Final vinyl? - AudioEnz

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 

Final  vinyl? 

VINYL  –  A  NEW  ZEALAND  PERSPECTIVE 

amplify  your  records  with  the  plinius  jarrah 

March 1997 

Dolby Digital 

home theatre 

Max is back! – and looking 

at Dolby Digital

For nearly half a century Acoustic 

Research has been innovating 

breakthrough technologies that 

have become standards in the 

audio industry. Home Theatre and 

Dolby Digital ® 5.1 channel sound 

systems are now replacing 

traditional two channel stereo. 

AR’s new digital-ready High 

Output series was designed for 

these revolutionary new formats. 

For the first time, high efficiency 

and audiophile sound quality have 

been combined in beautifully 

hand-crafted furniture to deliver 

both the delicacy and 

dynamics of multi-channel sound. 

With exclusive technologies such 

as Energy Control Contour Baffle, 

Multi Slot Loading and Voice 

Balanced Tonal Matching, 

Acoustic Research is leading the 

way into the digital future with its 

new High Output Series 

loudspeakers. 

There’s a dedicated Denco Audio 

retailer near you. Phone toll free 

0508 800 555 for details

M I K E O N T H E P O D I U M by Mike Jo n e s 

C o n s u m e r speaks out 

B U T D O E S N ’ T I N F O R M T H E R E A D E R 

I’m a bit of a magazine junkie – i buy 

t h em , I borrow them – and wh en I go 

a round to a fri en d ’s house, I ’m likely 

to be antisocial and stick my nose into one 

of their magazines. 

So it’s no su rprise that, wh en I travel 

down country to see my mum, that I delve 

into her pile of Consumer magazines. 

So it was that I can ac ross Co n su m er’s 

g u i de to buying hi-fi spe a kers in the 

January/February 1997 issue. 

H I G H H O P E S 

I started reading with high hopes. After 

a ll , Co n su m er m a gazine had done a good 

job with CD players a couple of years back. 

Th ey had used the servi ces of t h e 

Well i n g ton Audio Club and shown , proba 

bly to the su rprise of Co n su m er’s staff, 

that CD players that measu red iden ti c a lly 

could be con s i s ten t ly differen ti a ted and 

ra n ked by sound qu a l i ty in a blind listening 

test. 

So wh en it came to spe a kers , wh i ch no 

one argues all sound the same, yo u’d 

ex pect Co n su m er to report on how these 

speakers sound different. Wouldn’t you? 

I sure did. But Consumer surprised and 

disappointed me. 

W H A T C O U L D H A V E B E E N 

Buyi n g, using and en j oying hi-fi is all 

a bo ut the sou n d of the com pon en t s , a ll in 

aid of enjoying music. 

So a con su m er test on spe a kers , wh i ch 

“will do more to improve the sound quality 

of a stereo than any other component”, 

to qu o te Co n su m er’s introdu cti on to the 

a rti cl e , should focus on the sound of t h e 

speakers. 

But in the main article, the sound of the 

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 editor@audvid.co.nz. 

Editor is Mike Jones 

All contents are © copyright to 

AudioVideo Publications Limited 1997. 

el even spe a kers under test is not even 

mentioned! 

W H A T T H E Y D I D 

Co n su m er m a ga z i n e’s two - p a ge arti cl e 

su pp l i ed some usef u l , and mainly acc ura 

te , basics on loudspe a kers , i n clu d i n g 

de s c ri pti ons of what a spe a ker is and the 

parts that make up some speakers. 

Co n su m er a pp l i ed two tests to the 

group of eleven loudspeakers. 

The first test was for frequ en c y 

response of the speakers, tested in an anech 

oic ch a m ber. This tests for the flatn e s s 

of f requ ency re s ponse – ide a lly a spe a ker 

should reprodu ce the same level of s o u n d 

over the audible range of frequencies. 

While a trad i ti onal frequ ency re s pon s e 

m e a su rem ent is an important te s t , a s 

speaker designers know this only tells part 

of the story as to how a speaker will sound 

in a domestic situation. 

One of the speakers in the test is specifi 

c a lly de s i gn ed to ref l ect sound of f w a ll s . 

Te s ting this spe a ker in an anech oic ch a mber 

would give a measu red re s ponse for 

that model. 

The second test was for distortion, How 

this was undert a ken was unspec i f i ed , s o 

re aders are left with no idea if the measured 

distortion is important, or even if it 

is audible. 

L I S T E N H E A R ? 

One could argue that the points I am 

making are only of relevance to the audiophile 

– that “real peop l e” would on ly care 

about how the speakers sound. 

And su ch an argument would be correct 

– sound is the important factor. So 

why does Co n su m er m a gazine ign ore the 

whole point of buying speakers? 

F i n a lly, u n der the “We Recom m en d ” 

section, Consumer begins to make sense. 

“Speakers with the same degree of technical 

acc u racy can sound differen t ,” t h i s 

s ecti on state s . Th a t’s ri gh t , and this acc ura 

te statem ent makes the rest of t h e 

Consumer speaker test redundant. 

“ Before buyi n g, l i s ten to a ra n ge of 

speakers” Consumer correctly advise. “Take 

a l ong vocal and instru m ental record i n gs 

you know well and spend some time comparing 

the sound of different models.” 

So why, Consumer, didn’t you take your 

own advice and actually provide some useful 

information to your readers? 

M A Y I I N T R O D U C E T O Y O U … 

Wh en I started Au d i o En z last May, I 

d i d n’t see it as a mass-market maga z i n e . 

Instead I saw it as a magazine for enthusiasts. 

Tod ay in the audio scene there are two 

types of enthusiasts – the traditional audio 

en t husiast and the newer home theatre 

f a n s . Talking to home theatre en t hu s i a s t s , 

I became aw a re that they are like audio 

enthusiasts were 15 years ago, at the height 

of interest in audio. 

From this issu e , Au d i o En z remains an 

en t husiasts maga z i n e . We wi ll con ti nue to 

ex ten s ively cover the audio market , a n d 

add covera ge for the home theatre en t husiast. 

Re aders of my previous publ i c a ti on , 

AudioVideo, will be familiar with the name 

Max Ch ri s tof fers en . Max is an arti c u l a te 

enthusiast of home theatre, and I’m proud 

to wel come him back – this time into the 

pages of AudioEnz. 

Max’s columns will deal with the growing 

su bj ect of h ome theatre , beginning in 

this issue with an article examining Dolby 

Digital AC-3. 

We can look forw a rd to many more 

t h o u gh t - provoking co lumns from Max in 

future issues. 

H E L P W A N T E D – A P P LY W I T H I N 

As any magazine editor will tell you, the 

s e a rch for good wri ters is a never- en d i n g 

j o u rn ey. Au d i o En z is looking for good 

writers with an interest in audio. 

I ’m looking for people with an intere s t 

in audio or home theatre (or bo t h ! ) . I ’m 

l ooking for passion , for ide a s , for op i ni 

on s . But most of a ll I’m looking for the 

ability to communicate that passion in the 

written word. 

I don’t care who or what you are , a s 

l ong as you can wri te and su pp ly yo u r 

copy on floppy disk or via email. 

Interested? Write to me (address details 

at bo t tom left of this page – don’t sen d 

email) with why you think you’ll fit in with 

what we’re doing at Au d i o En z . And sen d 

me a sample of your writing. 

3

N E W S 

All the news… 

A L L T H A T ’ 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 

I N V A S I O N O F T H E C I R C L E 

S P E A K E R S ! 

Yes, they do look strange. But 

there are very good acoustical 

reasons why the Gallo loudspeakers 

utilise a spherical 

shape. 

The spherical aluminium 

shape helps deal with internal 

standing waves, plus a sphere is 

the ideal shape to minimise 

baffle diffraction. 

Three models are available. 

The Nucleus Minor 

($2495) is a dual concentric 

design. 

The Nucleus Solo ($4199) 

utilises Gallo’s CDT (cylindrical 

diaphragm transducer) tweeter. 

The Nucleus Reference (pictured, 

$6699) is similar to the 

Solo, except for an extra 

“Bassball” woofer per speaker. 

Wired readers can check 

out Gallo’s website at 

www.treebranch.com/ 

gallo 

Frontline Audio 0-9-520 4434 

4 

K E F ’ S N E W Q - S E R I E S 

One boo k s h el f s pe a ker, four floor- s t a n ders and a 

centre channel speaker make up Kef’s new Q-Series. 

All models fe a tu re the new fo u rt h - gen era ti on 

165mm clear Uni-Q con e , wh i ch has the tweeter po s iti 

on ed in the aco u s tic cen tre of the woofer con e . Th i s 

enables the speakers to act as a virtual point source. 

The top two model s , the Q65 and Q75, i n clu de the 

racetrack-shaped B169 woofer, for low frequency extension. 

All models are shielded for use close to television sets. 

Avalon Audio 0-9-638 9000. 

C E L E S T I O N 

T A K E S T H E A 

T R A I N 

Celestion’s 

premier range of 

speakers are said 

to combine 

“exceptional sensitivity 

with high 

power handling 

capabilities to give 

an unusually 

broad dynamic 

range.” The three 

models all incorporate 

a 25mm 

aluminium dome 

tweeter and an 

injection-moulded 

175mm 

midrange/woofer. 

Pictured is the A2. 

Hi-Fi Marketing 

0-9-415 9099 

R O T E L S U R R O U N D S W I T H S O U N D 

Rotel have release two new components to interest home theatre enthus 

i a s t s . The RTC970 (pictu red , $1299) incorpora tes Do l by Pro Logic decoding 

with an AM/FM tu n er and du a l - zone pre a m p l i f i er. A “c i n em a” m ode 

compensates for the excessive high frequencies in some movie soundtracks. 

The RSP970 ($999) is a similar model , l e aving out the tu n er secti on . 

International Dynamics 0-9-524 8488.

S H O R T S 

Pl i n iu s h ave rel e a s ed a new high - end pre a m p l i fier to com p l em ent thei r 

Class-A power amplifiers . The M16 is the first Plinius to inclu de a rem o te 

control. Much of the circuitry is based on the acclaimed SA series of power 

a m p l i fiers . The M16 is ava i l a ble with balanced inputs for CD, and full balanced 

outputs. Audible Technologies 0-6-358 8583. 

John Middleton from Sound Group Holdings has been appointed to the 

boa rd of CEDIA (Cu s tom Electronic De s i gn and In s t a ll a ti on As s oc i a ti on ) 

Australia. Congratulations John! 

Polk Au d i o h ave rel e a s ed five new model s . The RT20P “powered tower ” 

($3999) is a three - w ay sys tem with 100 watt active su bwoofers . The 100w 

PSW50 ($999) and PSW150 ($1499) are two new active su bwoofers . Po l k 

has three new sub/satellite systems available. Pacific Audio 0-9-524 8032. 

Velodyne are now distributed by Audio Video Designs of Auckland. Nine 

active su bwoofers are ava i l a ble from $895 thro u gh to $4295. Audio Vi deo 

Designs 0-9-486 0666. 

Audio Electron i c s, the afford a ble bra n ch of US manu f actu rer Ca ry 

Au d i o, is now distri buted in NZ. The ra n ge inclu des singl e - en ded va lve 

amplifiers and a CD player with SE output stage. Frontline 0-9-520 4434 

T h eta Digi t a l and Muse Electron i c s h ave a new distri butor in Fron t l i n e 

Au d i o. Th eta have their first singl e - box CD player, the Miles ($3650, b a la 

n ced : $4092) with 18-bit D/A proce s s ors . The Pe a rl Tra n s port (($2433) is 

b a s ed around the Pion eer stable table tra n s port , and incorpora tes Th et a’s 

anti-jitter circuitry. Frontline Audio 0-9-520 4434 

A & V Ho l d i n gs h ave become the New Zealand agents for Def i n i tive 

Tech n o l ogy Lo u d s pe a kers , Th re s h o l d , P S Audio and Mc Corm ack Au d i o. 

A&V Holdings 0-9-358 4100. 

E n ergy’s Ta ke 5 is a five - p i ece home theatre system 

com prises four iden tical small spe a kers plus on e 

cen tre ch a n n el for $999. The 100w ES-8 powered su bwoofer 

can be ad ded for $699. SGH 0-9-415 6680. 

A C O N C E R T O F R O M S O N U S F A B E R 

Italian loudspe a ker manu f actu rer Sonus Fa ber have 

introduced two new models. The Concertino ($1999, 

p i ctu red) and the Con certo ($3499) fe a tu re leather 

covered fron t , top and back , with solid walnut side s . 

International Dynamics 0-9-524 8488. 

I N F I N I T Y ’ S 

R E F E R E N C E 

The Reference 

2000 series from 

Infinity comprises 

six new 

speakers with 

stylish looks. All 

models include 

co-injected 

polypropylene 

woofers and 

elliptical waveguide 

tweeters. 

Hi-Fi Marketing 

L td 0-9-415 9099 

L U X M A N R E T U R N S T O N E W Z E A L A N D 

After a gap of several years, Luxman is again availa 

ble in New Ze a l a n d . Lu x m a n’s new distri butor is 

Phaze Electronics of Auckland. 

P h a ze have announced three series of Lu x m a n 

components. The 200 Series includes AM/FM tuners 

from $395; integrated amplifiers from $695; and CD 

players from $595. A complete 200 Series system can 

be purchased from $1685. 

With the 300 Seri e s , s ome models are ava i l a ble in 

gold, as well as the ubiquitous black. 

The 300 Series inclu des home theatre five - ch a nnel 

receivers from $1295; tuners from $595; integrated 

amplifiers from $695 and CD players from $695. 

One notable model in the 300 Series is the A- 3 8 4 

i n tegra ted amplifier. A hybrid model , the A- 3 8 4 

($1695) includes a vacuum tube preamplifier stage. 

The final Luxman Series ava i l a ble is the Ul ti m a te 

Seri e s . In clu ded in this series is the lu x u ri o u s ly bu i l t 

D-700s com p act disc player (pictu red at top ) . The 

D-700s incorpora tes 20-bit D/A convertors and an 

HDCD decoder. 

The SQ-38 Si gn a tu re integra ted va lve amplifier 

(pictured below) retails for $8195. It outputs 30 watts 

per channel from the EL34 tubes. 

Phaze Electronics 0800-LUXMAN. 

5

T H E S A G A C I O U S A U D I O P H I L E by Charles T h o m s o n 

Final vinyl? 

V I N Y L – A N E W Z E A L A N D P E R S P E C T I V E 

For most lovers of recorded 

music, the analogue vinyl LP, is dead! 

One could be exc u s ed for thinking 

this correct. After all when did you last see 

a turntable on display at any off your local 

hi fi shops – let alone hear one playing? 

Perhaps it is understandable that CD is 

n ow the largest med ium for stori n g 

recorded music – silent su rf ace s , conven 

i en ce of opera ti on , l on ger playing ti m e 

per side, near instant track access, less stora 

ge space , and so on . In deed a modern 

produ ct for the late 20th cen tu ry. I mean, 

could you seri o u s ly con s i der a produ ct 

de s i gn ed 100+ ye a rs ago worth listen i n g 

to today, let alone dragging these pieces of 

p l a s tic into the new mill en n ium in a few 

years time. 

Un fortu n a tely many people have forgotten 

what our hobby is all about – music 

and sound qu a l i ty. While over half my 

musical listening time is provi ded by CD, 

I must admit to a preference for the sound 

of LP. I must also admit to the pleasure of 

6 

K E E P I N G I T C L E A N 

demonstrating the superiority of LP to any 

i n tere s ted vi s i tors to our hom e . I am saddened 

when I learn that some of these visi 

tors have thrown 

aw ay hu n d red s , i n 

one case over 1800, 

L Ps in their rush to 

em brace the newer 

technology. 

