HI-FI & HOME ENTERTAINMENT REVIEW SPECIAL FROM

ISSUE 2017-#2 $9.99 NZ$11.99 (INC. GST)

MOVIE
ACTION
BIGSCREEN PROJECTORS
TOP AV RECEIVERS
TV AUDIO SOLUTIONS
WIRELESS SPEAKERS
MULTIROOM AUDIO
ALL-IN-ONE SYSTEMS
02

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 AV PROJECTOR OF
THE YEAR OVER $2000
Epson EH-TW9300W

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ON GAME DAY
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With the new state-of-the-art home theatre projectors from Epson, you can immerse yourself
in the action with Full HD and beyond images up to 300 inches.
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motorised optics.

For more information visit: www.epson.com.au/projectors

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 ISSUE 2017-#2 CONTENTS
TVs & PROJECTORS
BENQ X12000 AV projector 07
EPSON EH-TW9300W AV projector 11
PANASONIC OLED televisions first look 82
SONY VPL-VW550ES AV projector 15
SONY VPL-VZ1000ES AV projector 19
STEWART FILMSCREEN projection screens feature 20

SYSTEMS & SOLUTIONS

CYRUS Lyric all-in-one system 22
KEF/PORSCHE DESIGN Space One noise-cancelling headphones 25
PIONEER Fayola FS-W50 wireless home theatre system 29
YAMAHA MusicCast wireless multiroom system 33

SOURCES
ZAPPITI NAS & 4K HDR Player entertainment NAS drive & streamer 36

AMPLIFIERS/RECEIVERS
ARCAM FMJ AVR390 networked AV receiver 39
DENON AVR-X2300W networked AV receiver 42
DENON AVR-X6300H networked AV receiver with HEOS 44
ELAC Element Series EA101EQ-G integrated amplifier 47
MARANTZ AV7703 AV preamplifier with HEOS 51
NAD C 338 integrated amplifier 54
PARASOUND Halo integrated amplifier 58
PEACHTREE AUDIO nova 150
integrated amplifier 61
SONY STR-DN1080 networked AV receiver with UBP-X800 UHD Blu-ray 65

LOUDSPEAKERS
ATC Home Theatre Series loudspeakers first look 68
BLUESOUND Pulse Flex active wireless speakers 70
DALI Zensor 1 AX active wireless loudspeakers 72
DYNAUDIO Focus 20 XD active stereo loudspeakers 74
KRIX Esoterix stereo loudspeakers first look 77
TRIANGLE Elara LN01A active wireless loudspeakers 80
www.AVHub.com.au
3
 BEST BUYS
EDITORIAL AUDIO & AV
Issue 2017-#2
ISSN 1442-2824 2017

Editor Jez Ford

[email protected]
Contributing Editor
Greg Borrowman
Contributors
Greg Borrowman,
Stephen Dawson,
Jez Ford
Group Art Director
Kristian Hagen

O
ur twice-yearly review-fest of Best Buys Audio & AV often brings the Advertising Sales Manager
latest audio and AV trends into focus, and one repeated theme in this Lewis Preece
issue brings me great happiness. Indeed it is a trend that aims to reverse Advertising Traffic Di Preece
another trend the rise of the soundbar to become master of so many
Divisional Manager & National Advertising Sales Manager
lounge rooms for all things audio.
Jim Preece [email protected]
Now Im not saying there arent any good soundbars in the world, because weve
Production Manager Peter Ryman
reviewed some of the very best of the breed, from names such as Bowers & Wilkins,
Definitive Technology and Focal, and given them fairly high praise. Youll note that Circulation Director Carole Jones
those three are all established loudspeaker companies which produce high-quality
conventional speakers, and one suspects they entered the soundbar market simply Best Buys Audio & AV is published twice a year by nextmedia Pty Ltd, ACN: 128 805 970,
Level 6, 207 Pacific Highway, St Leonards, NSW, 2065 2017. All rights reserved.
because soundbars were selling like crazy, and were being bought instead of precisely No part of this magazine may be reproduced, in whole or in part, without the prior
those conventional speaker lines. One can almost see the gritted teeth around the permission of the publisher. Printed by Bluestar WEB Sydney, distributed in Australia
by Gordon&Gotch. The publisher will not accept responsibility or any liability for the
planning table as someone says Sorry guys, fraid we have to make a soundbar. correctness of information or opinions expressed in the publication.

