Table of contents for February - March 2019 in Sound + Image

Following a ‘Best Of Show Demo’ award win at the CEDIA Expo in San Diego last year, France-based StormAudio is running not one but two demonstrations at the ever-growing ISE (Integrated Systems Europe) show in Amsterdam, which is running from 5th to 8th February, as we go to press on this issue. The first demo sees Storm working with M&K Sound to deliver a high-end 9.1.4 set-up featuring StormAudio’s 20-channel processor, the ISP 3D.20 ELITE (pictured below), a unit with seven HDMI inputs and three outputs, decoding all three key immersive audio formats (Dolby Atmos, DTS:X and Auro-3D) to deliver 20 output channels, all provided as balanced XLR outputs. It also features room optimisation powered by Dirac Live, and includes the latest 2.x version of the Dirac Live Calibration Tool…

Q Acoustics has announced a flagship standmount model, the Concept 300, all perf to retail in Australia at $5999 including the unique stand, which is another example of distributor Indi Imports achieving Australian pricing at or below parity with other markets. (UK, Euro and US$ prices are £2999, €3749 and US$4499 respectively.) Q Acoustics defines itself as offering value at every price, so the flagship is bulging with both “rigorous engineering” and “aspirational aesthetics”. Reducing cabinet vibrations are always key to Q Acoustics’ speakers, and the cabinet here is comprised of three individual layers separated by a non-setting gel which converts stray high-frequency vibrations into heat, which dissipates within the gel. Meanwhile point-to-point bracing means the cabinet has exactly the support it needs, and no more. With a standmount, of…

There was a spray of online tech reportage of Samsung’s key-note announcement at CES 2019 that Samsung TVs will soon carry Apple’s iTunes (picture below). And at a company level, this is certainly interesting — in former years the two companies have been more often in court than in cahoots, so the cooperation here is interesting in itself. But the inclusion of iTunes is nothing too radical in user terms. The Samsung inclusion is just an ‘app’ offering the iTunes movie/TVrent/buy service. Many TVs offer multiple ways to access movie and TV rentals so that users can stick with their preferred service — the image below, for example, shows that the Google Play movie/TV service sits right alongside iTunes. So it’s a small offering. This is not like having an…

Bluesound Vault 2i networked drive/ripper/streamer BluOS is a fully mature streaming and multiroom platform, and Bluesound is its lead brand, with an ecosystem covering every corner from wireless speakers to a soundbar/subwoofer combo to streaming amplifiers. As a platform BluOS has a reputation for quality above most rivals, having supported high-res audio from the start, as well as gaining from impressive access to high-quality amplification, since Bluesound’s sister company is the legendary hi-fi company NAD, whose HybridDigital amplification is used in Bluesound products, as in its own hi-fi amplifiers. Indeed NAD offers BluOS abilities within some of its own products, as does speaker company DALI. Store and play One of our favourites from the Bluesound range has always been the Bluesound Vault, because it offers something its main rivals don’t…

Pioneer UDP-LX500 universal disc player Time moves on. First DVD players, then Blu-ray players and now Ultra-HD Blu-ray players, went from expensive and rare to mere commodity items. My favourite premium brand of disc spinners (and that of many others), Oppo Digital, has now unaccountably decided to stop making them. So just when I think that times are darkest for those of us who like their equipment to have that little extra, along comes Pioneer Electronics with the UDP-LX500, a $1999 high-end universal disc player. Hoorah! Equipment So, ‘universal’, huh? How universal? There’s a list of disc logos printed on the cover of the manual (a real 60-pager, no downloads required!). They are Ultra-HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, DVD Audio/Video and Super Audio CD. Inside, the manual also lists audio CDs, along…