F I R S T U P – A 

C H A L L E N G E 

For anyone wh o 

h a s n’t played an LP 

in ye a rs and thinks 

their turntable works, go dig out an LP or 

t wo from that hidden co ll ecti on in the 

ga ra ge , a t ti c , b a s em ent or wh ere ever yo u 

hide such things at your place. 

At this point, be fair. Don’t select an LP 

f rom the bo t tom of the pile wh i ch hasn’t 

been in a cover since circa 1970. Yo u 

rem em ber the “Top 20 Hi t s” of that period 

wh i ch were carted to parties every 

As Ch a rles points out , gaining and keeping the best from both records and record 

playing equipment requires some hands-on maintenance. Dust and dirt are the enemies 

of both analog hardware and software. 

Th ere have been many loti ons and po ti ons ava i l a ble for cleaning LPs over the 

ye a rs , s ome of wh i ch did more harm than good . Perhaps the safest and easiest way 

to clean records is with a record cleaning machine. In New Zealand the Nitty Gritty 

brand is imported by PQ Imports. 

Both Ch a rles and I have put mon ey wh ere our mouths are and purch a s ed Ni t ty 

Gri t ty record cl e a n ers . I ’m happy with the perform a n ce of my Ni t ty Gri t ty, a n d 

would recommend one to any serious record collector. (But do note that particularly 

grubby records need several treatments or some initial “external” cleaning first). 

If you can’t ju s tify the pri ce of a Ni t ty Gri t ty, you could try the “An d rew Fox 

Record Cleaning Method.” Andrew was a significant purchaser of second hand vinyl 

and a long-time contributor to AudioVideo magazine. 

An d rew ’s met h od invo lved a cut - down shaving bru s h , d i s hwashing deter gen t 

( An d rew recom m ends Down to Eart h ) , a plastic spray bo t t l e , a dish rack and lintfree 

tissue. 

First, create a mixture of around one part dishwashing liquid to ten–twenty parts 

w a ter (ad just to suit the con d i ti on of the record) in the sprayer bo t t l e . Rinse the 

record under the tap (don’t worry abo ut the label – it wi ll su rvive ) . S pray the mixtu 

re on to the record . With the record lying fla t , gen t ly fo ll ow the grooves with the 

cut-down shaving brush. Rinse again and repeat for the other side. 

When finished, mop up the water remaining on the record with lint-free tissues, 

and leave to dry overnight in the dish rack. Andrew also recommends a new record 

sleeve for the newly cleaned record. 

I ’ve used this met h od on many record s , and have been amazed at the po s i tive 

results, particularly with very dirty records. Try it – you’ll like it— Mike Jones 

While over half my 

musical listening time is 

p rovided by CD, I must 

admit to a pre f e rence for 

the sound of LP 

Sa tu rd ay nigh t , p l ayed on any old 

tu rn t a ble (including record ch a n ger ’s ) , 

washed in beer if cleaned at all and usually 

stored in a carton 

with dozens of o t h er 

LPs without a record 

cover in sigh t , l et 

a l one an inner protective 

sleeve . Wh i l e 

re ading song ti t l e s 

f rom the labels may 

produ ce a nostalgi c 

“bu z z ,” sound qu a l ity 

is going to be a 

right turn off. 

As long as your stylus is in re a s on a bl e 

con d i ti on you are likely to be pleasantly 

su rpri s ed at what you hear. If su ch is the 

case be prepared to spend hours, weekends 

even, renewing old acquaintances. 

Now some who take up this ch a ll en ge 

are going to be disappointed. Clicks, pops, 

s c ra tches and su rf ace noise etc . Yu k ! ! ! 

Un be a ra ble!!! All those re a s ons you gave 

S E C O N D - H A N D N E W S 

The great news for record collectors is 

that you can buy a su perb tu rn t a bl e 

these days for very little money. How? 

Buy second-hand. 

You can buy a great second hand 

Th oren s , Rega or Linn tu rn t a ble for 

very modest amounts of m on ey. For 

those with larger vi nyl co ll ecti on s , a 

s econd-hand Linn Son dek LP12 is a 

s tunning buy, with excell ent con d iti 

on models with good ton e a rm s 

being ava i l a ble for $1200–$1400 

—Mike Jones

A ff o rdable high-end 

(brought to you by Interdyn) 

ROTEL 

RSP 960AX Dolby Processor RRP $999 

“This one was a dream. Once again, Rotel has come up with an 

intelligently designed, cost-effective audiophile component. Hats 

off to their engineering team” High Performance Review 

RC 970BX mk2/RB 970BX mk2 pre/power 

Amplifiers RRP $449/$649 

“Uncomplicated styling, good sounds and the ability to grow with 

your system—Rotel’s affordable pre- power combination gives a 

true five star show” What Hi-Fi 

RCD 970BX Compact Disc Player RRP $999 

“…should certainly be on the auditioning list of anyone with this 

kind of money to spend” What Hi-Fi 

RA 980BX Integrated Amplifier RRP $1099 

“We have tested a number of Rotel components over the years, 

and they have all been excellent performers offering very good 

value. The RA 980BX integrated amplifier upholds that tradition, 

both sonically and technically” Sound & Vision 

RA 920AX Integrated Amplifier RRP $449 

“The bottom line is that the Rotel RA 920AX has its ri vals thoroughly 

beaten if you just want to enjoy listening to mu s i c ” What Hi-Fi 

TDL 

NFM Bookshelf Speakers RRP $399 

“Quite frankly the best sub-£100 speakers you can buy… we 

wish we had a six-star score, for the NFMs are just phenomenal” 

What Hi-Fi 

RTL 2 Floor-Standing Speakers RRP $1099 

“…a very attractive and listenable speaker at a most attractive 

price. It is well worth hearing if you are in the market for a compact, 

top-notch speaker system that won’t bankrupt you or dominate 

your home decor” Stereo Review 

RTL 3 Floor-Standing Speakers 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 

of event” What Hi-Fi 

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 

letting you hear plenty you never noticed before” What Hi-Fi 

Pro-Ject 2 Turntable (includes Ortofon OM10 


“This deck’s strongest point is its musical coherence and the 

sense of sheer rightness about the sound” Hi-Fi World 

Pro-Ject 6.1e Turntable (includes Pro-Ject 4 


“…a sparkling performer, digging deep into a records grooves 

and bringing out truckloads of detail” What Hi-Fi Awards 

For more information please contact 

I n t e rnational Dynamics 

PO Box 109-317, Newmarket, Auckland. Ph 0-9-524 8488. Fax 0-9-524 8674. Mobile 025-798 260 

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 

construction suggested the use of 

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 

varnished. Every Sonus Faber 

speaker is in essence a hand-made 

one-of-a-kind. To own such a speaker 

is a reflection of impeccable taste. 

Concerto 

For an information pack please contact 

I n t e rnational Dynamics 

PO Box 109-317, Newmarket, Auckland. 

Ph 09-524 8488. Fax 09-524 8674. 

Mobile 025-798 260

up vi nyl in the first place . Be pati ent – 

please! 

F i rs t ly take your stylus to a hi fi de a l er 

who still has a microscope and can look it 

at abo ut 50X magn i f i c a ti on to ch eck for 

we a r. Don’t be su rpri s ed if what appe a rs 

in the eye piece re s em bles a blunt ch i s el 

wh i ch has cut though nails inste ad of a 

be a uti f u lly ro u n ded ti p. Hell , t h ere migh t 

not even be a piece of d i a m ond of a ny 

s h a pe stu ck to the end of the canti l ever. 

And you were blaming the med ium for 

poor sound quality. 

G E T I N T E R A C T I V E ! 

Ro utine mainten a n ce of the tu rn t a bl e 

is next in line. If you can rem em ber how 

to do it yourself, great. Here’s where LP has 

it over CD – you can get inter- active , 

hands on , become part of the proce s s , 

receive pers onal sati s f acti on , oh joy ! 

8 

P L I N I U S P H O N O S T A G E S 

Ma ny new amplifiers are line stage on ly, that is they they can 

on ly be used with rel a tively high outp ut com pon ents su ch as 

CD players , t a pe deck s , vi deo recorders and Laserdisc players . 

An ex tra circuit boa rd is requ i red to amplify the ti ny vo l t a ge 

produced by a cartridge plus do technical things like attend to 

the RIAA equ a l i s a ti on curve . Some of tod ays new amplifiers 

don’t even of fer su ch a circuit boa rd as an opti on . However 

the ded i c a ted ph ono fanatics at Plinius Audio in Pa l m ers ton 

North have come to the rescue with not one but two options. 

F i rst up the Ja rra h , whose name comes from the ti m ber 

used to handcraft its outer case. I just love the look of this component–so 

completely non hi fi. The beautiful soft glow of burn 

i s h ed ti m ber with won derful ex po s ed dove tail joints and a 

brass name plate on the fron t . It looks more like som et h i n g 

associated with railways than audio, but what a terrific talking 

point. Marvellous. 

The Jarrah is based on the phono stage as found in the more 

recent vers i on of the Plinius M12 pre a m p l i f i er. It caters for 

both low and high outp ut cartri d ges plus va rious load i n g 

opti ons at the flick of a swi tch or two. Two screws have to be 

removed from the rear of the Jarrah and its internals slid from 

the case before you can get at these switches, but following the 

instruction manual makes this an easy task. As with big brother 

M14, both units plug into a spare line input , and aw ay yo u 

go with superb quality analogue reproduction, all for $595. 

Now the M14 is a different be a s tie altoget h er. A real co s t - 

n o - obj ect affair. Built like a tank, s i zed the same as a Pliniu s 

M12 pre a m p l i f i er, a ll nece s s a ry swi tches on the front panel 

and costing a mere $3000. How the hell can you justify spending 

three grand on a ph ono stage? Quite easily actu a lly, on ce 

you’ve listened to it. 

Im a gine if you would listening to an LP on your curren t 

s ys tem . Sounds gre a t . Th en some spoil sport installs a Ja rra h 

phono preamp between turntable and a line stage input. All of 

a sudden the musical performance is transformed. There’s clarity, 

detail like you’ve never heard before and if you are using a 

l ow outp ut moving coi l , an absen ce of a ny el ectronic noise or 

Ot h erwise find an en t hu s i a s tic hi fi shop 

who wi ll ch eck out su ch things as alignm 

en t , V TA , tracking wei gh t , a n ti skati n g, 

s peed acc u rac y, 

clean the drive bel t 

and lu bri c a te the 

bearing. 

Having done all 

the above , m aybe 

even “bitten the bull 

et” and purch a s ed a 

n ew styl i , your LPs 

should be starting to 

sound pret ty good . If what you are hearing 

is starting to to u ch the “s o u l ” a n d 

i n terest is being re - k i n dl ed , t h en a seri o u s 

s e s s i on of record cleaning could improve 

things even more. My preference is for the 

wet cl e a n , vacuum dry process from su ch 

m a nu f actu rers as Ni t ty Gri t ty and V PI . 

Some second hand record stores have 

The great thing about 

2nd hand vinyl is the price 

– $2 to $10 being a 

re p resentative ra n g e 

com m ercial vers i ons of these mach i n e s 

wh i ch do the job qu i ck ly for bet ween 50 

cents and $1 each. 

S O W H A T ’ S 

A V A I L A B L E I N 

N Z 

Obvi o u s ly any 

n ew found intere s t 

in LPs , or con ti nuing 

intere s t , for that 

m a t ter, wi ll depen d 

on ava i l a bi l i ty of 

music. By far the greatest quantity of vinyl 

today is to be found in second hand record 

s tore s . “ Bu gger that,” I hear you say, “o u r 

own records cl i ck , pop and hiss en o u gh 

without buying someone else’s rejects.” 

Well now, just hold on a minute. Major 

s econd hand record de a l ers are mu s i c 

l overs – they are en t husiasts – and thei r 

Plinius Jarrah phono preamplifier 

s ense of s train from a preamp trying to provi de en o u gh ga i n . 

Here is a must have, $595 upgrade. 

Ri gh t , $595 is one thing, but $3000 for a similar com ponent? 

Well let me assure you the M14 is similar only in brandname 

and that it is a phono preamplifier. 

Build qu a l i ty and ch oi ce of com pon ents are excepti on a l . 

Ease of use and fac i l i ties are fantasti c . So it looks and feel s 

value for money. Still not convinced? Well have a listen. 

The M14 is not abo ut cl a ri ty, det a i l , top en d , bo t tom en d , 

s o u n d s t a ge or any other hi-fi term . It has them all , no qu e sti 

on . What is important is how everything is bo u ght toget h er. 

There is a sense of correctness, a naturalness, that I have never 

heard from any recorded medium before. You play record after 

record trying to pin-point strengths in what you are heari n g, 

trying to decide why it sounds so good. In the end you give up 

and just accept this is a great music making com pon en t . As 

you tod dle of f to bed thinking of a ny inheri t a n ce wh i ch may 

be on the horizon or that lucky Lotto ticket – ah, sweet dreams! 

Highly recommended – in fact I rate this as one of the two 

best products I experienced during ’96.

Flawless $1299 AE floorstander 

Acoustic Energy AE109 

Loudspeaker $1299 

For Deep deep bass; 

good value 

Against Nothing 

Verdict …a refined yet 

powerful sound that sweeps 

all music before it 

…and equally 

superb monitor and 

centre speakers 

Acoustic Energy AE100 

Loudspeaker $599 

For Superb mini-monitors; 

outclass speakers costing 50 

per cent more 

Verdict OK, we give up – how 

has Acoustic Energy done it 

for the money? Superbly built 

and with a seriously gorgeous 

sound, the AE100s are very 

important speakers 

Acoustic Energy AE107C 

Centre speaker $499 

For A fine centre with weight 

and clarity beyond its price 

Against Needs a fairly big TV 

to hold it 

Verdict Matching the 

acclaimed AE100s and the 

AE109 floorstanders, this 

centre speaker will work well 

with a wide range of front 

speakers 

Call 0800 ACENERGY 

(0800 223637) 

for more details

s tock is prob a bly in bet ter con d i ti on than 

most of your collection at home. Secondly, 

s ome of the newer ell i pti c a l , f i n el i n e , 

micro reach, etc., styli reduce surface noise 

to such an extent you would think you are 

p l aying a mint con d i ti on record . Th e 

Su m i ko Blue Point Spec i a l ’ ( s ee side bar) 

is such a one. 

The great thing abo ut 2nd hand vi nyl 

is the price – $2 to $10 being a representative 

ra n ge . Some co ll ectors items can co s t 

much more of course. I believe an original 

t wo - record set of The Royal Ba ll et Ga l a 

10 

S U M I K O B L U E P O I N T S P E C I A L 

con du cted by Ernest An s erm et on RC A 

L iving Stereo wi ll set 

you back aro u n d 

$US1500. 

Sadly for cl a s s i c a l 

l overs , s econd hand 

s h ops sel dom cater 

to your taste [Re a l 

Groovy Records in 

Au ckland has a large 

s el ecti on — E d i tor ] . 

You, my dear friends, are restricted mainly 

to ga ra ge sales or to re - i s sues of s ome of 

How does som ething as ugly as this cartri d ge get rave revi ews every time? Th e 

Sumiko Blue Point Special is a nude cartridge, ie, its innards are there for all to see – 

just hanging from a brass mounting plate. No this isn’t a cost saving measure, taking 

off the plastic box which usually hides the workings – it actually improves the sound 

over the ori ginal Blue Poi n t . Rem oving this outer cover is not the whole story 

t h o u gh . Th ere are reported to be some 20 differen ces (improvem ents) bet ween the 

t wo model s , s ome obvious like the 

sturdy top, brass mounting plate. 

