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A report from the
By
Allan Linton-Smith
Sydney
Audio &
AV Show
Big speakers, bigger amplifiers and fancy video projectors . . . Sydney has
not had a hifi show for about 20 years so we had to visit the “Australian
Audio & AV Show”, held in late October 2012 in the Sheraton on the Park
hotel. Three floors were taken up with a dazzling array of audio and
visual goodies representing much of the world’s best.
M
ost exhibits were shown in
typical hotel rooms emptied
of all the normal furniture
but even so, space was at a premium.
The aim of the hotel-based show was
to allow manufacturers to demonstrate
every imaginable hi-fi product available in “normal” room surroundings.
Potential customers were even invited
to bring along their own CD.
As with the Melbourne Show in
2011, the majority of demonstrations
were very well presented with at least
two large areas arranged as theatres to
demonstrate the latest AV technology.
The sources of music were LP, CD,
MP3, DVD or Blu-Ray.
Kyron Audio
A major attraction at the show was
from Kyron Audio who demonstrated
their GAIA dipole loudspeaker system
described as a “3-way, DSP-controlled
Active Dipole”. As the photo shows,
this large system has no baffling of the
drivers at all – which is pretty baffling!
Obviously, they are using some pretty
fancy digital signal processing to get
reasonable bass from such a setup!
Kyron is an Australian company
based in Melbourne. For about
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$160,000 (yes, you read that right!)
you get a pair of loudspeakers and
associated amplifiers (we were told
it was class D) with a total output of
5,000 watts (yep, five kilowatts!). Each
speaker “tower” weighs in at around
200kg!
The preamplifier accepts a number
of inputs and has six digitally controlled analog channels with remote
control of input selection. The digital
sound processing is by DEQX and is
described as having “high definition
speaker correction with linear phase
crossovers and advanced room measurement and correction”.
The speakers are really a doubledipole arrangement and disperse the
sound in a “figure 8” pattern with six
12-inch long throw woofers for the
bass. Overall the sound had an “airy”
and open quality but with a remarkably deep open bass, given the lack of
speaker baffling. On the other hand, a
conventional speaker with so many
Just the look of the Kyron Audio
GAIA dipole speaker is enough to
attract attention. So’s the price tag –
you’re going to need extremely deep
pockets and an understanding spouse!
siliconchip.com.au
large drivers could be expected to be
far more punchy. Whether you like the
sound or not, it has to be said that it
looks very unusual.
The other question which must be
asked is “who has a lazy hundred
and sixty grand to spend on a hifi
system?” Not this little black duck,
that’s for sure!
For more information, contact the
designers: Lee Gray and Leon Suter;
info<at>kyronaudio.com.au
JBL’s big guns
Speaking of more conventional
speakers, we were very impressed
with JBL’s new S4700s which are
fairly big units with a 15-inch dual coil
woofer, large midrange compression
driver horn and horn tweeter similar
to their older “big butt” tweeters.
The 3-inch dual coils for the woofers are claimed to preserve linearity at
high cone excursions. Heaven knows
how loud such systems must be at
high cone excursions – it was loud
enough at the demonstration but we
could not perceive any cone movement! Furthermore, they were being
driven by a Harmon Kardon amplifier
putting out only 20 watts.
JBL are renowned for their high
efficiency and high sound levels and
this big 15-inch system was certainly
impressive. They were very popular
with the ladies too because of their
appearance. The cost? Just a modest
$12,000 for a pair!
The agents, CONVOY INTERNATIONAL (www.e-hifi.com.au) also
demonstrated the superb range of
B&W speakers and we were fortunate
to be able to audition the legendary
800 series speaker. Some people think
these systems look a bit like Daleks but
we wonder if they are suffering from
some strange visual displacement.
To us, but the sound was
superb as you would
expect from these high
end units.
JBL brought out the big guns – their new S7400 speaker system with 15-inch
dual coil woofer, large midrange compression driver horn and horn tweeter. By
the way, this photo was not taken at the Sydney show.
to lie down and die! Or more likely,
companies refuse to stop selling valve
amplifiers. Whatever. ICON AUDIO
presented their range of valve amplifiers and they were pushing their MB845
MK II Super Mono Blocks.