Whats the problem with soundbars? Well theyre riddled with compromises. All material submitted is at the owners risk and, while every care will be taken, nextmedia
does not accept liability for loss or damage, nor for loss or damage to material or products
Theyre a dreadful shape for sound reproduction a long tube with an array submitted for editorial review, advertising or any other purpose. Equipment or material sup-
plied to this company should be covered by an insurance policy for the period that the item/s
of small drivers, plus amplification, trying to pretend its able to create surround may be in transit to us, in our possession and in transit back to you or your warehouse. The
sound when it cant, and handing over in the middle of the frequency range to a submission of product or material for editorial inclusion in this publication signifies accept-
ance of the above mentioned conditions. While articles and advertisements on recording
subwoofer which is often too small, and gets parked in a corner so the bass pulls techniques may appear in Best Buys Audio & AV magazine, readers should not construe
this as authorising or inciting them to make recordings of copyright material. In all cases we
to one side. The brands I mentioned above, and we can add the highest models suggest you contact the manufacturer and/or supplier of the recording to request permission
to record material.
from major soundbar players like Yamaha, they have produced quality results by
Privacy Policy: We value the integrity of your personal information. If you provide personal
spending significant funds to achieve clever solutions. Soundbars information through your participation in any competitions, surveys or offers featured in this
issue of Best Buys Audio & AV, this will be used to provide the products or services that you
under $1000 not so much. I dont recall one that Id pick over a have requested and to improve the content of our magazines. Your details may be provided
markedly different solution. to third parties who assist us in this purpose. In the event of organisations providing prizes
or offers to our readers, we may pass your details on to them. From time to time, we may
Well, there are no soundbars in this issue of Best Buys Audio use the information you provide us to inform you of other products, services and events our
company has to offer. We may also give your information to other organisations which may
& AV. Instead we have just such different solutions. Soundbars use it to inform you about their products, services and events, unless you tell us not to do
so. You are welcome to access the information that we hold about you by getting in touch
took the market through their convenience and supposed neatness with our Privacy Officer, who can be contacted at nextmedia, Locked Bay 5555, St Leonards,
NSW 1590.
though theyre not so neat once theyre parked in front of a
low-slung modern TV with wires trailing from their cramped
connection bays at the back. Convenience yes one unit, or one plus a sub,
doing all your movie and music needs, probably streaming with Bluetooth as well. A SOUND+IMAGE SUBSCRIPTION
Well, now you can get all that and more from a pair of active bookshelf speakers INCLUDES TWO ISSUES OF
parked either side of your TV. In this issue BEST BUYS AUDIO & AV EACH
we have examples from DALI, Dynaudio and YEAR SUBSCRIBE & SAVE AT
Triangle, active speakers that need no amplifer www.avhub.com.au/si
and can receive wirelessly, or via Bluetooth.
We have a neat HDMI-equipped sound system DIGITAL ISSUES OF
from Pioneer, and a little amp from ELAC, just the thing for TV and AV gear
playing through speakers of your choice, and again with Bluetooth onboard. And
SOUND+IMAGE & BACK ISSUES
NADs latest integrated amp comes with Chromecast to play from all sorts of apps.
OF BEST BUYS AUDIO & AV are
Of course if its real home cinema performance you want, an AV receiver and available on Apple Newsstand,
multiple channels are the way to go, and here too receivers are getting clever, with Google Play, and Zinio
two examples in this issue where the HEOS multiroom platform has been included
in high-quality AV receivers from Denon and Published by
Marantz, while the models from Arcam and
Sony can do their own streaming too, and all of
them able to deliver real surround performance
from your movie source of choice, be it Netflix,
Blu-ray or Ultra HD Blu-ray! Locked Bag 5555, St Leonards, NSW 1590
So lets get back to quality hi-fi gear that can Ph: 02 9901 6100
do sound properly, and still keep things neat www.nextmedia.com.au
and convenient. Thats what makes me happy. Chief Executive Officer David Gardiner
Jez Ford, Editor Commercial Director Bruce Duncan

4
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Speak to your authorised KEF LS50W dealer for further information. E&OE
 Best Buys Audio & AV 2017-#2