The Su m i ko BPS is a high outp ut 

m oving coil cartri d ge producing 2.5 

mv. Ma ny of us have ex peri en ced 

o t h er brands of m oving coils wi t h 

o utp uts as low as 0.2mv, wh i ch has 

meant the vo lume con trol being set 

h i gh to obtain a re a s on a ble sound 

l evel . At this point el ectronic noi s e 

f rom the amplifiers circuits of ten 

became audible and sound took on a 

s om ewhat gra i ny, co u rse tex tu re . Th e 

on ly opti on here was to invest in a 

suitable step up device. No such problems 

with the Sumiko BPS, any self respecting moving coil phono stage and almost 

all moving magnet stages will find handling its output a breeze. 

So we now have adequ a te sound levels and dynamic ra n ge ga l ore , but there’s 

more. It soon dawns on you that this is a very quiet cartridge. The styli seems to be 

tracking in parts of the record groove not previ o u s ly to u ch ed . If you do hear loud 

clicks and pops, the scratch or blemish is probably very deep. But it has to be severe, 

because to my amazement, some of my early 70’s party LPs sounded great. 

The Su m i ko Blue Point Special gives one a taste of the “h i gh en d ”. You sti ll need 

convincing? Arra n ge to have iden tical record i n gs ava i l a ble in both LP and CD versions. 

Relax, compare and judge. 

One intere s ting aspect of the BPS’s perform a n ce is that this stylus is not a gre a t 

little dust digger. You know those times when in the middle of a magical recording, 

you are lost to the worl d , wh en – shock , h orror – distorti on and funny sounds 

emanate from the speakers. Sure enough when you look at the stylus, there’s a little 

b a ll of f lu f f preven ting proper con t act bet ween the stylus and record . Never was 

there any sign of loose material having been dug from the depths of the grooves. 

For me the Su m i ko BPS stands for tonal hon e s ty, a ra re qu a l i ty in a com pon en t 

at this pri ce level . Hi gh praise perh a p s , but its tru e . And after all isn’t this the en d 

re sult we are trying to ach i eve? I could carry on abo ut foc u s , det a i l , clean ex ten ded 

highs etc, but why bother. Just listen to the music and be grateful that sound of this 

quality is available for $659. 

By the way, the Blue Point Special was the other “Best Component” I experienced 

during ’97. Just in case you were wondering. 

My wish then, is for 

anyone in this situation to 

take up the challenge and 

re-visit the world of vinyl 

the great perform a n ce s / record i n gs as 

s tocked by Ji m’s 

Music Room in 

Ta u ra n ga (ph on e 

0800-367 4434 for 

det a i l s ) . These are 

n ew record s , 

proce s s ed to the 

very highest stand 

a rd and stamped 

f rom 180 plu s 

grams of vi r gin vi nyl . Not cheap – but 

what fabulous sound qu a l i ty. An intere s ting 

selection of jazz and blues is also listed 

in Jim’s catalogue. 

New vinyl featuring latest releases from 

the pop ch a rt s , ja z z , a l tern a tive , d a n ce , 

funk etc . , a re ava i l a ble from spec i a l i s t 

s h ops su ch as Off The Record in 

Well i n g ton and Ma rbecks in Au ck l a n d . 

Prices on a par with CD. 

H A R D W A R E 

De s p i te little being on display in hi fi 

s tores a su rprising amount of equ i pm en t 

is ava i l a ble in New Ze a l a n d : four model s 

of turntable from Pro-Ject ranging in price 

f rom $499–$999, i n cluding cartri d ge ; 

t h ree from an old favo u ri te , Rega , i n clu ding 

the justly famous Planar 2 and 3, along 

with the new Planar 9 from $799–$4650; 

two from Well Tempered $4000-6995; and 

Linn su pp lying the ubi qu i tous Son de k 

LP12 from $5595 (LP12, Ak i to, K9) to 

$13,300 (LP12, Lingo, Ekos, Arkiv). 

Ca rtri d ges from Audio Tech n i c a , 

Dy n avector, L i n n , O rtofon , G a rrett Bro s . 

and Rega are readily available. Sadly some 

great perform ers su ch as Audio Tech n i c a’s 

OC9 have been discon ti nu ed in recen t 

ti m e s . S ti ll if you have a mind su ch lof ty 

names as Koetsu, Benz, van den Hul, Linn 

Ark iv,and Tra n s f i g u ra ti on Tem per, t h e s e 

are not too difficult to source. Prices range 

f rom bu d get models at around $100 to, 

well the sky’s the limit. 

No ph ono stage? Bu d get models from 

QED and Ro tel are ava i l a bl e , the two 

Plinius models featured on page eight, and 

a model from Audiolab are re ad i ly ava i lable 

in New Zealand. 

M Y W I S H 

The equ i pm ent is ava i l a bl e , L Ps are 

ava i l a ble (if a little harder to find). Ma ny 

who re ad this arti cle wi ll have both at 

home already. My wish then, is for anyone 

in this situ a ti on to take up the ch a ll en ge 

and re - visit the world of vi nyl . It migh t 

just become your prefered music source.

INTRODUCING THE 

S E N S ATIONAL NEW 

POLK AUDIO RT20P 

Mini Monitor $399 

RT3 Bookshelf $499 



RT8 Floorstanding $999 




RT20P Floorstanding $3999 

RTfx Surround Sound $999 

M3 Surround Sound $599 

5year 

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… 

LS50 Floorstanding $1999 



LSfx Surround Sound $1199 

AB410 In-Wall $399 





AWM3 All Weather $699 

RM2000 Satellite $999 

RM3300 Sat/Subwoofer $1999 

RM5300 Sat/Subwoofer $2699 

RM7300 Home Theatre $3999 

CS150 Centre Speaker $399 




PSW50 Subwoofer $999 



AWM5 Commercial $999 

SRT Home Theatre sys. $19000 

Polk Loudspeakers are available from: 

W h a n g a r e i – Hubands Retravision • A u c k l a n d – Eastern Hi-Fi, Link Drive and Newmarket • H a m i l t o n – 

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 • 

We l l i n g t o n – Absolute Audio and Vision •C h r i s t c h u r c h – The Top Hi-Fi Shop • D u n e d i n – Good Hi-Fi • 

Cromwell – Gary Anderson Appliances 

INCREDIBLE SOUND, 

AFFORDABLE PRICE… 

FOR MUSIC AND MOVIES! 

Now there’s a Polk Audio 

speaker for everybody! 

Over 30 models available 

– there’s one here for you! 

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 

Pa c i fic Audio 

PO Box 9174,Auckland. 

Phone 0-9-524 8032. Fax 0-9-524 8037

… A N D N O W T O T H E L E F T by Lloyd Macomber 

W h a t ’s in a Naim? 

A L O N G - T I M E O W N E R R E F L E C T S O N N A I M 

For me, the world of naim sta rted 

s ome ei ght ye a rs ago wh en , f i n d i n g 

mys el f bet ween amplifiers , I co u rted 

every con ceiva ble make and model under 

a grand. I found what I was looking for too 

and it only cost a mere $600! 

The answer to my quest was a secon d 

hand (very secondhand) Naim pre - power 

com bi n a ti on call ed the NAC 2 2 / NA P 1 2 0 

(Naim Audio Control amplifier and Naim 

Audio Power amplifier ) . S h ort of c a rbon 

d a ti n g, I would guess this pair’s manu f acturing 

date to be late 70s. 

The 22 was, in fact, Naim’s second production 

pre amp and, like the 12 before it, 

the internal structure of main mother cir- 

12 

F O C U S O N T H E N E W C O M E R S 

cuit boa rd and plug-in daugh ter ph on o 

boa rds cre a ted a platform from wh i ch all 

su b s equ ent Naim con trol pre - a m p l i f i ers 

would fo ll ow. Ra ted at 60 watts/ch a n n el 

i n to four ohms, the 120 power amplifier 

s h a red the same arch i tectu ral con cept as 

its partner, the 12 preamp. 

In the psych edelic aftermath of t h e 

s even ties the answer, according to Na i m , 

was simplicity of de s i gn , s tra i ght line 

wi ring and an overa ll no-non s en s e 

approach to amplifier building. 

I felt som eh ow saved , for I had discovered 

products with a combination of oddb 

a ll styl i n g, minimal gad getry and keen ly 

a t h l etic sound. What else would a stu den t 

Recen t ly I bro u ght home the new NAC102 pre - a m p l i fier and CD2 CD player for a 

long-weekend play. The results were, as I expected, impressive. 

The CD2 rep l aced the CDI as Na i m’s secon d - i n - command CD player fo ll owi n g 

the two box CDS. Ra t h er than the clear pers pex lift up lid sys tem adopted by the 

C D I , the CD2 takes on the similar 

s wi n ging drawer affair of the en try 

l evel CD3. Rep l acing the CD3 from 

my system, the CD2 treated all music 

p l ayed with the ad ded ex pre s s i on , 

detail and depth I ex pected from 

su ch a player of this calibre . S ti ll , 

with a pri ce differen ce of a ro u n d 

$2,500 between the two players you’d 

expect to be impressed. 

Joining the CD2 as a star replace- 

m ent in my sys tem was the bra n d 

new remote-controlled NAC102 pre- 

amplifier. I confess that as soon as I heard of this amp I had to get it home not only 

because it of fered improvem ents in sound over my NAC72 but because it was fully 

rem o te con tro ll a bl e . Naim rega rd the new amplifier as the rep l acem ent to the 72 

and ju d ging from the bri ef yet favo u ra ble spell I had with it, the 102 wi ll do Na i m 

proud as a great sounding, good looking 

and conven i en t - to-use con tro l 

amp replacement to the smaller-cased 

NAC72. 

Un fortu n a tely, the time to retu rn 

the new produ cts came all too soon . 

Naim NAC102 preamplifier 

Naim CD2 preamplifier 

Certainly, both the CD2 and NAC102 

proved their worth in my sys tem as 

explicitly clearer and sonically superior products when compared with my CD3 and 

NAC72. On its own merits, I am confident that the CD2 would prove stiff competition 

for any rivals in a similar price range. 

Equ a lly, that the NAC102 has the abi l i ty to divu l ge and tra n s for m inform a ti on 

i n to su ch open h a n ded music must hold it in good ste ad as one of tod ay ’s lead i n g 

$3000 con trol amplifiers , wh en partn ered with a Naim power amp su ch as the 

NAP180. 

of design ever wish for! 

T H O S E E A R LY D A Y S 

Before the first Naim Audio amplifier 

b ack in 1971, fo u n der and Ma n a gi n g 

Director Julian Vereker had tried his hand 

at a myri ad of ven tu re s . These ven tu re s 

were to inclu de everything from car 

de s i gn , to Mini rac i n g, to making films 

and recording live perform a n ces of mu s ician 

fri ends at hom e . It was this last dabble 

wh i ch led Vere ker down the path of 

de s i gn and building of recording stu d i o 

m i xer desks and spe a kers , f i n a n ced wi t h 

by his su ccess on the race track with his 

Mi n i s . Vere ker, for some ti m e , h ad been 

d i s s a ti s f i ed with the qu a l i ty of com m erc 

i a lly produ ced hi-fi, p a rti c u l a rly amplifiers. 

Given his track record, you can guess 

what happened next. 

The ye a rs 1973 and ’74 saw the Na i m 

enterprise start to grow. 1974 was also the 

year that Vere ker met a fell ow mu s i c 

en t husiast and tu rn t a ble maker. Th i s 

m eeting led to worl dwi de to u ring by the 

pair of hi-fi vi s i on a ries who were bo t h 

i n tere s ted in spre ading their ph i l o s oph i e s 

b a s ed around the sys tem hiera rchy. O f 

co u rs e , the tu rn t a ble maker so cl o s ely 

a ll i ed to Vere ker was no less than 

S cotsman Ivor Ti efen bru n , fo u n der of 

Linn Products. 

The com bi n a ti on of Naim amplifiers 

and Linn tu rn t a bles was indeed rega rded 

by many as unbe a t a ble and Na i m’s bu s iness 

growth reflected this. The com p a ny ’s 

h i gh qu a l i ty equ i pm ent became worl d 

renowned. 

T H E N A I M W AY 

Naim arden t ly bel i eve that the ch oi ce 

of com pon ents for a hi-fi sys tem should 

be governed by the basic rule that no compon 

ent can improve the qu a l i ty of i t s 

i n coming sign a l . The very best that any 

individual component can do is deal faithfully 

with its input without loss of musical 

i n form a ti on . And so a simple and logi c a l 

h i era rchy is establ i s h ed . So u rce com pon 

ents of a sys tem , su ch as the tu rn t a bl e , 

CD player, tuner or tape deck come first as 

t h ey define the absolute signal qu a l i ty 

retrieved from the storage or carrier medium. 

The preamplifier and power amplifier

King  of  Hollywood 

Onkyo’s  TX-DS939  features  Dolby  Digital  AC-3,  THX  5.1,  Dolby  Pro  Logic  Surround  

and  dual  24-bit  Motorola  processors 

Five  discrete  digital  channels,  plus  one 

low-frequency effects  channel,  makes 

Dolby  Digital  the  state-of-the-art  in  

movie  sound 

Home  THX  is  a  series  of  electronic 

processes  designed  to  correct  anomalies 

caused  by  the  playback  of  soundtracks 

designed  for  large  theatres  in  the 

smaller  home  environment 

For  full  compatibility  with  the  existing 

library  of  thousands  of  Dolby  Surround 

soundtracks 

Onkyo’s  latest  AV  Receiver  is  set  to  rock  the  Home  Theatre  world  on 

its  ear.  The  TX-DS939  Receiver  includes  not  only  THX  and  Dolby  Pro 

Logic,  but  incorporates  Dolby  Digital  AC-3.  One  can  certainly 

understand  Onkyo’s  new  slogan  “Get  real…  get  Onkyo  home  theatre” 

This  monster  weighs  in  at  nearly  21kg  with  no  expense  spared. 

That’s  why  you’ll  only  find  the  best  throughout.  From  heavy  duty  

AC  cord,  to  the  anti-resonant  feet  and  chassis  to  the  five  discrete 

amplifiers.  Offering  more  of  everything:  more  power,  more  features, 

more  home  theatre  flexibility  and  most  of  all  more  fun! 

So  for  an  unforgettable  experience  talk  to  your  local  Onkyo  dealer: 

Whangarei Hubands Retravision • Auckland Soundline  •  Auckland Mt Albert TV • Hamilton 

Lakeland TV • Tauranga Jim’s Music Room • Wanganui DA Morrisons • Palmerston  North 

Manawatu  TV & Sound • Wellington Soundline • Blenheim Herkt Retravision • Nelson 

Feedback  Audio  •  West  Coast Ellery’s Home Appliance Centres • Christchurch Soundline  • 

Ashburton Smith & Church • Dunedin Selectrix 

Distributed  in  New  Zealand  by 

B&W  Loudspeakers  (NZ) Ltd 

PO Box  22-049, Christchurch 

Ph  0-3-365  5677.  Fax  0-3-365  7219

come next, in that order. Naim believe that 

i f the preamp is inadequ a te it wi ll make 

n on s ense of the demands of a good 

source, but neither pre nor power amp can 

improve the quality of their incoming sign 

a l . In fact , the bet ter they are , the more 

cl e a rly they wi ll ex po s e , i n s te ad of m a s king, 

any faults or weaknesses in the system. 

