SoundStageAustralia.com

Details: Written by Edgar Kramer Edgar Kramer; Category: Reviews Reviews; Published: 15 February 2018 15 February 2018

REDGUM Audio RGPH2ENR Signature Series Phono Stage

REDGUM Audio’s Ian Robinson (Chief Designer) and Lindy Gerber (Marketing and Administration) run this uniquely ‘Aussie’ manufacturing concern and the team rate among the most dynamic, and nicest, duos in our local high-end industry. The company’s website, product instruction manuals and the nomenclature of the wide variety of product offerings also reflect the laconically quirky “larrikin” humour Australians are renowned for. But be reassured here and now that, while appreciating the lighter side of life, both Gerber and Robinson have their feet firmly planted on solid ground – REDGUM Audio designs are the fruit of astute design and concrete engineering principles.

Details: Written by Edgar Kramer Edgar Kramer; Category: Reviews Reviews; Published: 15 February 2018 15 February 2018

Follow-Up: Yamaha NS-5000 Loudspeakers – Editor’s 2nd Opinion

As much as audio has advanced in the last 40 years or so, many enthusiasts will fondly – and admiringly – recall the Yamaha NS-1000, a truly iconic speaker that with its beryllium-based drivers heralded an unprecedented technological advancement in transducer design. Equally time compressing is my recollection, as if it was only yesterday, of the pleasure I had reviewing the Yamaha NS-5000 loudspeakers for another publication in another life (and this is a follow-up to Joshua Givorshner's first-dip review, link here). Over several weeks I had naught but sheer enjoyment from these highly-developed music communicators.

Details: Written by News Editor News Editor; Category: News News; Published: 08 February 2018 08 February 2018

McIntosh Releases New MC611 Power Amplifier

McIntosh continues to expand its product offerings with the announcement of a new monoblock power amplifier, the MC611, featuring the company’s proprietary technologies, solid engineering and superb industrial design.

Details: Written by News Editor News Editor; Category: News News; Published: 12 February 2018 12 February 2018

Krispy Audio Opens New Showroom in Sydney

We love finding hidden treasures… And in Krispy Audio’s new showroom, we found a soon-to-be-not-so-hidden audio lover’s gem tucked away in a suburban commercial complex on the leafy northern edges of Sydney. To get there, you’ll take an easily-accessed and early exit off Sydney’s Pacific Highway, part of Highway 1, the country’s longest asphalt river pointing you to Central Coast towns lining our beautiful beach-lined shores and snakes right up north to tropical Queensland. SoundStage! Australia hit the road and visited the new auditioning facilities camera in-hand and with keen ears at the ready.

Details: Written by News Editor News Editor; Category: News News; Published: 05 February 2018 05 February 2018

Processing Soulution DACs

Swiss audio specialist Soulution has announced it is the first high-end electronics company to implement Leedh Processing to its two top-end DACs in the 560 and 760 offerings.

Details: Written by Josh Givorshner Josh Givorshner; Category: Reviews Reviews; Published: 01 February 2018 01 February 2018

Yamaha NS-5000 Loudspeakers

Japanese conglomerate Yamaha is a company that to most would need no introduction. Now with over 20,000 employees and holding the position of the world’s largest manufacturer of musical instruments, it is a far cry from its relatively humble beginnings. If it wasn’t at first obvious, the three interlocking tuning forks encapsulated in its logo are an obvious reference to the musical beginnings that have subsequently followed the company from its inception as a piano and reed organ company dating back to 1887.

Details: Written by Edgar Kramer Edgar Kramer; Category: Reviews Reviews; Published: 01 February 2018 01 February 2018

Nordost Sort Kone BC Resonance Control System

While I've been a music lover for as long as I can remember, I've also been into audio equipment for many moons, from an over-zealous enthusiast in teenage years, to subsequently morphing into an ardent audiophile to, for over 15 years, the ever-passionate professional reviewer for a number of publications. In that time, I’ve come across all-manner of audio accessory. From the tweaky to the freaky. Some made noteworthy differences and others were… well, either ineffectual or just not copacetic with my system or biases at the time. But I’ve never held staunch close-mindedness about ‘tweaky’ accessories – I was always prepared to give stuff a go despite snake-oil-ish claims made about what are sometimes near-whacky products. But then other products are based on science, despite their seemingly tweaky nature, and promise worthwhile gains within the context of a revealing audio system. Enter the Nordost Sort Kone Resonance Control System.

Details: Written by News Editor News Editor; Category: News News; Published: 31 January 2018 31 January 2018

MSB Technology Announces Two More Affordable DAC models

California’s MSB Technology, a company specialising in high-tech analogue and digital technologies since 1985, has just dropped the news of the soon-to-be-available lower price-point digital-to-analogue converters in the ‘Discrete DAC’ and ‘Premier DAC’.

Details: Written by News Editor News Editor; Category: News News; Published: 29 January 2018 29 January 2018

How Fun! Fundamental Audio Launches with New Appointments

New Melbourne-based distributor Fundamental Audio has announced the acquisition of distribution rights in Australia for Germany’s Vincent Audio and Italy’s Solidsteel racking systems.

Details: Written by News Editor News Editor; Category: News News; Published: 25 January 2018 25 January 2018

Microphase Audio Design SAT Mk.II Loudspeakers

Inspired by Jean-Marie Liere’s original French SAT design back in the mid 1980s, the SAT Mk.II is now reanimated with new bespoke drivers, a meticulously updated crossover, a reinvented cabinet and a rebirthed location in Sydney Australia.

Details: Written by News Editor News Editor; Category: News News; Published: 16 January 2018 16 January 2018

DS Audio's New DS-W2 Cartridge and Equalizer

DS Audio has just upgraded its highly-acclaimed DS-W1 cartridge to the new DS-W2 which now features a number of design improvements said to make for better information retrieval and all-round performance enhancements. The DS-W2 is claimed to be a comprehensive improvement over the DS-W1 – now to be phased out – which was heralded as the ‘world’s best cartridge’ by two German audio publications – Stereo and Audio magazines.

Details: Written by Edgar Kramer Edgar Kramer; Category: Reviews Reviews; Published: 15 January 2018 15 January 2018

Vinnie Rossi LIO Modular Integrated Amplifier

As audio system complexity grows in relation to our rising demands for a wider choice of music listening alternatives, manufacturers have had to make product development decisions based on either product integration, additional stand-alone offerings or a mixture of both. As an example, you may have an integrated amplifier – itself, an amalgamation solution – which may present the option of a factory-fitted in-built phono stage or an independent unit which could be acquired when convenient when funds allow. Another method of providing multiple functionality, added features and diverse playback options is by way of modular design. This method requires particular design attention and presents its own engineering challenges but, when done right, a modular design can provide extended functionality, simplicity in terms of component count and, importantly, potential performance benefits by way of eliminating added componentry and interconnecting cables. Vinnie Rossi’s LIO integrated amplifier takes this extremely clever and challenging-to-implement concept to its full potential.