The Latest
- Details
- Written by Edgar Kramer Edgar Kramer
- Category: Reviews Reviews
- Published: 15 November 2024 15 November 2024
Monitor Audio Gold 100 6G Loudspeakers
What audiophile and music lover worth their mettle would forget the near-iconic Studio 20SE from UK’s Monitor Audio? Hearing that speaker back in mid-1990s at a now defunct audio store in Sydney, triggered a personal reassessment of the sweet spot in performance versus cost within the high-end loudspeaker space. Large enough to provide adequate low frequencies, expertly balanced with a marvellous blending between the mids and highs, and finished in the most luxurious veneers, the Studio 20SE was once heard, never forgotten. The company has exponentially blossomed since those days, as has its product portfolio. Here, I’m evaluating the brand new Gold 100 6G, Monitor Audio’s largest standmount speaker. Will the new speaker carry, and indeed build upon, its predecessor’s classic DNA imprint?
- Details
- Written by News Editor News Editor
- Category: Features Features
- Published: 13 November 2024 13 November 2024
SoundStage! Talks Australia Video: Hi-Fi Brands & Products that Experts from Gryphon, Harman, Nordost, Linn Admire
The idea was this: Get reps from major hi-fi companies to gather in the same room, at the same time, for a podcast-style chat about their favouite products, competing brands and the industry's future. We made it happen!
- Details
- Written by News Editor News Editor
- Category: News News
- Published: 07 November 2024 07 November 2024
Wilson Audio Unveils Alexx VFX Loudspeakers
Alexx V, the penultimate model in Wilson Audio’s loudspeaker offerings, receives a substantial styling transformation via aesthetic redesigns and luxurious new finishes.
- Details
- Written by Barry Jones Barry Jones
- Category: Reviews Reviews
- Published: 01 November 2024 01 November 2024
dCS Lina Network DAC and Master Clock
When peering into the stratosphere of DAC technology one quickly meets dCS, who provides a range of exquisitely crafted and engineered ‘listening experiences’. At the pinnacle lives the recently released Varèse, along with Vivaldi, Rossini, and Bartok, products upon which dCS has built its reputation (and rumour has it a new flagship Varèse SACD/CD transport is around the corner). And now, Lina, a relative newcomer in as little as one, or as many as three pieces (Network Streaming DAC, Headphone Amplifier and Master Clock) which dCS claims represents a new frontier in music playback. I had the Lina Network DAC and Master Clock for evaluation as the subjects of this review.
- Details
- Written by Edgar Kramer Edgar Kramer
- Category: Reviews Reviews
- Published: 01 November 2024 01 November 2024
ZenSati #1 Cable Loom
I first came across ZenSati cables at CES in Vegas many, many moons ago. There, at the Venetian, that year, company founder Mark Johansen exhibited a full line of his cables in a system which was one of the standouts. Naturally, I ended up spending quite a bit of time in that musical oasis. I got to know Johansen, whose passion for music was evident, as was his enthusiasm for its accurate reproduction. While, of course, the sum of the components was the ultimate manifestation of the excellent sound, it was the system’s musicality which drew me to consider the interface between each piece of kit. Being such honestly neutral conduits, ZenSati cables were toll-free highways to a musical destination. Through the subsequent years, I went on to review many of the company’s products, with the crowning bunch being the sublime sILENzIO range. Now, ZenSati has produced a new design, a more attainable model in the company’s Hash Tag range, which is crowned by the voluminous #X. Enter the new, and sparkly-silver #1.
- Details
- Written by News Editor News Editor
- Category: News News
- Published: 30 October 2024 30 October 2024
Boulder Amplifiers 1151 Mono Power Amplifier
The new 1151 monoblock is the latest addition to Boulder Amplifiers’ range and expands the Colorado company’s exalted 1100 series high power amplifier selection.
- Details
- Written by News Editor News Editor
- Category: News News
- Published: 25 October 2024 25 October 2024
McIntosh Laboratory Announces PS1K Powered Subwoofer
Following the release of McIntosh Laboratory’s flagship PS2K subwoofer system, the company now announces its more affordable PS1K powered subwoofer sibling.
- Details
- Written by News Editor News Editor
- Category: News News
- Published: 23 October 2024 23 October 2024
Musical Fidelity Releases M6xTT Turntable
Musical Fidelity’s new M6xTT turntable capitalises on technologies and engineering trickled down to it via the M8xTT flagship vinyl spinner.
- Details
- Written by News Editor News Editor
- Category: News News
- Published: 23 October 2024 23 October 2024
Skyanalog Cartridges Landed in Australia
Skyanalog, OEM maker of high-end cartridges for a number of high profile companies, expands its business with a range of its own branded handcrafted cartridges, which are now available in Australia.
- Details
- Written by Edgar Kramer Edgar Kramer
- Category: Features Features
- Published: 22 October 2024 22 October 2024
‘High-End Audio Innovators’ Event at Audio Connection, Sydney
On Friday evening, 18 October, industry luminaries from Denmark, Sweden and the UK gathered at Audio Connection, one of Sydney’s premier hi-fi retailers, courtesy of distributor and sister company Advance Audio. Each representative would host a presentation with an emphasis not just on providing insights into specific products, but to also instil a deeper understanding of their company’s vision.
- Details
- Written by Edgar Kramer Edgar Kramer
- Category: Features Features
- Published: 18 October 2024 18 October 2024
StereoNET Hi-Fi & AV Show 2024 – Standout Rooms
It’s now become a tradition. That breezy 90 minute flight from Sydney to Melbourne in October. Mind you, after driving nearly two hours to the airport from the Blue Mountains. Then, a soft-landing at Tullamarine Airport. Soon, I’ll be taxiing the runways of Australia’s largest audio show. That’s the StereoNET Hi-Fi & AV Show at its traditional home at the Pullman Melbourne Albert Park. I arrived mid-afternoon on kick-off Friday. Checked-in. Then, by the show’s entrance, a bombardment of low frequency shell-shock pulses. Audio PTSD. But hey, with a full-metal-jacket SD card magazine locked and loaded, itchy shutter trigger-finger, scrawly notepad and battle-scarred backpack at the shoulder, the campaign to move forward through the show began. Onwards and upwards.
- Details
- Written by Vedran Simunovic Vedran Simunovic
- Category: Reviews Reviews
- Published: 15 October 2024 15 October 2024
DS Audio DS-E3 Optical Cartridge
Phono cartridges are a finicky lot, and especially the magnetic ones. If you want to make a mark in that area, you have to invest in the finest materials, meticulous assembly processes and eons of human expertise bordering on black magic. DS Audio dispensed with most of these complications by devising a line of optical cartridges that works in a completely different manner, follows completely different rules and achieves sound quality on a completely different level. The DS-E3 is DS Audio’s newest product and is a grand entry point to the company’s optical cartridge line-up.