It follows then that the loudspeakers are 

the last in the hi-fi sys tem chain in term s 

of importance. As the slave of the amplifier, 

even modera te spe a kers properly driven 

by a very good amplifier wi ll out perform 

speakers that are potentially the best 

po s s i bl e , but are less well driven . L i ke an 

a m p l i f i er, a loudspe a ker cannot improve 

the quality of its incoming signal. 

With their sys tem hiera rchy, Na i m 

argue that a sys tem made up of well bala 

n ced modera te com pon ents wi ll provi de 

an overall better performance, rather than 

a system comprising badly balanced superi 

or produ ct s . The bet ter the sys tem , i n 

b a l a n ce and com pon ent qu a l i ty, the more 

the inten ti ons of the com po s er or perform 

er wi ll be reve a l ed thro u gh the skill 

and feeling of the players and the prec i s e 

14 

quality of the instruments. Naim go on to 

su ggest that a less well balanced sys tem 

wi ll ob s c u re the music by minute alterations 

of pitch and amplitude. 

L i ke other hi-fi com pon ent manu f acturers, 

Naim Audio communicate in terms 

of the mu s i c , the perform er and perform 

a n ce and how well the musical message 

is conveyed to the listener. However, unlike 

many of its rivals, Naim extend their belief 

beyond just hearing all the notes played , 

but also being able to hear wh et h er the 

musicians were en j oying them s elve s . Th i s 

i n ton a ti on , wh i ch is so mu ch part of t h e 

s po ken word , is also vital to the understanding 

of a piece of mu s i c . This aspect 

of Naim philosophy has often been regarded 

by many as a fundamental re a s on why 

Naim sys tems cen tre on the “a t ti tu de” of 

the perform a n ces ra t h er than nece s s a ri ly 

bri n ging out the scale, depth or wei ght of 

the music. 

M A K I N G A C O N N E C T I O N 

An of f - s h oot of Na i m’s sys tem hiera rchy 

is the import a n ce of the tra n s m i s s i on 

of the audio signal and com p l ete depen- 

Technical Knockout! 

True low bass from 

America’s famous 

subwoofer manufacturer! 

Active, powered 

subwoofers from only 

$895 to $4295. 

For your 

nearest dealer, contact 

Audio Video Designs 

dence on the use of properly designed and 

specified cables and connectors. Naim recom 

m end their own mu l ti - s tra n ded 

NACA5 loudspe a ker cable and amplifier 

s i gnal leads as standard cables for all of 

t h eir sys tem s . In tere s ti n gly, u n l i ke other 

c a ble manu f actu rers Naim ch oose not to 

l avi s h ly dress cables on the out s i de , t h ei r 

interest lying within the sheathing not the 

sheathing itself. 

Naim are idiosyncra tic in using DIN 

con n ectors for all high level line con n ecti 

on s , and the BNC con n ector for 

turntable connections to the preamplifier. 

T O U C H I N G O N N A I M 

The little that I have to u ch ed on is a 

m erely an insight into the world of Na i m 

Audio. Sure, this odd-ball looking range of 

hi-fi gear wi ll not be all things to all people, 

but you’d be hard pressed to find altern 

a tive sys tem s , or indeed indivi dual compon 

en t s , wh i ch can tu rn your CDs, L Ps 

and radio waves into su ch en j oya bl e , 

enlightening and engaging music. 

Here’s looking forw a rd to the next 25 

years from Salisbury, England. 

C E RT I F I E D 

C A B L E S 

4 models of THX speaker cable from $9.95/m 

THX video interconnect from $39.95/m + connectors 

THX audio interconnect from $49.95/m + connectors 

PO Box 31-552, Milford, Auckland 

Phone 0-9-486 0666. Fax 0-9-486 0660 

Mobile 025-769 890 or 025-993 288

WireWorld 

A  world  of  difference  in  cables 

An interconnect comparator that allows direct comparison to another interconnect and  

a pure copper “no cable” bypass… proving that many “top” cables are just hype? 

This is what WireWorld have done. 

As Ken Kessler, writing in Hi-Fi News & Record Review, said “WireWorld has  

fashioned the ultimate hot air filter!” 

WireWorld uses a patented “symmetrical coaxial” design of cables including  

digital and video interconnect cables and speaker cables. The result is a 

purity and neutrality that is not just a matter of opinion…  

it’s scientifically provable! 

H E A R   W H A T   T H E   R E V I E W E R S   H E A R D 

In  a  test  of  over  60  models  of  video  cables  and  AV  leads: 

“WireWorld  was one of the few, if not the only, company  that sells a number  of 

video cables that performed well. Overall these cables had a 75 ohm impedance 

and an excellent frequency response. The delay, 0.5nS was good, as was the 

gain, which was no less than 97.1%” Joe Kane Widescreen Review, USA,  

June 1996 

Oasis (one of the lower cost models) 

“The excellence of these products is becoming well known… the sound is 

unshakable, with transparency, neutrality and liquidity… the delineation of 

complex timbres is very distinct. Don’t forget that Oasis is less expensive than 

the others here; therefore it merits a very strong recommendation.” 4 stars 

Haute Fidelite, France, September 1995 

Solstice II 

“WireWorld has produced a new speaker cable that is magnificently 

constructed, elegant, neutral and particularly musical. The reproduction is very 

linear, with profound extension and articulation. It is a model of versatility that 

provides an admirable match to the Solstice II interconnect” Pros: a great 

neutrality. Cons: nothing. 5 stars What Hi-Fi?, UK, April 1996\ 

Horizon 

“Very good results for the WireWorld line. The openness and transparency of its 

sound are not to be criticised, and one appreciates equally excellent dynamics. 

WireWorld Horizon constitutes an excellent alternative to the QED, absolutely 

recommendable.” 5 stars What Hi-Fi?, UK, June 1996 

Orbit 

“Orbit received a very enthusiastic designation from our listening panel. 

Actually, in virtually every tally we did on either of the two systems, WireWorld 

Orbit came out on top. Flattering comments heaped upon it took note of its 

excellent focus, impressive neutrality and top-to-bottom coherence. Highs were 

detailed and airy, and the ever-important bass came through with solid, 

satisfying impact.” Home Theater Magazine, USA, June 1996 

There  is  a  WireWorld  cable  for  every  system  and  in  all  price  ranges 

Available from discerning hi-fi dealers – Dealer enquiries welcome 

Proudly imported and distributed by: PQ Imports,  Box  607  Tokoroa.  Ph  0800  33  44  34.  Fax  07  886  6851

E U P H O N I C E U P H O R I A by John Pa u l 

Efficiency and defic i e n c y 

A R ’ S H I G H O U T P U T S P E A K E R S A N D N O T A B L E E X T R A S 

Many of the newest toys are touted 

as being bigger, brighter, smaller, 

ti gh ter, m ore powerf u l , m ore 

econ om i c a l , and practi c a lly anything yo u 

m ay deem import a n t . Cl ever de s i gns wi t h 

cl ever com promises have every marketp 

l ace stocked at many levels with a bewi ldering 

assortment of product options and 

cl a i m s . And on top of a ll this cl ever confusion, 

Home Theatre just won’t go away! 

So if the DVD (digital vers a tile disc) is 

re a lly coming along to rep l ace CD and 

VHS as major sources for music and 

m ovi e s , is this the end of t wo ch a n n el 

stereo as we know it? Will we need four or 

five match ed spe a kers and should they be 

prec i s i on audiophile grade or hom e 

theatre thumping rugged? Planning or just 

d reaming and sch eming abo ut how yo u 

wi ll sel ect , t h en use all your home en tert 

a i n m ent toys is actu a lly becoming damn 

tri cky work . “ New produ ct con su m er 

reluctance”, indeed! 

F I R S T L A W 

Tod ay with loudspe a kers , t h ere is large 

n on s ense by the tru ck l oad abo ut wh et h er 

a particular de s i gn is best for seri o u s 

music or home theatre . It’s that same old 

regurgitated dog’s breakfast about whether 

a particular spe a ker is best de s i gn ed for 

pop / rock or classical mu s i c . Th ere’s re a lly 

no arguing around this because com m on 

s ense simply con f i rm s : A loudspe a ker 

should provi de an acc u ra te facsimile of 

any presented sound, beauty and warts all. 

Any de s i gn is ulti m a tely a com prom i s e 

of m a ny va ri ed perform a n ce versus pri ce 

f actors and these should be balanced in 

f avour of that acc u ra te facsimile of a ny 

pre s en ted sound. Favo u ring bo t tom s , 

mids or tops may provi de atten ti on gra bbing 

retail iden ti f i c a ti on , but it’s caref u lly 

b a l a n ced , even ly com prom i s ed all aro u n d 

good performance that satisfies the varied 

programme menu wh i ch nourishes our 

spirit. 

Th o u ghts along this menu line bri n gs 

to mind recent movies De a rly Bel oved, 

s t a rring Gary Oldman as Lu dwig Von 

Beet h oven with Sir Geor ge So l ti impre ss 

ively caring for the mu s i c . The Davi d 

Hel fgott Sh i n e ph en om en a , of ten fe a tu ring 

DH’s own sparkling piano playi n g 

16 

t h ro u gh o ut . And the acti on bl a s t - u p 

Lethal Weapon III that has a nice Sting and 

Eric Clapton theme called It’s Probably Me. 

All three have excell en t ly recorded sound 

tracks for the musical part s , p lus big loud 

s torm and noisy crowd scenes and so 

fort h . And all three had occ a s i on a lly very 

difficult to understand “n a tu ra l ” d i a l og u e 

accents from the principal actors. 

The loudspe a kers pre s en ting these 

movies, or their music CDs, cannot favour 

one part of the audible spectrum to the 

detri m ent of o t h ers . Nor can cl a ri ty be 

s ac ri f i ced for power handling because the 

m e s s a ges in the music and the dialog u e 

just won’t get thro u gh . Th ere simply 

a lw ays must be meaningful reprodu cti on 

integrity, as in “fidelity”. 

E F F I C I E N C Y P A Y S 

Aw a re of c u rrent and futu re hom e 

f i del i ty scen a ri o s , the Aco u s tic Re s e a rch 

folks have reportedly developed a new 

line of s pe a kers that of fer smoo t h 

wi de bandwidth and low distorti on 

with appreciably greater sound outp 

ut for a given power input than 

comparable brands. 

To suss this out, I got my hot little 

hands on the top of the ra n ge 

AR 312HO (Hi gh Outp ut) floor 

standing 30cm side mounted 

woofer, four driver, three-way big 

boxes for ex ten ded home listening 

session s . These spe a kers are 

s pec i f i ed as having a 97dB per 

watt sen s i tivi ty. So my lovely, 

tru s ty Plinius SA-50 (50/50 

s tereo) easily had more than 

en o u gh mu s cle to push (and 

pull) these AR’s cleanly to any 

loudness keen listen ers , t h e 

tolerant family, or the hostile 

n ei gh bo u rs could en du re . 

An intere s ting fact here is 

that hard physics con cept s 

i n d i c a te that using a very 

typical 87 dB per watt effic 

i ent spe a ker wo u l d 

requ i re 500 watts drive 

per side for equ iva l en t 

com p a ra ble punchy, 

crisp, clean dynamics. 

Another notion is the 

significantly broader definition of efficiency 

where sums are considered for cost effic 

i ent amplificati on . Rocket scien ti s t s 

everywhere can figure out that high quality 

50 to 100 watt per ch a n n el amplificati 

on wi ll be apprec i a bly easier on the wallet 

than the many kilobucks needed for big 

power wallops with less than frisky similar 

boxes. 

With the fort h coming mu l tiple ch a nn 

el AC-3 format del ivering bet ter movi e 

sound and mu l tiple ch a n n el music formats 

curren t ly being discussed for DV D, 

perform a n ce a n d do llar ef f i c i en c y 

becomes a gre a ter factor if you want to 

have any money left for flash new software. 

T H E M E S S A G E U N - B O U N C E D 

The two midrange drivers with tweeter 

bet ween de s i gn provi des wi de hori zon t a l 

and narrow vertical mids and highs as 

found in many THX spec i f i ed model s . 

AR 312HO

The only Home Theatre amplifier with Tri-Field Cinema DSP 

CINEMA DSP RETAILERS 

Whangarei Hubands Retravision 0-9-430 0019 

Wairau Park Eastern Hi-Fi 0-9-444 6980 

Birkenhead Hi-Fi Exclusive 0-9-418 0280 

Newmarket Eastern Hi-Fi 0-9-358 2858 

Hamilton Lakeland TV & Stereo 0-7 839 5685 

Tokoroa The Listening Post 0-7-886 4149 

Rotorua Eastern Hi-Fi 0-7-349 1870 

Tauranga Simisters Retravision 0-7-578 9039 

Whakatane Roger Angel Hi-Fi 0-7-308 6886 

Gisborne Brett Sheriff 0-6-867 9565 

Napier Hi-Fi Gallery 0-6-835 2234 

New Plymouth Masons Appliances 0-6-757 5749 

Wanganui DA Morrison 0-6-345 3949 

Palmerston North Manawatu TV & Sound 0-6-356 7184 

Wellington Sound Expression 0-4-385 2919 

Nelson Beggs Hi-Fi Music 0-3-548 8699 

Blenheim Ken Ham’s Music 0-3-578 5576 

Christchurch Audio Studio 0-3-379 9690 

Dunedin Strawberry Sound 0-3-477 7742 

Invercargill Rice Refrigeration 0-3-218 6088 

Yamaha presents a Home Theatre amplifier that will completely change 

your thinking about in-home entertainment. Because it makes listening to 

movies as much fun as watching them. With sound that is actually more 

realistic and dynamic than you hear in a movie theatre. 

The secret is a remarkable technological achievement called Tri-Field 

Cinema DSP, that’s compatible with Dolby Digital (AC-3). And that’s not all. 

There are 30 DSP settings for both audio and video, as well as a wide range 

of other great features. 

The DSP-A3090 – there’s simply nothing else quite like it. 

YES I ’d like to know more about home theatre – and how easy and affordable it is to ex p e r i e n c e 

the magic of the movies in my own home. Please send me the “your ticket to total home 

theatre” information kit and invitation to a live home theatre demonstration. 

Name Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms/Dr 

Postal Address 

First Name Surname 

Daytime phone number 

MAIL TO: HOME THEATRE INFORMATION KIT, SOUND GROUP HOLDINGS LTD, PO BOX 33-791 TAKAPUNA, AUCKLAND

Wh et h er early ceiling reflecti ons are good 

for music “a i r ” or “s p ace” but bad for 

speech intelligibility is a major issue in the 

s tupid verbal bar brawl abo ut wh et h er a 

s pe a ker de s i gn is opti m i s ed for music or 

movies. But I personally find that first getting 

the dom e s tic back ground noise floor 

down , t h en finding the opti mum vo lu m e 

l evel in my room within the specific progra 

m m e’s dynamics at the “a ll tweeters 

equidistant and direct to the sweet spot” is 

m ore important than off-axis dispers i on 

patterns. 

Serious auditi oning used off-air TV 

sound and direct dub hi-fi VHS movi e s 

t h ro u gh an Akai-715 Nicam VC R . 

Precious vi nyl was on my Oracl e 

Al ex a n d ria II/Audio Technica OC - 9 

t h ro u gh the new Plinius Ja rrah ph on o - 

s t a ge outboa rd pre - a m p, and CD via my 

recently upgraded CAL Audio Icon II. 

