for a brochure and review kit and the name of your
nearest dealer
PO Box 31-552, Milford, Auckland
Phone 0-9-486 0666. Fax 0-9-486 0660
Mobile 025-769 890 or 021-769 890
30
DON’T FLUFF ABOUT!
You may miss out on this rare opportunity to purchase some very
serious Pioneer Reference Series audiophile componentry at
some very silly prices. Available exclusively from New Zealand’s
number one Pioneer hi-fi specialist – Paul Money Hi-Fi
5 Y E AR WA R R A N T Y
A-91D
REFERENCE
INTEGRATED AMP
Originally $4000
cash$795 cash
Miller & Kreisel
The M&K subwoofer range is the result of 22
years experience in designing and
manufacturing high quality subwoofers. With
eight different models available M&K have a
high performance subwoofer to suit every
application and budget.
M&K subwoofers have built-in high
performance amplifiers ensuring a dynamic
powerful sound. M&K subwoofers are
extremely flexible with signals accepted by
either speaker or RCA input, and all M&K
subwoofers feature built-in variable crossover
and adjustable level allowing seamless
integration into your system.
Continuous power output 150W x 150W 4 ohms
(20Hz–20kHz, 0.05% THD). Built-in D/A convertor. 29.9kg
F-93
Replacement for the multi-award winning F-91 tuner. Simply
the best available at this price. Digital Direct Decoder
Synthesiser Tuner for greatly reduced distortion and wide
dynamic range
REFERENCE DIGITAL
SYNTHESISER TUNER
Originally $2000
cash$595 cash
CT-95
3-HEAD CASSETTE
DECK WITH DOLBY S
Originally $3000
“Eats other high-end decks for breakfast” 5 out of 5 – What
Hi-Fi?. “Way beyond the standards of ordinary cassette decks.
The CT-95 is the most lucid, transparent and realistic deck I
can recall.” – Hi-Fi Choice
cash$795 cash
M&K VX-7ii $999
8-inch long-throw driver, 50 watts RMS
270mmH x 350mmW x 270mmD
“(The) VX-7ii produces an amazing
depth of bass from a modestly-sized
box”
Hi-Fi Choice May 1996
C-72
REFERENCE
PREAMPLIFIER
Originally $3000
Programmable AV learning remote, 5 audio inputs and 5
video inputs, insulated power transformer with two-power
supply design, shortest possible path circuit design, high-gain
phono preamp
cash$495 cash
M&K V-75ii $1299
M-90
REFERENCE POWER
AMPLIFIER
200W + 200W
Originally $4500
200W + 200W continuous power output (8 ohms, 0.03%
THD), twin-mono design with separate left and right channels and separate power supplies, direct input for CD, 22.6kg
cash$1495 cash
PAUL MONEY HI FI
12-inch long-throw driver, 75 watts RMS
“…it’s a subwoofer with attitude,
bass-heavy but speedy and musical
too” Highly recommended
What Hi-Fi? Oct1995
“There’s just one word to describe the
M&K V-75 performance – stunning.
The bass is plentiful, tight and
pronounced.”
Best Buy
What Home Video August 1995
PAUL MONEY HI FI
PHONE (09) 63 88 555
PH (09) 63 88 555
83 VIEW RD MT EDEN OPEN 7 DAYS
YOUR HOME THEATRE SPECIALISTS
Italian
Masterpieces
Chario is one of the oldest Italian speaker manufacturers,
beginning operations in 1975. Both the quality and styling of
Chario loudspeakers has put the company among the top handful
of European speaker manufacturers.
Chario’s reputation is built on two foundations: the highest
sound quality, resulting from superb acoustical engineering, plus
the stunning real wood finishes on all Chario loudspeakers.
Chario offers three loudspeaker ranges. The Ac a d e m y range is
one of the design achievements of the 1990s. It’s four superb speaker models are sculpted from solid walnut. The attractively priced Hi pe r
Academy – the perfect match
range takes the know-how acquired
between technology and aesthetics –
from the Academy range, and places it
truly extraordinary loudspeakers
into decidedly original cabinets. It also
includes home theater models. So does the Syntar range, which is
a perfect rationalisation of Chario know-how and designed for the
more budget conscious.
Chario loudspeakers are newly available in New Zealand, distributed by an established hi-fi importer with the back-up you
demand. Three ranges, 21 models attractively priced from $699 to
$19,000, all with real
wood finishes.
Listen to these It a l i a n
Low price and excellent performance
characterise the Syntar range.
masterpieces today.
The Syntar 200T shown
The Hiper range includes both superb stereo speakers,
and carefully matched and styled home theatre speakers
PO Box 9174, Newmarket, Auckland
Phone 0-9-524 8032
Fax 0-9-524 8037