These put out 110W RMS from a
class-A circuit running 845B dual
triode output valves which, according
to the designer David Shaw, are a more
powerful version of the famous 300B.
Each mono block amplifier weighs
in at 35kg and THD is quoted as 0.14%
at 8W. The driver valves are the wellknow 6SN7s which the designer has
paralleled to obtain a 90 volt swing.
Valve amplifier aficionados were in
raptures.
The price for a pair of these un-
V-vvvvalves
Valves just refuse
While we’ve never
agreed with
them, many
audiophiles
believe “valve
sound” is something to strive for!
Here’s ICON AUDIO’s $3500
MB845 class-A monoblocks with 110W output.
siliconchip.com.au
believable mono blocks is around
$7,000 but Icon’s smaller integrated
amplifiers are more affordable, the
ST20PP 15W+15W EL34 push-pull
stereo amplifier is only $880.
They have an extensive range of
amplifiers and matching loudspeakers with prices ranging from budget
to top end.
For more info contact David Shaw,
sales<at>iconaudio.com
Yamaha theatre sound
systems
Yamaha did not disappoint with
their new Avantage series which offers five new amplifiers, from the RXA3020 150W x 9 channels down to
the RXA-A720 90WX 7- channel unit.
All have discrete transistor power
amplifiers and use conventional power
transformers (no switch-mode power
supplies here) and all have Dolby TrueHD/DTS HD Master Audio with D/A
and A/D conversion of 192kHz/24-bit
and ultra-low jitter PLL.
These units also have the ability to
offer up to 43 surround programs and
in true Yamaha style have introduced
what they call “front presence dialogue
lift” which we would understand uses
an additional centre speaker above the
screen to adjust voices to the centre of
the screen.
Yamaha have the BD-A1020 BluRay Player which, with a myriad of
January 2013 21
VAF’s new
VAF DC-X35
system will
handle up to
200W but are
also suited to
lower power
amplifiers
with a
95dB/W/1m
sensitivity.
how it might perform on a sunny day
although Epson includes some little
shades which may help.
It has six hours of (rechargeable)
battery life and 1GB internal storage.
Currently it is selling for US$699. It
could be great, especially for use during long flights or train trips etc.
For more info contact: Westan Australai Pty Ltd. sales<at>westan.com.au
Sennheiser headphones
features, includes Wi-Fi, plays SACDs
and boasts 110dB signal-to-noise ratio.
VAF loudspeakers
We were fortunate to meet up with
Philip Vafiadis who gave us a personal
demonstration of his new VAF DC-X35
loudspeaker which represents the 6th
evolution of his famous and poplar
DC-X range.
The DC-X35 speakers have an advantage that they are relatively small
(20cm wide,1.2m high and 35cm deep)
and quite sensitive at 95dB/W<at>1m
which make them well suited to Class
A amplifiers as well as lower powered
valve amps, although they are rated
to handle up to 200W on program
material.
For more info contact vaf<at>vaf.
com.au
Epson 3D DLP
Westan Australia demonstrated the
latest from EPSON including their
latest 3D DLP technology for ultrasmooth 1080p reproduction, 2,000
ANSI lumens and contrast ratios up to
200,000! The EPSON TW9100W home
theatre projector boasts wire connection too, which is a bonus.
But even more impressive was Epson’s Moverio BT-100. Epson claims
that it is the world’s first Androidbased, see-through wearable display.
It looked like a stout pair of sunglasses
attached to a little wire and a little
smart phone sized box controller. It
comes with two small earpieces and
the wiring is cleverly integrated into
the frame.
Wearing these glasses is a really
novel experience. Two little screens
come into focus in front of your eyes
and occupy about a half of your normal
viewing area – but not really widescreen. Epson maintain that it is the
same as watching an 80-inch screen
but they don’t specify the distance.
The “micro projection” allows you
to view movies, games, apps etc and
with 3D floating images too! It also connects to Wi-Fi so you can view emails
and websites while still having lunch
with your clients! They will never
know. Well, maybe they will!
In addition, you can still see a
dark-tinted view of the world while
watching the image which brought up
a few jokes about driving,
watching the girlfriend in
the shower etc. We only
viewed it in a fairly dark
room so we don’t know
Sennheiser demonstrated their
wide range of high-end headphones.