Having very revealing new source 

18 

J A R R A H W O O D A N D C H I P S 

devi ces com p l i c a ted the task of k n owi n g 

ex act ly what the AR spe a ker was doing in 

my system. Frequent switching back to my 

old Ta n n oy Golds and ex ten ded session s 

with my tru s ty Stax Lambda Si gn a tu re 

electrostatic “cans” kept me pretty focused 

a bo ut what was doing wh a t . Al t h o u gh I 

must con fess I kept dropping out of 

“to u gh” a n a lytical mode into happ i ly 

grooving with the music qu i te a bi t . But 

that says something about the components 

in itself too. 

D E F I C I E N T S I G N A T U R E 

These big A R’s su rpri s ed me bec a u s e 

t h ey basically lack any re a lly out s t a n d i n g 

s onic sign a tu re . No matter how hard I 

tri ed to pick a strong or weak point wi t h 

a ll kinds of s o u rce material nothing parti 

c u l a rly stood out , or was missing. No t 

analytical or revealing, and not very transp 

a ren t , but just nicely and com fort a bly 

The beautifully made, dovetail jointed, red colour, jarrah wood boxed Plinius phono 

pre-amp stage and the upgraded HDCD and Bu rr Brown 20 bit DAC ’d Ca l i for n i a 

Audio Labs Icon II are both su perb detail retri evers . E ach also maintains an overa ll 

musical cohesiveness and smoothness that often keeps me wringing the old Tannoys 

o ut , or up all hours listening over my Stax el ectro s t a tic head ph ones in finding new 

delights within well-used black and often played silver discs. 

Nothing jumps out unless it su ppo s ed to, but there is a wealth of i n s tru m en t a l 

colour and tex tu re , p a rti c u l a rly thro u gh the Ja rrah that is fra n k ly asto u n d i n g. Th e 

Ja rrah ($595) also has a very low noise floor used with the Au d i o - Technica OC - 9 

and this seem i n gly en h a n ces this pairi n gs ex ten ded dynamic capabi l i ty. Com p a red 

to my clean and simple, tru s ty old Su pex step-up tra n s form er, the Ja rrah handl e s 

com p l ex passages mu ch more open ly and aut h ori t a tively. Bass is also ti gh ter and 

m ore defin ed while upper treble regi ons are less co l o u red than with the Su pex , my 

Bryston, or my NAD 1700 in moving coil setting. 

I’m spoiled forever now. The Jarrah is a really an absolute God-send for anybody 

wanting superb quality phono replay through their line stage control (pre-) amp. 

Conven i en t ly similar perform a n ce was noti ced with the CAL Icon II Power Bo s s 

u pgrade , wh i ch tu rn ed my old Icon II into the new $2895 Icon II HDCD Power 

Bo s s . The HDCD filter set chip app a ren t ly improves ambi en ce and detail retri eva l 

with normal as well as my few HDCD encoded discs. It also opens up the top octave. 

The improved power supply with four Farads (yes, whole Farads. Not typical 60,000 

m i c ro - Fa rad s , but big fat Fa rad wall ops of ju i ce!) for the 20 bit Bu rr- Brown DAC s 

provi des excepti onal attack and dy n a m i c s , and also trem en do u s ly ti gh tens and 

cleans up the overly warm bass end of the ori ginal model . This upgrade kit make s 

for a completely different creature that really sings a sweet lively song, and is a wonderful 

bargain to boo t . This is a very com p l i c a ted mod on ly to be done by CAL 

Audio dealers or importers Oceania Audio. I found out the hard way. Don’t ask. 

t h ere with wh a tever I threw at them . 

Proce s s ed pop FM, C D’s and VHS or TV 

movie tracks sounded fine, highest quality 

minimalist recordings sounded enjoyable. 

Frankly I thought there would be much 

m ore cabi n et co l o u ra ti on in what is basic 

a lly a very large mid-pri ce ($2500) 

design. Only when pushed beyond all reas 

on , to near pain, did the chest high tall 

cabinet (109cm) begin tainting the sound. 

At healthy re a l i s tic aco u s tic jazz vo lu m e 

levels which are determined by banging on 

my Steinweg Nachf (Dark Steinway) brand 

piano that is almost oppo s i te the spe a kers 

for conven i ent room referen ce level setting, 

my opinion, and the general consensus 

of s everal vi s i ting keen and du ll ears , 

a ll agreed that the A R’s sounded like a 

good qu a l i ty small spe a ker box havi n g 

exceptionally deep bass response. 

All apprec i a ted their impre s s ive 

dy n a m i c s , n on - i n tru s ive smooth cl e a r 

tweeters, and natural, yet slightly dry midra 

n ge perform a n ce . Cro s s over points and 

i n d ivi dual drivers co u l d n’t be establ i s h ed 

u n til within one metre distance , wh i ch is 

a hell of lot better than I can say for many 

ex pen s ive floor standing and “s pec i a l 

design” audiophile systems. 

F I X I N G I M P E R F E C T I O N 

If faults could be found or imagi n ed , 

they are small in the areas of absolute clarity, 

detail retrieval and precise sonic definition. 

An agreeable case of light omissions 

ra t h er than nasty ad d i ti ons to the sign a l 

pre s en t a ti on wh i ch dear ed i tor rem i n ded 

me, “these finer points are only realised at 

the $6,000 and upw a rds per pair level if 

you want com p a ra ble bass ex ten s i on and 

mid-range power. And a large amp is necessary 

too”. 

Bi gger driver magn ets and more exo ti c 

build materials with more box brac i n g 

could possibly improve some areas of performance, 

but at a significant cost penalty. 

And this could easily mess up a well bala 

n ced fin ely com prom i s ed de s i gn with its 

tolerably slight faults. 

But if you must tweak, they are bi-wire 

re ady with decent term i n a l s , and they are 

re ady socketed for decent spiking. G ood 

wire and floor anchoring always improves 

m i d - ra n ge def i n i ti on . You can also have a 

b ack breaking (35kg each) picnic ju ggl i n g 

the side firing woofers to face each other, 

or else fire to the outsides of the pair. Your 

room will decide what works. 

But try, as always, to have fun tweaking 

and enjoy the music.

C D U P G R A D E 

Why go out and buy a new CD player at great expense for 

only minimal improvement in performance? 

Trichord’s highly renown “Clock 2” and dedicated “Clock 

2 Power Supply” modifications will dramatically improve 

the sound quality of your existing CD player or transport. 

The treatment your existing CD deserves – hear the 

potential it has to offer. 

• superb timing and rhythmic coherence 

• greater transparency and focus 

• extended dynamic range 

• improves sampling accuracy and therefore jitter 

• reduction of hash and midrange glare 

• powerful and extended bass clarity 

• extra resolution in the mid and treble 

Some of the brands successfully upgraded include: 

Arcam, Marantz, Meridian, Micromega, Mission, Pioneer, 

Quad, Rotel, Sony and Yamaha. 

Clock 2 kits available from $295, fitting charge extra. 

Available from: 

Axent Audio, 25 Portage Road, New Lynn Auckland. 

Ph 0-9-827 1220. Fax 0-9-826 0302. 

The Listening Post, 151 High Street, Christchurch. 

Ph 0-3-377 7299. 

Distributed by Transline Audio Ph/Fax 0-7-5785211 

Intro and Credo loudspeakers 

North Hi-Fi, Whangarei 0-9-434 6810 • 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 

Distributors of US premium audio and home theatre 

components direct to the customer 

Product lines include: 

Theta Digital - Miles: A New One-Box CD Player 

Muse - Preamps, Amps, DAC/Transport+I 2 S bus, Subs 

Pass Labs - Single-ended Class A Mosfet Amps 

Cary Audio - The Signature of Vacuum Tube Audio 

Audio Electronics - Single-ended Tube Amps 

Cardas - Cables of Golden Section Stranding 

Magnan - Type Vi and Signature Cables 

Gallo Acoustics - Nucleus Speaker Range 

All customer enquires ph. Peter on (09) 520-HIFI (09 520-4434) 

or e-mail peterl@iconz.co.nz 

19

T O T H E M A X by Max Christoffers e n 

To AC3 or not to AC 3 ? 

M A X TA C K L E S T H E N E W E S T A G E - O L D Q U E S T I O N 

Th ere i was unpacking Ya m a h a’s 

n ew 3090 AC-3 integra ted amplifier, 

in stark disbelief that I was actually 

unpacking a Dolby Digital decoder. 

I can’t believe it’s happened so fast. 

It had been almost ten ye a rs since the 

f i rst Do l by Su rround decoder was ad ded 

on to my sys tem and mu ch time spen t 

en j oying vi deos and TV with su rro u n d 

effects ever since. 

The ru m o u rs had been around since 

the early 90s about the next stage of developm 

ent of dom e s tic home theatre and I’d 

searched the Internet for information and 

s po ken with en t husiasts who though t 

Do l by ’s digital format AC - 3 , would be 

ava i l a ble for dom e s tic users by the ye a r 

2000 – yet , h ere it was in my house wi t h 

three years still to go to the millennium. 

Unbelievable! 

I wouldn’t say it was a religious event – 

but it felt like a special occ a s i on to 

wel come the latest near rel a tive of my 

aging Yamaha DSR1000 Pro into the home 

in what seemed like years ahead of its time. 

“I just don’t bel i eve AC-3 is here – its 

seems like yesterday that I had the Yamaha 

2070 home for revi ew … ” – and what an 

impact that had on my home listening! 

In re a l i ty three ye a rs had gone by and 

while the rest of the world – inclu d i n g 

Noel Leem i n g, Mi t su bi s h i , Bond and 

Bond and even Linn (!) – had leapt into 

h ome theatre market , f ra n k ly I had got a 

little bored. 

Blame it on the fact that nothing after 

20 

D O L B Y D I G I T A L ? A C - 3 ? 5 . 1 ? W H A T ’ S I N A N A M E ? 

the 2070 was ever the same and my agi n g 

s et-up was showing the signs of a ge and 

perform a n ce of e a rly Do l by Su rro u n d 

equ i pm en t . But mort ga ges do funny 

t h i n gs to people and the 2070 has 

rem a i n ed on the wish list long en o u gh to 

be su rp a s s ed by the 3090’s devel opm en t 

and release. 

But it’s also ten years since I got the bug 

and travell ed thro u gh the earl i er Do l by 

Su rround and Do l by Pro Logic form a t s , 

ren ted and bo u ght films for the soundtrack 

and not the story, and gen era lly 

i n du l ged in Do l by Su rround to the detriment 

of all else. 

Yep, I ’d been there and come out the 

o t h er en d , wh ere music ret a i n ed its ri gh tful 

place at the head of my priority list and 

home theatre was fun – but was fading. 

I was in need of a tonic – something to 

m a ke me feel en t hu s ed again – and it was 

sitting in my rack ready to go. 

A C - 3 I N A C T I O N 

Despite the glowing reviews for AC-3 – 

my first experience was disappointing, but 

prototypes can do that to you! 

Th a n k f u lly recent ex peri en ce has confirmed 

that AC 3 is the greatest advance in 

home entertainment since CD – period. 

For home theatre en t hu s i a s t s , Do l by 

Di gital AC 3 unleashes the true po ten ti a l 

of the marri a ge of audio and vi deo – the 

only problem being that the Dolby Digital 

format is on ly ava i l a ble on NTS C 

L a s er Disc – and the fort h coming DV D 

Devel opers must rue for the days wh en new produ cts and tech n o l ogies could be 

devel oped in sec ret . Tod ay, one was on ce priva te is public and can be ex ten s ively 

wri t ten abo ut in con su m er- ori en ted maga z i n e s . This can cre a te con f u s i on in the 

minds of the public. 

Ta ke Do l by Di gi t a l , for ex a m p l e . O f ten , while a proj ect is in devel opm en t , a n 

internal name is used, different from the (devised later) marketing name. When the 

technicians at Dolby Labs were working on what was to be christened Dolby Digital, 

it’s internal name was AC-3, short for Audio Coding 3. (Yes, there was an AC-1 and 

AC-2). 

A ph rase of ten seen in the audio and vi deo press has been “ 5 . 1 ”. This refers to a 

surround sound format of five full-range audio channels, plus one bass effects channel. 

This is the format used by Dolby Digital. 

So, we take these names – 5.1, AC-3 and Do l by Di gi t a l , and of ten see them used 

interchangably – as Max has throughout his column. 

That’s because they are the same thing. Dolby Digital (Dolby’s marketing name) 

is AC-3 (Dolby’s internal name) which uses a 5.1 format—Mike Jones 

( Di gital Vers a tile Disc) form a t , should it 

ever arrive. 

But that aside , it is unden i a ble that 

Do l by Di gital is spect acular in the way it 

ex tends the perform a n ce envel oped of 

home theatre. This is not about ‘removing 

a vei l ’, or thinking maybe you can hear a 

d i f feren ce – this is abo ut the differen ce 

between driving an old VW and a Ferrari! 

In recent ye a rs , t h ere can be no other 

a rea of h ome audio wh ere su ch a sign i f icant 

leap in perform a n ce has been 

attained, cost effectively. 

In other areas of h ome audio, s m a ll 

perform a n ce increases are hera l ded as 

m a j or bre a k t h ro u ghs – many at con s i derable 

expense to the consumer-enthusiast. 

And while Do l by Di gital is sti ll an 

ex pen s ive fix, it is non et h eless on the 

a f ford a ble side of h i gh - end perform a n ce , 

with some AC-3 equ i pped decoders coming 

in well under the $2000 mark. But like 

a ny high perform a n ce produ ct , t h e 

i n c re a s ed perform a n ce puts incre a s ed 

strain in other areas. 

As with Do l by Pro Logi c , I had lon g 

su pported the vi ew that said that sign i f icant 

improvem ents in Do l by Su rro u n d 

perform a n ce were more likely to be 

ach i eved thro u gh ch a n ges in amplifier 

o utp ut , s pe a ker con s i s tency and placement 

and room size than the actual differences 

between decoders. 

But the perform a n ce of Do l by Di gi t a l 

is such that Pro Logic even at its best with 

ded i c a ted decoders , a m p l i f i ers and purpo 

s e - built rooms can’t match AC - 3 ’s 

dy n a m i c s , ch a n n el sep a ra ti on and pure 

fidelity. 

For those like me who have been happy 

and con tent with the at times ex tra ord in 

a ry perform a n ce of Pro Logic in the 

home (particularly after starting with passive 

Dolby Surround in the late 80s) Dolby 

Digital is simply a revelation. 

Do l by Di gital promises five full ra n ge 

i n depen dent ch a n n els and a ded i c a ted 

bass ch a n n el , g ut smacking dynamics and 

the po ten tial to tru ly match the best the 

cinema has to offer. 

But AC-3 is not Pro Logic with stereo 

su rro u n d s . While it is an attracti on and 

much has been written about it, this is not 

the main drawcard.

NEWS 

JIM’S PAGE 

J i m ’s Music Room, 49 Grey Street Ta u ranga, Freephone 0800-FOR HIFI (0800 367 4434) 

The world’s best speaker 

now available in NZ! 

LINE Prestigious US magazine Stereophile has voted the 

Aerial Acoustic 10T speaker best loudspeaker for 

WE can never say enough 

about Plinius amplifiers, 

which give audiophilequality 

sound at a truly excellent 

pri c e, right through 

the product ra n g e. It start s 

with the superb Plinius 

2100i at just $1599 and 

goes up Class A amps like 

the SA50 ($2995), the SA 

100 ($3995) and the 

SA250 which retails fo r 

$ 6 9 9 5 . You can see the 

whole range in our store, 

or phone or fax for details. 

STILL on the subject of 

Plinius (ye s, we do stock 

heaps of other great hi-fi 

equipment too!), the new 

M16 remote controlled 

pre-amp is now ava i l a bl e. 