Denon AVR-X3500H AV receiver with HEOS Denon offers quite the full range of AV receivers (technically, the top two are amplifiers, since they don’t have built-in tuners). In the middle of the pack is the AVR-X3500H. This is, of course, a networked receiver. And with Denon these days, that means it supports the highly effective HEOS streaming and multiroom platform, plus some other advanced cool stuff. Equipment The Denon AVR-X3500H is a seven-channel model, with each channel rated at 105W into eight ohms at low levels of distortion (two channels driven). With a settings switch, all channels also support four-ohm speaker loads. That means it’ll work properly with just about any mainstream set of loudspeakers. Those seven channels can support two overhead (or front height) channels for Dolby Atmos and…

TDG Audio Skybar AV speaker system We rarely review installation speakers. Why? Partly because the sound is typically extremely unpredictable. And partly because there are more than enough conventional speakers released to fill our pages as it is. But when we saw the TDG Audio Skybar speaker system, we had to give it a go. There were two main reasons. Firstly, it eliminates one of the main causes of unpredictable performance in most installation speakers. And secondly, this system is so extremely versatile. We had to see if it could really do as we expected. Equipment With a high fidelity loudspeaker, the design of the box is very nearly as important as the design of the front baffle. But if you’re cutting a hole in Gyprock and inserting an open-back…

We love radio. Australia loves radio. And when digital radio launched here back in 2009, there was a veritable flood of digital radios released to enjoy the new digital signal. Today digital radio reaches 65% of Australians, but our geography has worked against a full national roll-out. The capital cities were first to receive the service, although even Canberra, Darwin and later Hobart were granted only ‘trial’ services. Regional, rural and outback Australia were put aside for the future. And that urban exclusivity made the important market of in-car digital radio of dubious utility to consumers — drive out of range of Australia’s 25 city-based DAB+ transmitters, and the music dies. The DAB+ dead zone Of course, the plan was always to extend this coverage — but it hasn’t happened…

One thing we often hear when reporting on new home cinemas is that it takes a team to deliver a great result. Often this will require a combination of trades and system designers, acoustic consultants and those wise in the ways of the audio and video equipment required for any given scale of room. But with Len Wallis Audio, the full team is already in place, with the Lane Cove-based retailer having a dedicated installation team, together with contacts across the industry for any more unusual request. So when Len Wallis Audio was asked to work on a new-build cinema with two of Sydney’s most respected architects and builders (Bruce Stafford Architects and Joe Fuda of Innovative Building Services), the team was sent into action. Alberto Vangi (senior custom sales)…

The Predator is another attempt to reinvigorate a semi-defunct movie franchise. The first Predator movie was a strange beast. It started as a military mission in the jungle and turned into an encounter with a poorly explained alien creature. Said creature liked to hang people upside down, typically stripped of their skin. It provided a chance for Arnold Schwarzenegger to flex his muscles and deliver one-liners and was very much a movie of its time (1987). There were two sequels, and two franchise expansions into Alien vs Predator. And now, another attempt. Attaching Shane Black to the project as writer/director seemed like a surefire winner. The Lethal Weapon/ Last Action Hero/Long Kiss Goodnight/ Kiss Kiss Bang Bang/Iron Man 3 writer (and director of a couple of them) had also acted…

You want to buy a record player? Certainly sir. Would you like valves with that? How many watts, exactly? That classic ‘Not The Nine o’Clock News’ hi-fi shop sketch has become even more dated, if not downright meaningless, as a new breed of turntables emerges, adding facilities undreamed-of to the vinyl spinners of old. There’s our cover star this issue, Yamaha’s VINYL 500 streaming turntable, with a full streaming multiroom source hidden inside. And Pro-Ject has its ‘Jukebox’ series of turntables in some markets (not Australia as yet), with Bluetooth and internal amplifiers to drive an attached pair of speakers. And now McIntosh has taken up the challenge with this MTI100 ‘integrated’ turntable. It’s ‘integrated’ because it has an amplifier built in, so you can connect your speakers directly to…