Outstanding in the medium price
range were the HD650s which are
priced under $1,000. Above those are
the HD700s which have a specified
frequency response of 15Hz - 40kHz
(-3dB) and a maximum sound pressure
level of 105dB. Sennheiser describe
them as “open circumaural dynamic
stereo headphones”. They look like
two little loudspeakers for your shelllikes....
At the top of the range are the handmade state-of-the-art HD800s which
have an extraordinary claimed frequency response of 6Hz-51kHz. They
have received numerous awards and
critical acclaim.
AAV’s 10kW sound system
AUDIO ACTIVE AUSTRALIA
(www.audioactive.com.au) presented
a huge array of audio visual equipment
in the “Times on the Park” reception
area which is almost a cinema-sized
room.
It was certainly the biggest and
boldest presentation of the show with
a 10,000 watt sound system, starting
with a Primare BD32 reference BluRay
player, an Anthem D2V reference A/V
processor and five Anthem M1 1,000W
class-D amplifiers feeding Paradigm
speakers and a Paridigm subwoofer.
The projector was a Sim2 Lumis
3D-S HD projector combined with a
Left: Epson’s
TW9100W home
theatre projector.
Right: Sennheiser
HD650s
“medium price”
headphones – rrp
is $799.00 (!)
22 Silicon Chip
siliconchip.com.au
The Premare BD32 reference BluRay player –
AAV had this feeding an Anthem D2V reverence A/V processor and five Anthem
M1 1kW class D amplifiers. It needed a large room!
has been responsible for most of the
Marantz gear for last two decades.
Also on show was the Jamo R909
Dipolar loudspeaker which have two
15-inch drivers in an open-backed
design plus a textile tweeter. Again,
it was remarkable for the amount of
bass it could deliver!
Yet more valves...
Jamo R900 Dipolar loudspeaker with
two 15-inch drivers in an open-back
cabinet. This is the red one!
Xeit Optic Anamorphic 2.35:1 Cinema
Lens designed in Australia. The whole
experience was better than a cinema
which demonstrates what the best
home cinema can achieve – at a price!
The setup was priced at $162,824 but
with a show promotion of 15% off,
including all ancillaries and system
installation and calibration.
Audio Active do have more affordable systems though and can supply
the Sim2 Lumis projector combined
with smaller amplifiers and speakers
for less than $15,000.
Another valve approach was demonstrated by AUDIO SALON from
Bulleen in Victoria (www.audiosalon.
com.au)
They describe themselves as boutique handmade equipment suppliers,
specialising in single-ended valve
amplifiers and efficient single drivers.
We listened to their Voxativ Ampeggio loudspeakers single drivers (with
triple white cones) driven by a SILKMinute single-ended valve amplifier
which uses a 300B triode output and
6SN7 driver. Even people who are antivalve were impressed by this demo.
According to Audio Salon, “Voxa-
tiv’s Inès Adler single speaker driver
is able to push engineering to an
incredible level to achieve what was
once thought impossible with a single
driver – deep bass.”
“We are talking bass that can surpass
the resolution of the best dynamic
speakers and being coherent makes
it one of the best speakers ever made.
Together with the collaboration with
Schimmel Pianos, a new back loaded
horn speaker was born – Ampeggio.
Made with the finest selected tonewood, this speaker is probably the last
word in resolution, transparency and
coherence.”
Regardless of that, we had to admit
that it did sound pretty good..
Drop into Audio Salon if you want
to hear what the best “valve sound”
can do for your ears!
Overall, the show was a big success
and a significant improvement over
the same show in Melbourne last year.
Well done to the Chester Group for
organising it.
SC
Marantz & Jamo
QUALIFI (www.qualifi.com.au)
demonstrated the current range of
Marantz & Jamo products and we were
delighted to meet up with legendary
Marantz designer Ken Ishiwata who
siliconchip.com.au
You either love the styling or hate it . . . Onkyo’s M5000R audio power amplifier
is big, with big 1980’s style power meters and 80W per channel output (8Ω). The
“AWRAT” is Onkyo’s proprietary Advanced Wide Range Amplifier Technology.
January 2013 23
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