The line version costs 

$3795, while the phono 

stage model is $3995. 

Fe a t u ring a “ l e a rn e r ” 

remote that will also control 

your TV and video etc, 

the M16 makes a huge difference 

to the sound yo u 

get from your system. 

AND on that subject, getting 

a better sound can 

sometimes be simply a 

matter of changing cabl e s. 

At Jim’s Music Room, we 

recommend Siltech cabl e s 

which consistently outperfo 

rm the competition in 

t e rms of neutra l i t y, resolution, 

wa rmth and ove ra l l 

mu s i c a l i t y. S i l t e c h ’s new 

mains cable now comes in 

custom lengths. 

STILL prefer vinyl to CDs? 

We have an amazing 

range of reissued music — 

too much to detail. C a l l 

n ow for our catalogue. 

1996 — along with another loudspeaker costing 

nearly five times as much. 

The magazine’s tough critics voted the speakers first 

equal with the Dunleavy Audiolab Signal SC-V1s, which 

cost an incredible $US19,500 MORE than the Aerials, sold 

in NZ by agents Jims Music Room for just $NZ11,500. 

We quote: “The Aerial 10T offers neutrality, dynamics 

and a rare fine ability to reproduce the musical event, but at 

one fifth the price of the Dunleavy. 

“Bang for the buck,’ figured prominently among the 

writers’ comments — most of them adding that designer 

Michael Kelly’s canny compromises had produced a speaker 

with many strengths and darn few weaknesses. 

“The 10T may indeed lack some of the refinement of the 

no-holds-barred megabuck speakers, but it must also be 

said that it doesn’t miss by much. 

“The Stereophile writers are a tough bunch to impress, 

and no speaker could share Speaker of the Year honours by 

dint of price alone. 

“The 10T gets the all-important midrange right, without 

neglecting bass extension or a liquid top end. 

“Add to that an ability to ‘kick the tar out of any dynamic 

challenge thrown at them,’ and you have a speaker that has 

earned its way to the top of this — or any year’s heap.” 

Jim’s Music Room recommends pairing these stunning 

speakers with either two Plinius SA100s (see below) or an 

SA250 power amplifier — a stunning, world-beating combination 

that must be heard to be believed. 

Contact us for more information — or call at our 

Tauranga store for an audition. Like Stereophile magazine’s 

critics, we know you’ll be impressed by the simply superb 

sound of the Aerial Acoustic 10Ts. 

US magazine praises 

Plinius SA100 amp 

Stereophile magazine has fallen in love 

with “Kiwi power.” 

The Plinius SA 100 Class A power amp 

(pictured), designed and made in New Zealand, 

has won an outstanding rev i ew in the 

April edition of the publication, which is 

The Aerial 10T Series: Voted equal 

to a pair of speakers weighing in 

at an incredible $US24,995. 

Contacting Jim’s Music Room 

has never been easier. For the 

l ow d own on any of our pro d u c t s , 

Phone 0800 FOR HIFI (0800 367 

4434) or write to Freepost PO Box 

13119 Ta u r a n g a . Our fax nu m b e r 

is 07 578 1236, and our e-mail 

a ddress is jim@jimsmu s i c . c o . n z 

widely regarded as one of the most authoritative 

in the world. While we can’t reveal too 

m a ny details before the magazine is published, 

Plinius sources say the rev i ew is one 

of the best they’ve ever read about anything. 

S o n i c a l l y, Stereophile’s experts declared 

the SA100 in the same league as a 

$US35,000 mono amp — pretty amazing 

when you consider that the Plinius costs just 

$US3995 in North America. The maga z i n e 

n ow rates this beautifully made amplifier as 

a recommended Class A product and in the 

understatement of the year, also rates it as 

being particularly good value for money. 

It’s great value for money in New Zealand 

too — this outstanding piece of hi-fi equipment 

can be yours for just $3995.

The Do l by Di gital soundfield is different 

and the overall effect is simply staggering 

– the real ben efit is a cen tre ch a n n el 

that works, but more about that later. 

Af ter trying out an early AC-3 unit, I 

found the format to be disappointing – all 

the sep a ra ti on was there but som et h i n g 

wasn’t working right 

– it didn’t gel and I 

d i s m i s s ed AC-3 as 

being more hype 

than actual performance. 

But after the 

ex peri en ce of t h e 

n ew Yamaha 3090 

and the Den on 

AVC - A 1 , I can 

report that my firs t 

ex peri en ces of AC - 3 

were so wrong that 

I ’m gra teful that I 

d i d n’t wri te anything 

about it! 

The Den on has 

an appearance to die 

for – it is simply a be a utiful work of a rt 

that should be placed in full vi ew of a ll 

who enter the sound room. It’s champagne 

finish is bl e s s ed rel i ef to the con ti nu ed 

dom i n a n ce of the ‘ you can have it any 

colour you like so long as its bl ack’ and it 

oozes sophistication and class. 

The Den on is the heaviest and slee ke s t 

l ooking unit you could ask for – and it 

requ i res some serious rack space – this 

baby demands careful placement. 

But bi ggest count against the Den on 

a re its over- busy rem o te and on s c reen 

m enu form a t . And re ad the manu a l , for 

you won’t be able to drive this unit wi t hout 

it. 

Performance wise, it was a curious mix 

of con tem pora ry (re ad confusing) on - 

screen menus and flexible inputs and outp 

uts – but with high outp ut power (210 

22 

It astounds me that 

m o re isn’t written about 

the importance of 

i n t e l l i g i b i l i t y. I t ’s the firs t 

p r i o r i t y, with everything 

else coming after the 

importance of the 

effectiveness of 

the centre channel 

watts into each of f ive ch a n n els) and the 

ped i gree of 80 ye a rs of Den on ex perti s e 

behind it, you could ex pect some seri o u s 

sonic wallop for your $4999 investment. 

Rep uted to be the most powerful of a ll 

integrated AC-3 amplifiers/processors, the 

Denon is still equipped with RCA outputs 

for the die-hard 

en t husiast who sti ll 

wants more power 

t h ro u gh ex tern a l 

amps and a “f utu re - 

proof ” fe a tu re to 

allow the hook-up of 

external processors. 

As a THX compon 

en t , it also of fers 

Tom Hom l i n s on’s 

t weaks to Pro Logi c 

decoding thro u gh 

THX en h a n cem en t s 

to the Pro Logic and 

AC-3 form a t s , 

i n cluding decorrel ati 

on and other THX 

tweaks. 

It was to u gh to iden tify specific differen 

ces with the THX en h a n cem ents in the 

few days I had with the Den on , but the 

ef fects may differ from film to film. But 

that doe s n’t take aw ay from the Den on’s 

AVC-A1’s state of the art status. 

But wi t h o ut decl a ring a bias here , ( I 

h ave own ed Yamaha for almost ei gh t 

ye a rs ) , a ll I can say is that the 3090 stays 

p ut – pri m a ri ly because the perform a n ce 

could be twe a ked to the way I prefer it. I 

would never have believed that AC-3 with 

Ya m a h a’s Ci n ema DSP en h a n cem en t 

could be en j oya bl e , mu ch less the preferred 

format on some AC-3 en coded 

films. 

The in-built para m etric EQ, cen tre 

channel EQ and DSP parameters provides 

con s i dera ble flex i bi l i ty and the match to 

my ex ternal amps was perfect . Th e 

Denon AVC-A1 – an appearance which oozes sophistication and class 

dynamics were staggering – the intro to 

B roken Arrow with Travolta landing som e 

h e avy punches to Ch ri s tian Sl a ter is stu f f 

you feel and want to invi te your fri en d s 

round to demonstrate the visceral thrill of 

s o u n dw aves impacting your body at cons 

i dera ble speed and with con s i dera bl e 

weight. 

Ad d i ti on a lly, the Yamaha is simple to 

use – and it does its stu f f with the same 

s i m p l i c i ty of the DSP-A1000 and 2070 

before it – amazing con s i dering the 

i n c re a s ed soph i s ti c a ti on of the new unit’s 

digital decoding. And at its price of $3999, 

you get a lot for your money. 

W H I C H S U R R O U N D I S R I G H T ? 

On paper before the arrival of Do l by 

Di gi t a l , t h ere was con s i dera ble deb a te 

a m ong en t husiasts abo ut the ch oi ce 

bet ween rear su rround spe a kers as dipo l e 

or point source – the problem being most 

Pro Logic enthusiasts had generally found 

su peri or perform a n ce with dipoles wh i ch 

created a diffuse rear surround field, while 

AC-3 indicated a point source spe a ker for 

the discrete inform a ti on sent to each re a r 

channel. 

To compound the matter further, THX 

recommend that dipoles be used with AC- 

3 to mimic the true movie theatre perform 

a n ce – a diffuse rear su rround field was 

preferred wh et h er you had a discrete signal 

or not. 

In use I had the luxury of trying both – 

and found that I sided with Mr THX – the 

ef fect of d i poles all ows for the smooth 

and seamless integra ti on bet ween re a r 

su rrounds and other spe a kers cre a ting a 

sense of space – but when directionality is 

needed – they do it anyway! 

Try them yourself – my preference may 

not be yours – but there is some flexibility 

in the ch oi ce . Using the spe a ker a and b 

selector on a dedicated rear channel external 

amp is the best met h od providing the 

f l ex i bi l i ty to all ow swi tching in or out of 

the speakers of your choice. This is a great 

tool for those aggre s s ive soundtracks that 

don’t require the extra fill. 

But as with Pro Logic some basics of set 

up app ly – and va ri a bles su ch as room 

positioning, amplifier power, room equali 

s a ti on and seating po s i ti on wi ll have a 

profound effect on the performance. 

And while there have been claims that 

AC-3 levels the playing field with little differen 

ces in perform a n ce bet ween 

decoders , t h ere does appear to be va riances 

between the different units – not just

DESIGNER HI-FI FURNITURE 

Custom made metal speaker stands, stereo, TV and CD racks 

Also NZ agent for 

DEFLEX 

acoustic products 

Hi-tech loudspeaker linings 

For your nearest dealer contact 

S o u n d 

C r e a t i o n s 

PO Box 41 141 St Lukes, Auckland 

Ph 0-9-849 8108. Fax 0-9-849 8107 

Sooner or later, 

we know all our customers 

buy Naim 

E x clusively available in A u ckland fro m 

1 Byron Ave Takapuna. Ph 486 4494. Fax 486 4495 

You walk into the hi-fi shop. Across a crowded showroom, a hi-fi system 

catches your eye, then seduces your ear. 

Infatuated, you pay your money. Unfortunately, you also take your 

chances. 

On the other hand, once the ear is wooed by the sumptuous sound 

quality unique to Arcam, a life-long love affair usually occurs. 

Year after year, our dedication to sonic excellence is rewarded with 

top industry awards and, believe us, luck has nothing to do with it. 

All of our hi-fi is produced at our Cambridge HQ, where it must 

pass the most rigorous set of tests, checks and double checks. Then, just 

when another quality Arcam product thinks it’s safe to go into the 

loving arms of a new customer, we check it again. 

We work hard to produce hi-fi separates of the highest quality, 

keeping construction simple and building in long service and reliability 

at every stage of production. So, if you’re about to invest in hi-fi, invest 

in an Arcam. After all, we don’t leave anything to chance. 

Should you? 

Proudly imported and distributed by Avalon Audio Corporation Limited 

587 Mt Eden Road, Auckland Telephone 0-9-638 9000. Fax 0-9-638 8888 

23

with the ad d i ti on of en h a n cem ent fiel d s 

but in the way that the decoders “gra b” 

you. It is also true that not all soundtracks 

a re cre a ted equal as with Pro Logic there 

are good and bad examples of AC-3. 

A C - 3 E V E R Y W H E R E … B U T N O T A 

D R O P … 

The only limitation to AC-3 is the softw 

a re – and as the now de ad VHS versu s 

Beta deb a te dem on s tra ted (or DAT and 

DCC) hardware purchase follows software 

availability. 

Cu rren t ly on ly NTSC Laser Disc provides 

AC-3 soundtracks. While most Laser 

fans have an NTSC capable player – 

although possibly without an AC-3 digital 

o utp ut – it is non et h eless a format of 

ch oi ce that is re s tri cted to the audio 

en t hu s i a s t . This is su ch a tra gedy – I’m 

su re that even the most casual of l i s ten ers 

would find AC-3 -stimulating. 

[ Do l by Di gital wi ll not appear on V H S 

videotape at all. The digital format cannot 

fit on the tape. Older LaserDisc players can 

be modified to provide an AC-3 output— 

Editor] 

T H E L A S T W O R D 

The most en du ring ex peri en ces I have 

h ad with Do l by Su rround in the hom e 

h ave been wh en I have en j oyed the film 

and the soundtrack has created mood and 

a tm o s ph ere and not peri ph eral sound 

effects. 

With AC-3 I noti ced minute amounts 

of detail – points of d i a l ogue or ef fect 

wh i ch previ o u s ly went unnoti ced , but 

were cl e a rly there at the Di rector ’s discreti 

on . Detail wh i ch not on ly en h a n ced the 

film but went to the heart of the Director’s 

artistic intent and the story line. 

De s p i te all this, AC-3 introdu ces som e 

probl em s . To get the most from a Ferra ri 

you don’t just drive it round town … Wi t h 

24 

Yamaha DSP-A3090 – a lot for your money 

AC - 3 , the perform a n ce envel ope opens so 

mu ch , that small screen and small room 

viewing is bound to be an “intense” if also 

fatiguing experience. 

Some revi ewers have cl a i m ed that AC - 

3 is “too bu s y ” – there’s simply too mu ch 

happening in the soundfield – and to some 

it prob a bly is a ch ore – but that is indicative 

of n e a r- f i eld listening and vi ewi n g 

with sound and image out of scale and 

“out of synch”. 

An earlier experience was noticing that 

with Pro Logi c , i f I ch a n ged the su rro u n d 

s pe a kers or ch a n ges its vo lu m e , po s i ti oning 

or character, I didn’t just effect the rear 

su rround fiel d . The en ti re sound fiel d 

altered. 

With Do l by Di gital the ch a n ge is even 

m ore dra m a tic – this is a com p l etely different 

soundfield to that experienced with 

Pro Logic. 

But ulti m a tely, the test of a good 

decoder is not in the way it handles the 

ef fects ch a n n els or su bwoofer but how it 

enhances the story line! 

Do l by Su rround works best not wh en 

everything is whizzing around the room 

but when the story line is more intelligible 

and the film works – without effects actually 

drawing attention to themselves. 

One of the gre a test fe a tu res of AC-3 is 

gre a ter intell i gi bi l i ty. It astounds me that 

m ore isn’t wri t ten abo ut the import a n ce 

of i n tell i gi bi l i ty. It’s the first pri ori ty, wi t h 

everything else coming after the import 

a n ce of the ef fectiveness of the cen tre 

channel. 

For get the ded i c a ted (con tro ll ed) bass 

o utp ut , the full ra n ge su rround ch a n n el s 

or the kick - i n - your stom ach dynamics – 

a ll of that is for nought if the dialog u e 

channel is muddy and smeared. 

For me the centre channel’s intelligibili 

ty is more important than any other fe ature 

of AC-3. 

With Do l by Di gital there is a sense of 

air around the speech and there is an 

u n c a n ny direct link to the on - s c reen 

acti on wh i ch Pro Logic has never been 

able to achieve with such precision. Dolby 

Di gital in short , rectifies the two large s t 

problem areas of Pro Logic – centre chann 

el syner gy and the su bwoofer bl oat – if 

i t’s there it’s meant to be , i f i t’s not don’t 

go looking for it. 