That’s the bold claim for the latest subwoofers from Ohio-based speaker company SVS. The new SB-3000 ($2690) and PB-3000 ($2990) subwoofers both make use of a new 13-inch high-excursion SVS driver backed by an 800W (2500W peak) ‘Sledge’ power amplifier which uses a fully discrete MOSFET output. The new high-excursion SVS driver boasts an 11kg dual-toroidal magnet motor for the aluminium vented cone, with the relatively compact SB-3000 with its sealed design measuring just over 15 inches square on the front and 17 inches deep, while the PB-3000 is the first SVS subwoofer to be optimised with dual ports, upsizing it to 22 inches high. They’re smart, too, with both the rear panel Intelligent Control Interface user interface and the free SVS app for iOS and Android (below), which connects…

Optoma’s P1 Smart 4K UHD Laser Cinema (above) seems a clever idea — an ultra-short-throw 4K projector with an integrated soundbar, along with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant voice control capabilities. The goal is to provide an all-in-one smart home entertainment system. Revealed at CES 2019 in Las Vegas, the Optoma P1 integrates a 3000-lumen UHD projector allowing a 120-inch picture with the projector “just inches away” from the back wall. It supports HDR10 and HLG High Dynamic Range. The integrated soundbar is designed by NuForce and offers Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus and DTS audio decoding capabilities, while built-in smarts via Optoma’s ‘Smart+’ platform include smart home compatibility with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant capabilities, and IFTTT smart home automation. There is access to popular streaming services, including Netflix…

At CES 2019 in Las Vegas, Sony announced ‘360 Reality Audio’, describing it as an object-based spatial audio technology which is based on MPEG-H 3D Audio. But to understand what’s on offer, it’s important to separate two different elements of delivery by 360 ‘RA’. The first is the application of object-based audio mixing to music. The second is the delivery of a promised surround effect even in stereo listening. We’re excited by the first of these, but rather cynical about the second. What is MPEG-H? MPEG-H (our separate and earlier primer article is at avhub.com.au/mpegh) has been slow getting out of the blocks compared to the object-based audio formats we know from home theatre — namely Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, and Auro-3D. But the focus of MPEG-H on streaming, broadcast and…

Yamaha MusicCast VINYL 500 networked turntable Yes, ladies and gentlemen, roll up roll up, come see this freak of the hi-fi world — a turntable that does Tidal... and Spotify... and internet radio and high-res network streaming. A turntable that has AirPlay and Bluetooth and Wi-Fi and Ethernet. You can plug it into an amplifier, but you can equally send its output wirelessly to speakers all around the home, and have everything under app control (except, er, changing the record). All this, and it plays vinyl too. It’s the wonder of the age! Equipment So, the secret weapon here is Yamaha‘s MusicCast streaming and multiroom platform. The company has been exceedingly busy with MusicCast in recent years. First there were wireless speakers, and a soundbar, then it was added into…

JBL L100 Classic stereo loudspeakers With turntables doing their part in delivering a refreshing spin to hi-fi nostalgia, how much further might the trend be pushed? Is there a realisation that the whole idea of leisurely critical listening has been lost? That Spotify playlists through a wireless speaker may not be quite the ultimate way to enjoy your music? Let’s go from one end of the hi-fi chain to the other and look at loudspeakers. Big boxes are now out; slimline is in; sheer physical volume is verboten. Some people are hiding their speakers in the walls and ceiling, for heaven’s sake. Let’s make a stand. Let’s go back to the way things were. What speakers did you lust after in your youth? Big studio-style JBLs? Well you’re in luck…

We are often invited to visit home cinemas — sometimes high-value installations, sometimes flagship installations, invariably rooms which showcase the skills of the installation team, as well as the quality or value of equipment therein. It’s a privilege to visit what are usually private homes, and often wildly impressive homes too, in which the owners value privacy and anonymity. Sometimes there are compromises from budget constraints, or room design. But it’s always a pleasure. Well, if there were compromises in this theatre, we couldn’t pick ‘em; it’s among the best we’ve ever seen, and ever heard. It’s in Melbourne, with Steven Spurrier of Studio Connections responsible for the concept and design, working with a team that included Paul Kutcher of Visual Fidelity (the Australian distributor for Stewart Filmscreen) and Andrew…