But there are some lessons to learn : 

Do l by Di gital demands that audio-vi deo 

s y n ch ron i c i ty be ach i eved – the audio 

Ferra ri that AC-3 is, requ i res that everything 

works toget h er. Anything else is 

going to be a pret ty fast ri de but with no 

suspension, which can be exhilarating, but 

a pretty tiring ride. 

Do l by Di gital is a ro ll er- coa s ter ri de 

and you must be prepared to live with the 

speed, separation and dynamic swings that 

come with the game park. 

The Dolby Digital experience demands 

big screen , big room and plen ty of s p ace 

bet ween vi ewer and spe a kers – if we are 

trying to emulate a true cinema, then AC- 

3 bri n gs cinema perform a n ce into the 

home. And the potential is enormous. 

If I’m excited about AC-3 it’s because it 

represents to many the end of a long journey. 

I’ve been living with Dolby Surround 

in the home for almost 10 ye a rs and each 

of the three formats Do l by Su rro u n d , 

Do l by Pro Logic and Do l by Di gital AC - 3 

h ave been su cce s s ive improvem ents on 

what came before. 

But Do l by Di gital is the high end of 

perform a n ce and you don’t need fancy 

badges or elite designs to bring it all home. 

And the down s i de? Af ter living wi t h 

Do l by Di gi t a l , Pro Logic appe a rs som ewhat 

lifeless and lethargic. 

Wh i ch prob a bly means that for many 

en t husiasts – it’s time to make the ch oi ce 

about being serious about home theatre or 

merely dabbling in it. 

Don’t try Do l by Di gital unless yo u 

mean it – because the ef fect is sedu ctive 

and downright scary. 

O h , and for those who (like me) 

t h o u ght Do l by Di gital was the end of t h e 

j o u rn ey? I have a su s p i c i on it’s just the 

beginning. 

Thanks to Team Lakeland of Ha m i l ton 

for their help, tips and Laserdiscs. 

Do l by Di gital Laser Discs auditi on ed 

i n clu ded True Li e s, Gen era ti o n s, 

Independence Day, Twister, Red Arrow, The 

Mask and Strange Days.

N E W H O M E T H E A T R E 

R E C E I V E R S 

S R 7 7 0 A V R E C E I V E R 

High power output, delivers 80 watts per channel (left, centre, right) and 

30 watts to rear surround speakers for seamless cinema sound. Futureproof 

with AC-3 ready upgradability. Digital Signal Processing. Multi-room 

permits remote playback of alternative source in second room. 

S R - 6 6 A V R E C E I V E R 

Well-balanced power output delivers equal power to front stereo and 

centre speakers (50 watts per channel) and 25 watts to rear surround 

speakers. State-of-the-art Dolby Pro Logic processing. 30-preset tuner. 

Switchable A/B speaker sockets. 

D P 8 7 0 A C - 3 D E C O D E R 

Ultimate surround capability of decoding AC-3 datastream into six discrete 

channels for surround sound of unparalleled realism. Digital input receives 

six-channel digital datastream to preserve accuracy of signal. Independent 

level trim of all six channels. 

S R 8 7 0 A V R E C E I V E R 


75 watts to rear surround speakers for seamless cinema sound. Futureproof 

with AC-3 ready upgradability. Digital Signal Processing. Multi-room 

permits remote playback of alternative source in second room. 

S R - 9 6 A V R E C E I V E R 


90 watts to rear surround speakers for powerfully realistic cinema sound. 

Built-in THX and Dolby Pro Logic processing. Future-proof with AC-3 

ready upgradability. Digital Signal Processing. Multi-room permits remote 

playback of alternative source in second room. 

R C 2 0 0 0 L E A R N I N G 

R E M O T E 

Learning remote control – capable of “learning” IR 

commands from other remote controls. Specifically 

engineered from the ground up to provide integrated 

operation of an entire audio-video system. Logically 

grouped, clearly labelled buttons. LCD panel 

T H E D I F F E R E N C E 

In recent years, Marantz has brought its mastery of high quality audio to the world of home theatre, the recreation of cinema 

sound in the home… 

Marantz Dolby Pro Logic receivers bring cinema sound capability to existing hi-fi systems – and without compromising stereo 

sound quality: front L/R amplification is provided by high performance discrete-component amplifiers built into each receiver. 

The SR-96, SR870 and SR770 AV receivers are also AC-3 ready. Developed by Dolby Labs, AC-3 is the latest and perhaps 

ultimate evolutionary step towards realistic cinema sound in a domestic environment. 

Hear the difference that the legacy of Marantz brings to home theatre sound, at your nearest Marantz dealer. 

Hubands Appliances – Whangarei ph 0-9-430 0019 • E a s t e rn Hi-Fi – 

Newmarket ph 0-9-524 0172, Wairau Park ph 0-9-444 6980 and Rotorua 

ph 0-7-349 1870 • Smiths Sound Hi-Fi House – Mt Eden ph 0-9-623 2600 • 

Simister Retravision – Tauranga ph 0-7-578 9039 • Manawatu TV & Sound – 

Palmerston North ph 0-6-356 7184 • Absolute Audio & Vi s i o n – Wellington 

ph 0-4-382 9336 • Living Sounds – Nelson ph 0-3-546 8363 • The Top Hi-Fi 

S h o p – Christchurch ph 0-3-365 2041 • Strawberry Sound – Dunedin 

ph 0-3-477 7742 

Distributed by: Marantz New Zealand. PO Box 1041, Auckland. 

Ph 0-9-849 4160. Mobile 025-729 137. Fax 0-9-483 2558

O U R F A V O U R I T E T H I N G S by Mike Jo n e s 

Mini-system bashers ! 

T R U E H I - F I A LT E R N A T I V E S T O B U Y I N G A M I N I / M I D I 

For the march 1997 issu e , we 

t h o u ght we’d do som ething a little 

d i f ferent with “Our Favo u ri te 

Th i n gs .” In s te ad of pon ti f i c a ting on and 

on abo ut the hi-fi the Au d i o En z wri ters 

l i ke , we asked several hi-fi ret a i l ers how 

t h ey cope with the mini/midi-sys tem 

threat. 

What do they say to people who t h i n k 

t h ey want a mini-sys tem , but re a lly want 

the performance you 

can on ly get from 

buying a well - 

m a tch ed sep a ra te s 

s ys tem? What systems 

do these ret a i lers 

show custom ers 

as altern a tives to 

mini/midi-systems? 

For this arti cl e , I 

a pproach ed three 

s tore s . I spo ke to 

S teph en Ching from 

The Real Mu s i c 

Com p a ny in 

Well i n g ton , P h i l 

Mc Is a ac from Au ck l a n d ’s Sm i t h’s So u n d 

and Kevin Moylan from Du n ed i n’s 

S trawberry So u n d . Bru ce Ki rk by from 

Ch ri s tchu rch’s The Top Hi-Fi Shop also 

con tri buted some though t s , a l t h o u gh du e 

to time con s tra i n t s , a recom m en ded sys- 

26 

S T R A W B E R R Y S O U N D ’ S S Y S T E M 

Kevin Moylan from Du n ed i n’s 

S trawberry Sound came up with two 

s ys tems – one for maximum sound 

quality at an affordable price; the second 

for good sound and convenience. 

The “conven i en ce” s ys tem is based 

a round two Yamaha com pon ents – 

the CDX-390 single CD player and 

the rem o te con tro ll ed AX - 3 9 0 

rem o te - con tro ll ed amplifier. Kevi n 

m a tch ed these up with a pair of 

Mord a u n t - S h ort 0.5i spe a kers for a 

total of $1195. 

The “s o u n d ” s ys tem is based 

a round NAD com pon en t s . The NA D 

513 is a three-disc mu l ti-CD player. 

It’s matched with the NAD 701 receiver 

and a pair of Infinity RS225 speakers 

. In clu ded in the $1495 pri ce are 

cables from Monster Cable. 

tem was not supplied. 

Listen to a typical 

m i n i - s y s t e m . They sound 

t h i n , they sound tinny, 

they sound hars h , t h e y 

sound hashy. No number 

of “ s u p e r- b a s s ” b u t t o n s 

can fix this 

J U S T H O W G O O D A R E M I N I S ? 

I ’ve undert a ken a bit of l i s tening to 

mini and midi-sys tems (midi-sys tems are 

around 300mm wide – the width of an LP 

– while mini-sys tems tend to be aro u n d 

200mm wi de . Mi c ro - s ys tems are even 

smaller!) and spoken to several mini retailers 

about what sells and why. 

The impre s s i on 

I ’ve been left with is 

that many peop l e 

buying mini-systems 

don’t know of 

the altern a tive s . To 

t h em , m i n i - s ys tem s 

a re the modern 

equ iva l ent to the 

AWA Series 9 of t h e 

1 9 7 0 s , or the Ak a i 

Pro-Lab of the 1980s 

– a good , e a s y - to - 

buy stereo. 

But with one differen 

ce . L i s ten to an 

old Series 9 tod ay, and it can sti ll sound 

good . These sys tems en co u ra ged the playing 

of music. 

Listen to a typical 

m i n i - s ys tem . Th ey 

sound thin, t h ey 

sound ti n ny, t h ey 

sound hars h , t h ey 

sound hashy. No 

nu m ber of “su perb 

a s s” but tons can fix this. It’s difficult to 

l i s ten to most mini-sys tems for any 

ex ten ded peri od of ti m e . Is it any won der 

that listening to music has become less 

important for many people? 

Around 130,000 mini and midi-systems 

were sold in New Zealand last year – 

a large nu m ber, but down from the heady 

d ays wh en Pion eer vi rtu a lly inven ted the 

concept in New Zealand. 

O f a ll these mini and midi-sys tem s 

sold, there is only one model that I’ve been 

h a ppy to recom m end for sound qu a l i ty – 

and that costs $2400 without speakers! 

From there we developed this article. 

G O T O I T 

So does it of ten happen that a pers on 

Pe rceptions of sepera t e s 

systems are coloured by 

m i s i n f o r m a t i o n 

l ooking for a mini-sys tem wanders into a 

hi-fi store? 

“Q u i te a few ” do, s ays The Real Mu s i c 

Com p a ny ’s Steph en Ch i n g. Down sout h , 

Kevin Moylan from Strawberry So u n d 

said “because of the large student numbers 

in Du n ed i n ,” the mini versus sep a ra te s 

question “is asked every day.” 

The hi-fi ret a i l ers of ten find that perceptions 

of separates systems are coloured 

by misinform a ti on . According to The Top 

Hi-Fi Shop’s Bru ce Ki rk by, m a ny peop l e 

bel i eve that sep a ra tes are very ex pen s ive , 

and that sep a ra te com pon ents take up 

mush more room. 

Both miscon cepti ons prob a bly date 

f rom many ye a rs ago. In the 1970s sep ara 

te com pon ents could be very big – 

s om etimes more than 150mm high each , 

and did take up large amounts of room . 

Tod ay, s ep a ra te com pon ents tend to be 

much slimmer. 

Back in the bad old days of i m port 

l i cen s i n g, h i - fi s ep a ra tes were very ex pens 

ive – as were most imported good s . Over 

the past dec ade , hi-fi sep a ra tes have 

reduced in price to where they are cheaper 

in both do llar terms and real (inflati on - 

adjusted) terms than 

ever before. 

That a hi-fi sep ara 

tes sys tem can be 

p u rch a s ed for very 

little mon ey is 

s h own in the sideb 

a rs to this arti cl e . 

Three retailers have put together four hi-fi 

systems for under $1500 that will beat any 

R E A L M U S I C C O ’ S S Y S T E M 

“We’re not a hard-sell store,” says Real 

Music Com p a ny ’s Steph en Ch i n g. 

In s te ad the store is pitch ed on a particular 

ph i l o s ophy wh i ch seems to 

work well for the Well i n g ton - b a s ed 

store. 

Stephen’s system was based around 

trad i ti onal bu d get - a u d i ophile manufacturer 

Rotel. 

Rotel’s 930 CD player and 930 mk2 

a m p l i f i er get the thumbs up from 

S teph en , wh en com bi n ed with the 

TDL NFM2 loudspeakers.

1997 price list now available 

Simply 

The Best 

• Home Theatre Design 

• McLaren New 604/704 

pre and Power Amplifiers 

• McLaren Integrated 

Amplifiers 

• Sources, Speakers and Cables 

• Upgrades: Amplifiers, Speakers, CD players, Video 

and other Source Equipment 

• Performance upgrades for all Audio Equipment 

The best sound for your $ 

Customised to suit your needs 

For some very special offers join our mailing list 

Talk to the best – McLaren designer Bruce Crothers 

with 15 years of professional design experience 

and familiar with all aspects of hi-fi 

Amplifier Consultants Ltd 

Ph 0-4-478 6669 Fax 0-4-478 6669 

PO Box 13359 Johnsonville, Wellington 

i m a g e 

400 series 

Whether it’s the spe a k e r s’ massive 75mm He x atech 

voice coils that handle 1000 watt transients, 

or the handcrafted cabinets finished in 

selected wood veneers that impress you, 

the new Im age 400 Series has it all 

t e c h n i c a l ly advanced, affordable and superb sounding 

lo u d s peakers for hi-fi and home theat re 

Im age are ava i lable from selected audio dealers 

M o n i tor Acoustics Ltd • Au ckland • ph (09) 570 8090 • fax (09) 520 6229 

ICON mk11 California Audio Labs 

Analog performance to please the most critical listener 

Now incorporating the Pacific Microsonics HDCD FIR Filter and 

hand-selected Burr-Brown 1702 20-Bit processors 

Available from: 

Listening Post Axent Audio Absolute Audio & Vision Feedback Audio The Listening Post 

0-7-886 4149 0-9-827 1220 0-4-382 9336 0-3-548 4068 0-3-377 7299 

For more information on the Icon 11 and the California Audio Labs range contact 

Oceania Audio Ltd, PO Box 41-085 Auckland. Phone 0-9-849 3114. Fax 0-9-849 3307. Email sales@oceania-audio.co.nz 

27

mini-system for sound quality. 

A D V A N T A G E S 

So what are the adva n t a ges of a hi-fi 

separates system? 

“Sep a ra tes are de s i gn ed around a specific 

job,” s ays Steph en Ching of The Re a l 

Music Com p a ny. “ How can you ex pect 

e ach and every part 

of a midi-sys tem to 

do a good job?” 

Bru ce Ki rk by 

f rom The Top Hi - F i 

S h op points out the 

“h i gh er grade of 

com pon ents that go 

i n to the manu f actu 

rer of s ep a ra te s ,” 

giving both high er perform a n ce and 

longer life. 

S trawberry So u n d ’s Kevin Moyl a n 

points to the sep a ra te power su pplies in 

e ach com pon ent as being a large con tri butor 

to their improved sound quality over 

a mini-system. 

Both Bru ce Ki rk by and Kevin Moyl a n 

point out the vers a ti l i ty and flex i bi l i ty of 

28 

With a mini-system, 

what you see is what 

you get – whether you 

want it or not 

Audiolab 8000CD 

“For that clean, neutral Audiolab sound… 

superb build”—What Hi-Fi? 

At last – the one-box Audiolab CD player 

your ears have been waiting for… 

hear it now at your Audiolab specialist 

Sound Group Holdings 

PO Box 33-791, Takapuna 

Telephone 0-9-415 6680. Fax 0-9-415 6683 

separate components. 

Smiths So u n d ’s Phil Mc Is a ac asks “do 

you need all the bits in the midi-sys tem ,” 

adding that many people today don’t want 

a tape deck. With a mini-system, what you 

s ee is what you get – wh et h er you want it 

or not. A sep a ra tes sys tem all ows you to 

t a i l or a stereo sys tem to suit your spec i f i c 

needs. 

Pa rt of this flex ibi 

l i ty is a large 

degree of f utu re - 

proof i n g. You may 

not want a tape deck 

tod ay, but if yo u 

want to add one in 

t wo ye a rs ti m e , yo u 

can easily. Or add a 

Do l by Decoder to your ex i s ting amplifier 

to include home theatre. 

C O N V I N C I N G D E M O N S T R A T I O N 

And how does a hi-fi de a l er show that 

a sep a ra tes sys tem is bet ter than a mini? 

Simply by demonstrating. 

“Let them hear the difference” says Phil 

McIsaac. 

S teph en Ching en co u ra ges people to 

have a good listen to a mini-system if they 

haven’t done so already, and then come in 

and hear a separates system. 

If the pers on is intere s ted in mu s i c , 

t h ey ’ ll hear the su peri ori ty of a sep a ra te s 

system. 

Wh i ch means that they wi ll en j oy the 

music more, now and for years to come. 

Exceptional New Pro d u c t s 

Osborne no-compromise loudspeakers 

I have been searching for speakers that 

do anything like this for years. 

“Their efficiency and dynamics make music 

viscerally exciting. Their transparency and clean 

purity… are remarkable… and make the 

Osborne’s something you must hear. The 

Epitome [pictured] is a stunning full-range 

system of awesome capablities and a steal at 

$US6000. [NZ price is $6500]” 

—Peter Moncrieff in IAR 

Vandersteen 1C 

“Tell your family and friends about the 

Vandersteen 1c… here is a speaker I can 

respect, love and recommend without 

hesitation.”—Fi magazine, Dec ’96 

Music Labs DP102 mkII 

Professional Digital Processor 

“Stack the Music Labs DP102 mkII up 

against whatever else you were thinking 

of buying… and if sound quality’s your 

criterion, the DP102 mkII is your 

convertor.” —Australian Hi-Fi 

S M I T H S S O U N D ’ S S Y S T E M 

“One makes mu s i c , the other make s 

n oi s e ,” said Smiths Sound Phil 

Mc Is a ac on the com p a ri s on bet ween 

a separates system and a mini-system. 

Phil’s favourite mini-basher system 

com bines good sound with conven 

i en ce . Built around Den on com pon 

en t s , one rem o te con trol wi ll work 

the com p l ete sys tem , while a mu l ti - 

disc CD player can su pp ly many 

hours of music. 

The Den on DCM-260 is a mu l ti - 

disc CD player. Phil has combined this 

with a Den on DRA-275 receiver and 

a pair of the Kef Coda 7 loudspeakers, 

all for $1497. 

Phone Wells Audio 0-9-520 0257 

Also for Aragon and Music Reference amplifiers, and RAM tubes

Remarkable engineering. Unsurpassed clarity. Exceptional value. 

Parasound high-current amplifiers combine innovative circuit design 

and audiophile-grade components for unparalleled high fidelity sound. 

Whether you need a two-channel amp for your listening room, or a 

multi-channel amp for your Home Theatre, media room or remote 

zone, there is a Parasound amplifier that will provide a strong, high 

current foundation that can drive any speaker. All Parasound amplifiers 

employ independent power supplies for each channel, fully complementary 

class A/AB1 circuit topology with JFET input transistors, high 

current/high speed output transistors, direct DC servo, and rear panel 

gain controls. Gold plated binding posts, tiffany-style RCA jacks, and 

rack mounting are standard on all models. 

Other Parasound amplifiers available now include… 

HCA600 60w+60w $999 

HCA1000 110w+110w THX $1499 

HCA1200 205w+205w THX $2499 

HCA806 6x80w multich $3199 

HCA1206 6x135w THX $4999 

HCA2003 3x200w THX $4199 

HCA2200 

250 watts per channel 8 ohms 

400 watts per channel 4 ohms 

800 watts per channel bridged 

8 ohms 

only $4699 

Stereo Pre-amplifiers and Processors 

Parasound pre-amplifiers are all built around the philosophy that less is 

more. We keep the signal path as clean as possible, without any capacitors 

from input to output, and leave all the other extraneous bells and 

whistles to the other guys! 

PHP850 budget audiophile $999 

PLD1100 audiophile remote $2199 

PLD2000 balanced audiophile $4999 

PSP1000 Dolby Prologic $1999 

PSP1500 THX/digital ready $3499 

CBD2000 

Belt Drive Tr a n s p o r t 

$3499 

Digital has never sounded 

more analog and less digital 

than with Parasound’s 

patented belt drive CD 

transport. Jitter is virtually eliminated with the silky smooth belt drive 

mechanism coupled with a massive 3 ⁄4 lb disc clamp. Built by CEC, 

known for making the worlds best CD transport. 

Other Parasound Digital products 

CDP1000 audiophile CD player $1199 

CDC1500 audiophile 5-disc changer $1499 

DAC1100 HDCD D/A Convertor $2699 

DAC2000 HDCD D/A Convertor $4499 

2 Y E A R Warranty 

Parts and Labour 

Available from… 

Auckland Eastern Hi-Fi 

Tauranga Simister Retravision 

Rotorua Eastern Hi-Fi 

New Plymouth Masons 

Appliances 

Palmerston North Manawatu 

TV and Sound 

Wellington Absolute Audio and 

Vision 

Dunedin Good Hi-Fi 

Distributed by 

Pa c i fic Audio 

PO Box 9174, Auckland. 

Phone 0-9-524 8032. 

Fax 0-9-524 8037 

A M B I E N C E 

r i b b o n h y b r i d s y s t e m s 

For more information on this superb find from Australia contact 

Transline Audio ph/fax 0-7-578 5211. Dealer enquiries welcomed 

Axent Advance Loudspeakers 

Home Theatre Systems 

Trichord CD Modifications 

Loudspeaker system design and manufacture 

Public address and background music systems 

Loudspeaker repairs – all makes and models 

DIY loudspeaker kits and accessories 

Crossover components and grill cloth 

Speaker books and software 

25 Portage Road 

New Lynn, Auckland 

Ph 0-9-827 1220. Fax 0-9-826 0302 

29

T H E S O N I C G L A D I A T O R by Darren Knight 

Bigmouth strikes again 

O N C O L D L E A T H E R S E AT S , I T S U D D E N LY S T R U C K M E 

W 

, ’ , 

and with su m m er well past it’s 

zenith, our thoughts turn to fabulous 

hues of red and go l d , a utu m n 

even i n gs spent wiv Viv and the Fou r 

S e a so n s, bidding a beery farewell to the 

lazy days of sunshine and em bracing the 

solitude of winter as a time to reflect. 

And as the giant tu rn t a ble of l i fe take s 

off the 45 and pops on an LP, our musical 

a ppeti tes become som eh ow less dem a n di 

n g, breathing a curious Zen like qu a l i ty 

into the delicious dribbling darts of dancing 

dec i bels drowning del i gh tf u lly in our 

dreary days of discontent. 

Winter, a time for clipping that Havana 

and ch oosing those little proj ects to wh i l e 

aw ay the cold months ahead . This is the 

i deal time for all us hi-fi bu f fs to take a 

good hard listen to the old ste a m er and 

dec i de if the faithful Fountain could do 

with an ad d - on or two, or just a good old 

fashioned session of mindless vandalism. 

Let me share with you some of t h e 

t h i n gs I most like to do while the co u rt 

case is still pending. 

Po s s i bly, my mostest favo u ri te thing to 

bleat abo ut wh en in audiophile mode is 

why the hell Pansy Fruit Pu f f is the mu s i c 

c a tegory of ch oi ce amon gst those wi t h 

en o u gh dispo s a ble income to buy a flash 

radio worth more than the GNP of Guam. 

Are we not men? Sorry, PC punters, but 

I ’m wi lling to wager a bi f f on the snoz zer 

that the planet su pports more bl o ke s 

creaming themselves over Perreaux’s latest 

30 

Co-conspirators in Sonic’s latest scheme 

ch rome do u gh nuts than ch i ck s . Am I 

ri ght? So, why the preten ce of ra ptu re s 

over neo-quasi-pseudo-trad jazz, and stuff 

wri t ten before God discovered his firs t 

divine pube? Get off the grass mate. 

Time to throw of f the fishnets of 

oppre s s i on lad s . Rise up and bu rn the 

Reichstag. No more ballet and poofy opera 

for us. From now on it’s Wh i te Zom bi e 

and Tool versus the girlies. 

Sling up that geet a r, p u ll the leather 

pants up over the paunch, forget the shirt, 

s pre ad ’em and ROC K . Th a t’s it man, 

yo u’re doing it. Ign ore the stabbing back 

p a i n s , l et’s see if that pelvis sti ll work s . 

Lordy the big coney things in the speakers 

do move, by hokey, just like the nice young 

man in the shop said they wo u l d . 

BBBBaby, you just ain’t seen nothing yet. 

Hands up who re a lly thinks Ja m e s 

Tayl or is giving the new su bwoofer a ru n 

for it’s money? 

Now then. Perhaps the most indoor fun 

comes from fine tuning the hi-fi, s a fe in 

the knowl ed ge that the $400 intercon n ect 

l ets two or three more el ectrons pass, a n d 

i f the lounge were to be magi c a lly tra n sformed 

into the Sydney Opera House, you 

would definitely notice the difference. This 

approach is the pop out and buy it from a 

reputable manufacturer school of thought. 

But I am rem i n ded of an earl i er arti cl e 

of John Pa u l ’s , and I’m with him in the 

“h ave a bit of a punt yo u rs el f even if i t 

costs six or seven times as much and never 

really works properly” rationale. 

For the past ye a r, I have harbo u red a 

cunning plan. And that plan is eggs (stay 

with me on this on e ) . S c ra m bl ed eggs . 

Poach ed eggs . O m el et te s . Eggs on toa s t . 

Toast on eggs. Egg sandwiches. Bacon and 

eggs , and those little bo t tom bl a s ters , c u rri 

ed eggs . Mu m’s chu f fed . She thinks I’ll 

stop sitting on my arse listening to records 

cos I told her I’m taking up body building 

and need the pro tei n . But that’s wh ere 

s h e’s wrong you see . With every egg the 

d ream has become just a little more re a l , 

and now I have stacked neatly in my 

w a rd robe , s even thousand six hu n d red 

and three egg cartons! Ye s , this wi n ter the 

Sonic Gladiator gets his dream lounge! 

For the Sonic An ti Nodal Dre a m 

Aco u s tic Lo u n ge , or SANDA L , you wi ll 

requ i re the fo ll owing item s : 1 . Severa l 

thousand egg carton s . The ex act nu m ber 

wi ll depend on the size of your livi n g 

room and your abi l i ty to su rvive let h a l 

doses of ch o l e s tero l . 2 . A hu ge bu cket of 

ex tra good glu e . 3 . A de ad good glu e 

brush. 

Follow these instructions carefully, and 

your lounge wi ll be mirac u l o u s ly tra n sform 

ed into a shrine of a u ral perfecti on . 

1. Chuck all the furniture cos it just gets in 

the way. 2 . Move the hi-fi in case you get 

glue on it. 3. Using the extra good glue and 

the de ad good bru s h , s ti ck egg cartons on 

a b s o lutely every su rf ace (if you have carpet 

don’t sti ck them on the floor ) . 4 . Put 

the hi-fi back, pull up a bean bag and scoff 

at the losers who are now lining up to be 

your friend. 

What better way to spend a rainy aftern 

oon hmmmm? Cert a i n ly, I have a hard 

time thinking of anything more rewarding 

yet inexpensive, though I should point out 

h ow mu ch bet ter your hi-fi wi ll sound if 

you take the time to whip up smart shag 

pile ju m p suits for you and your new 

f ri en d s . Don’t want som eon e’s washboa rd 

abs reflecting off in all directions do we? 

Any technical qu e s ti on s , don’t hesitate 

to drop me a line here at AudioEnz HQ, 

and I shall do my best to get back to each 

and every one of you in that special Sonic 

w ay. Un til then , don’t buy shares in any 

com p a ny that manu f actu res aco u s tic su rf 

ace s , cos things wi ll never be the same 

again.

AC-3 HOME THEAT R E 

IN ADDITION TO OUR HI-FI 

LISTENING ROOM, 

Auckland’s original home theatre 

specialist now offers a new 400sq ft 

home theatre lounge featuring a 

multi-award winning $25,000 AC-3 

Dolby Digital surround system 

Picture: Toshiba 61”TV 

Best TV (this size) USA 1996 

Source: Pioneer CLD D925 AC-3 LD 

Best LaserDisc UK 1996 

Amp: Pioneer VSX D3S 

AC-3, 100w x 5 

Speakers: Infinity Kappa 7.2i main 

Infinity Kappa Centre 

Infinity Kappa 6.2i rear 

Subwoofer: Miller & Kreisel V75 

K a p p a 

Finished in real oak wood, the Infinity Kappa range 

of speaker feature woofers with Injection Moulded 

Graphite, Polydome midrange and EMIT-R tweeters. 

Kappa 7.2i 

3-way, 225 watts rms 

were $4000 

Kappa 6.2i 


were $3400 

Kappa Centre 


Dolby Digital AC-3 amp/tuner 

100 watts rms x 5 

On-screen display 

Intelligent remote 

Originally $4999 

Dolby Digital AC-3 LD player 

Both sides play with quick turn 

PAL/NTSC playback 

B E S T B U Y 

WHAT VIDEO & TV 

VSX D3S 

$3000 

CASH 

CLD D925 

$1868 

CASH 

CLD D390 

Dolby Digital AC-3 LD player 

Both sides play with quick turn 

NTSC playback 

$1242 

CASH 

NOW $3500 

NOW $2700 

OAK $1000 

BLK $899 

PA U L M O N E Y HI FI 

O P E N 7 DAY S 

83 VIEW RD MT EDEN PH 638 8555 

Miller & Kre i s e l 

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. 

M&K VX-7ii $999 

8-inch long-throw driver, 50 watts RMS 

10”H x 13 3/4”W x 10 1/2”D 

“(The) VX-7ii produces an amazing 

depth of bass from a modestly-sized 

box” Hi-Fi Choice May 1996 

M&K V-75 $1299 

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 

PH (09) 63 88 555 

YOUR HOME THEATRE SPECIALISTS

T H E N E W Q S E R I E S F R O M K E F 

When one of the best loudspeaker 

engineering teams in the world advances its 

s t a t e - o f - t h e - a rt technology, yo u’d expect the 

result to outperform the competition. 

It does. 

K E F ’s new Q Series, with its 

d i s t i n c t i ve clear cone Un i - Q ® 

d r i vers, delivers a more pre c i s e 

stereo image, over a wider listening 

area, than any conventional speaker 

can. The latest advance in KEF’s 

patented technology delivers 

e ven smoother midrange 

response and clarity that’s 

simply stunning. 

From bookshelf to 3-way floorstander, the 

e n t i re range is magnetically shielded for 

Home Theatre use. And because aesthetics are 

integral to good design, the two largest models 

incorporate KEF’s new ‘racetrack’ bass 

unit. With the performance of 

an 8 inch driver in the space of 

a 6 inch, it pre s e rves the 

slim, elegant Q Se r i e s 

design. 

With the new Q 

Series, the competition 

h a ve been decisive l y 

outclassed. 

The difference is clear. 

Pro u d ly distributed by Ava lon Audio Corporat i o n 

587 Mt Eden Road, Au c k l and. Ph 0-9-638 9000. Fax 0-9-638 8888

Final vinyl? - AudioEnz

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?