Sony A9F 4K OLED television Short of the very latest announcements from CES (where an A9G was unveiled), this OLED television represents the toppermost of the poppermost for Sony’s ranges. Part of the company’s ‘Master’ series, the A9F combines OLED panel quality with impressive processing power, the Android TV interface, and the downright magical Acoustic Surface audio technology. There’s a 65-inch version currently at $6298, while we spent time with the 55-incher, which is listed at $4298. Equipment Sony has had a spectacular renaissance in its TV division in recent years, entirely reorganised, working closely with third-party manufacturers to Sony’s specifications and designs. This rise culminated in the A1 OLED released in 2017, which surpassed other OLEDs in just the way mentioned above — panel quality plus external design plus…

Dynaudio Xeo 20 active wireless speakers Your smart device — phone, tablet — is very good at playing music. It streams, it can use an online music service to access all the world’s music. You can listen on headphones, you could try to listen through the phone’s own tiny speaker/s. But of course the best way is to pair it with a wireless speaker. And of course millions of such wireless speakers have been sold. But they’re all so bloomin’ small. They can sound musical, and enjoyable, perhaps, but not big, not unrestrained, not real. That’s what’s hi-fi is for. So can you get a hi-fi wireless speaker? Of course you can. Dynaudio is several generations into its wireless-capable speakers, which have amplifiers inside them, so that these Dynaudio Xeo…

You can control the Denon AVR-X3500H home theatre receiver by voice if you have either Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa up and running in your home. I went with the former since Google is taking over my life anyway. Of course, you will need the appropriate Google or Alexa device in your room too. I used a Google Home Mini. Setting up, as with anything to do with Google Assistant, requires using the Google Home app on a phone. And, yes, you can get the app for the iPhone in addition to Android phones. You also need to sign up for a free HEOS account. These systems work by you talking to your Assistant. It passes on things to the Google servers. They contact the HEOS servers. And the HEOS…

Fortuitously arriving during the cricket season, we gave ABC Grandstand a good workout on this 16cm-long Bluetooth/DAB/ FM speaker, which clearly benefits from JBL’s success in the wireless speaker market. It’s like a mini Flip in that regard, charging to deliver eight hours of battery play, weighing under half a kilo, and happy playing on its side or vertically. A minijack auxiliary input and Bluetooth streaming from your smart device are useful abilities, while the long telescopic antenna achieved clear DAB+ reception even in difficult areas, along with all the convenience of digital station names, although you have to tab through these one at a time rather than enjoying a more convenient rapid scroll via knob. The other major omission is a headphone socket (an essential if you actually go…

The last time we interviewed Brian Zolner, the ‘Bri’ in Bricasti Design, we learned a good deal, and were especially taken with his explanation of why hardly any digital DSD recordings are really truly DSD, and why most of the few that are, aren’t worth having. This time we interviewed Brian Zolner during last year’s Australian Hi-Fi & AV Show, where Bricasti was showing its new M21 and its recent M5 in the suite of its distributor, Studio Connections Australia. To briefly recap the story so far, Bricasti Design was formed by two former employees of Lexicon, joined subsequently by engineers from Madrigal Laboratories. The company’s first product was for the professional market, the M7 reverb unit. But it was the first consumer product, the M1 DAC, which brought Bricasti…

Vivid Audio has released three new speaker designs that the company claims will deliver the authentic Vivid Audio listening experience, but made more accessible. The new models, the Kaya K90, Kaya K45, and Kaya K25, look significantly different to existing models in Vivid Audio’s range, yet still incorporate curvaceous profiles and many of the same technologies, while available at lower price points. The Kaya K45 pictured here is the middle of the three new models, described as “designed for everyday spaces”, a 3-way, 4 driver speaker with a glass-reinforced Soric-cored sandwich composite cabinet, and all four drivers having the tapered tube loading which has characterised previous Vivid Audio designs by Laurence Dickie, who is famed for his role in the B&W Nautilus development. The flagship Kaya is the $35,000 K90,…

It’s a new look for NAD’s Masters Series, its top range which has redefined the company at a new level for the past decade. The new arrival unveiled at CES 2019 in Las Vegas is the M10, a BluOS (Bluesound)-equipped streaming amplifier which uses NAD’s HybridDigital take on Hypex’s nCore amplification, widely regarded as the best and most musical of Class-D power. The new glass and extruded-aluminium look has industrial design by award-winning design firm DF-ID, and includes a high-resolution TFT colour touchscreen on the front panel, though there’s also hands-free control of music from any Amazon Alexa supported device or via Siri, plus both a traditional remote control and app control via the BluOS multi-room system, which is further able to link with other BluOS systems (from NAD, Bluesound…

Sennheiser has a shiny new flagship store in the landmark building of 5 Martin Place, the historic original home of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, where it nestles among boutique outlets for luxury brands such as Omega watches and Giorgio Armani. We visited the store for the ribbon cutting (below), which had massed Sennheiser staff on hand to welcome the first guests. The new flagship store allows hands-on experience of not only Sennheiser consumer headphones, but also office and professional products such as the AMBEO VR microphone, conference systems, stage microphones and more. Plus there were a few surprises on hand, such as the first sample to reach Australia of Sennheiser’s forthcoming and long-awaited AMBEO soundbar, now due to launch in May this year. And the luxurious HE 1 flagship…

Sony’s genuinely innovative solution here is to use the whole front of the TV as a flat-panel speaker, excited (vibrated) from behind in what Sony calls Acoustic Surface technology. It makes great sense — as TVs get bigger, even integrated speaker get physically divorced from the screen; here the screen itself makes the mid and high-frequency sound, so the sound comes directly from the image, and of course from a far wider area than a humble speaker cone can present, a full 65-inch diagonal indeed on the larger A9F! Another advantage of flat-panel radiation is lower drop-off of volume level with distance compared with conventional cones, which might be handy if your family sits at different distances from the screen. The screen vibrates in stereo, too — there are three…

Richter’s Wake is clearly designed to go bedside as a DAB+/FM radio alarm clock which also has Bluetooth and a minijack auxiliary input. It pretty much gets everything right, from the compact footprint (21cm long) to its twin alarms, big snooze button, handy minijack headphone socket and the bonus of a high-current USB charging socket on the back. The buttonry on top is clear and ergonomically impeccable (we only once needed the manual, to scan FM). The ‘mode’ button switches between its four input options, while the big knob adjusts volume by default, but press ‘tune’ and it then shuttles through the station names on that front display, making selection a breeze. Once playing, the display adds useful ticker-tape text below the time and station name. Settings are highly versatile,…

Yes, it has happened — I now listen to more music via the internet than on physical media. And it’s not just me. The latest figures show digital sales now exceeding sales of CDs, while in terms of income for the record companies, streaming completely dominates ownership (see panel opposite). Of course, I’m not about to ditch a large collection of LPs or CDs (I’m still buying!), but there are good reasons why my listening habits have changed. From a stream to a flood I keep reading how nobody predicted the rise of streaming music. But it was always out there just beyond the horizon from the late 1980s if you thought about it, which I did, being a retailer of vinyl and CD from 1988 to 1999. Indeed, by…

Since Alan Blumlein invented the concept of stereophonic sound in the 1930s, audio designers and engineers have been striving to create the perfect ‘immersive’ sound experience. Stereo provides a soundstage, but only in one dimension, laying out the instruments and singers in a line between the two speakers (give or take a little soundstage depth). Quadraphonic sound and later Dolby Surround and its successors took a step forward and created what was effectively a two-dimensional soundfield, with the sound sources localized both left to right and front to back. More recently ‘immersive’ surround formats like Dolby Atmos have been trying to add the third dimension of height (though only upwards from the listener, not yet downwards). Keeping it sweet But all these formats have suffered from one limitation — the…