TVs/PROJECTORS

AV PROJECTOR

BENQ X12000

H
eres a projector thats loaded This LED system runs cooler than regular micromirror device (DMD), which in this case
with little miracles that add up to lamps, and without any warm-up time it starts has a grid of mirrors arrayed 2716 wide and 1528
something genuinely big Ultra with the proper colour temperature and at full tall. That comes to 4.15 megapixels, or half that
High Definition bigscreen projection. brightness. And importantly, its good for 20,000 needed for the 8.3 million pixels in an Ultra
With the X12000, BenQ continues its push into hours of operation. If you spent six hours of every HD image. But each DMD mirror can switch,
the higher end of the projector world, here adding day watching this projector, youd be able to watch moving the angle of its mirror and so delivering
a long-life LED light source to the clever XPR it for more than nine years before hitting the limit. another 4.15 million pixels to a slightly different
(eXpanded Pixel Resolution) that debuted in the The X12000 has two HDMI inputs, one posion making up the 8.3 million. Its more
companys W11000 recently, and which allows a supporting copy-protected Ultra HD from Ultra than a little gobsmacking to think about those
doubling of the projectors native resolution for HD Blu-ray players, and the other running to four million mirrors flipping 120 times a second
that glorious Ultra High Definition result. How 1080p max. Theres a D-SUB15 input, and the (for such is their speed), but this has been the
does it do this? Lets find out. other connections are all for control. There is no principle behind all DLP projectors for years, and
3D support on this projector. its only the number of pixels here and the XPR
EQUIPMENT Its a hefty thing, no lightweight for bringing diagonal placement of the second set for the UHD
Firstly, those LEDs. Where the BenQ W11000 (a out on special occasions; it weighs 18.5 kilograms, doubling that is new.
$7999 model) runs a more traditional lamp, this and its clearly well built. Theres vertical and
X12000 uses the Philips ColorSpark HLD LED. horizontal lens shift and a 1.5:1 zoom all PERFORMANCE
LED is for Light Emitting Diode, HLD for High manually adjusted, not powered. The range from Does the magic pixel shifting work? Yes indeed it
Lumen Density, the method by which the current the screen to produce a 100-inch (2.54 metre) does. The X12000 manages to reproduce each and
weakness in green LED inensity is corrected, here image size is from three metres to four-and-half. every one of the 8+ million pixels discretely. On a
by using blue LEDs to excite a rod filled with So, how about those magic pixels? This is a test pattern the XPR dodge creates slight imperfec-
green-glowing phosphors, a kind of tunnel to create Texas Instruments technology to which BenQ tions each resolution line is sketched out,
green light at high intensity from a narrow surface. currently seems to have exclusive and preferential although with some inconsistency in line widths.
High Lumen Density achieved! access. It uses the well-established idea of a digital But on real-world UHD material, we are confident
this makes no practical or visible difference in
performance compared to a native UHD projector
capable of more cleanly differentiating each pixel.
The results pretty much speak for themselves.
Watching a range of Ultra HD movies and digital
The BenQ has two HDMI test clips, the projector produced an amazingly
inputs one supports UHD, sharp and detailed picture, beyond that of regular
the other is for 1080p.
Blu-ray although normal Blu-ray is also

7
 TVs/PROJECTORS

upscaled beautifully to the

higher resolution. Indeed we
were finding it hard to point to a
native UHD movie and say look
at this to show a clear, objective
difference between the regular
Blu-ray and the Ultra HD Blu-ray.
Its more a sense that when watching
Blu-ray content theres a loss of
substance just on the edge of perception
that just isnt present with the Ultra HD
Blu-ray version.
So here, with scene after scene, in movie
after movie, there was a superb transparency.
And as with superb audio systems, the clarity
here can even be uncomfortably revealing at times.
When we first watched the superb X-Men: Days
of Future Past on Blu-ray, with a full-HD front
projector, we marvelled at some brilliantly realistic
special effects in this gorgeously-shot movie,
including street scenes from the 1970s. But then Black levels fell onto the correct side of
rewatching the Ultra HD Blu-ray version on this the threshold in which blacks look truly black
BenQ, the New York street through Wolverines unless youre peering at them critically. There are CONCLUSION
window was noticeably less convincing. Thanks projectors that can go way blacker, but in normal The BenQ X12000 is really quite the bargain for
to the clarity of delivery with this projector, it use you will tend not to notice unless youre the technology here, when native 4K projectors
looked as though it had been digitally inserted into looking for it. remain, even with a solid-state lamp, two or three
a window frame. Which indeed it had been (and Now, remember how we mentioned that times as much. If you can stretch to this kind of
most likely at 2K resolution, as many SFX still are). those mirrors were switching at 120 times a price but not much further, find a shop that sells
It is possible to switch off the XPR pixel second? They deliver the X12000s image at 60 the X12000 and see for yourself how good Ultra
doubling, using the Silence picture mode, which frames a second, and thats fixed its always HD front projection can look.
is designed to reduce the sound level made by 60 frames a second. So no problem for 60Hz
the projector. It switches off things which might source material, then, which will include a lot
make sound, or which generate heat which might of US-made TV shows from the likes of Netflix BenQ X12000
require more fan cooling, and XPR turns out to be and other streaming services. But with Australian AV projector
one of those. But you do not want to switch off 50Hz content, and perhaps more importantly r
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by some weird multiple to fit. It doesnt matter so to fit those frames into the fixed cycle of 60. So
much with standard definition material, but any for 24Hz movie content, the incoming 24p frames Price:

full-HD content is going to lose clarity. enter the projector as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 etc, and are
Of course, theres more to projector shown as 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 5, 5 etc. That Projection technology: 
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settled on preferring its Cinema mode, which is all the more obvious thanks to the very virtues
delivered accurate colours and a subtle, natural of the projector. DLPs switch extremely quickly, Aspect ratio: 
picture. This was more appropriate for most so theres no projector-induced motion blur, and Lamp: 1IJMJQT
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material than another mode included here a that makes uneven frame delivery more obvious.
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support WCG signals anyway, so instead it takes which were incapable of delivering 24p, and thus
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theyd be like with a wider colour gamut. The material. If you are sensitive to judder (and some SFUVSO
results were bold and often entrancing, but not people arent), wed recommended seeing this
really accurate, pushing too much red and general projector in action to confirm your own opinion Contact: #FO2
"VTUSBMJB
Telephone: 


richness into the picture. (of course we always recommend that anyway). Web: XXXCFORDPNBV

8 www.avhub.com.au
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 Best Buys Audio & AV 2017-#2

TVs/PROJECTORS

AV PROJECTOR

EPSON EH-TW9300W

W
e can kick off by declaring this EQUIPMENT EH-TW9300W is a good sized projector, fairly
projector to be the 2017 winner So, although its panels are 19201080, this heavy at around 11kg, with a massive zoom range
of the Sound+Image Award for projector can nevertheless accept full UHD signals of 2.1:1, and a nice wide range for both horizontal
Projectors Over $2000... and at up to 60 frames per second, and then uses all the and vertical lens shift, all giving quite a lot of
with Sound+Image being our sister magazine, you additional information from the UHD input in its placement flexibility. When switched off, a pair
might guess that were going to be heaping some efforts to create a much better image than could be of powered shutters close in front of the lens,
praise on this projector. At $4999 it is a brilliant achieved from 1080p alone. protecting it from dust and damage.
performer, with very little in the way of quirks, Firstly the resolution. The projector has pixel- Also giving placement flexibility is the
and several major bonuses onboard, most notably shifting technology which purports to be a kind WirelessHD connectivity provided with the unit.
wireless signal transmission. of 4K enhancement, achieved by remapping the You get a small transmitter box with four HDMI
One thing the EH-TW9300W doesnt do is incoming UHD pixel information into separate inputs (and a passthrough in case you want a TV
Ultra High Definition, often called (not entirely frames and overlapping two projected images, attached as well), plus an optical digital audio
correctly) 4K. Although it doesnt completely with your eyes combining them into, hopefully, a output. This box then sends the signal wirelessly
ignore it either. Obviously TVs have gone UHD sharper result than 1080p. to the projector, right up to a full 60p UHD
in a big way, raising screen resolution four-fold, Theres other information in a UHD signal signal. Doing away with the often long HDMI
from 19201080 to 38402160 pixels. The that doesnt come with 1080p. So youll get a cable run is a huge plus here and potentially a
projection market hasnt followed quite so quickly fair go at High Dynamic Range, which broadens big saving on HDMI cable costs.
the panels inside projectors which create and improves the definition of brightness, and Aside from this advantage of WirelessHD
images are actually quite small, just a couple of also a wider set of colours, with support here transmission, you can take this review as also
centimetres in the case of this Epson, which uses for the REC.2020 colour space. And the Epson applying to the Epson EH-TW9300 projector
three LCD panels to deliver its final colour image. implements the Hollywood-mandated HDCP (without the W in the model number), since
Quadrupling their pixel count is no mean feat. 2.2 copy protection, without which many UHD we gather this is identical in its workings and
But solutions are being found that go a long sources (such as the new UHD Blu-ray players) performance apart from omitting WirelessHD.
way to delivering many of UHDs advantages. And wont shake hands and pass the UHD signal. The projector supports 3D, but now that
this EH-TW9300W uses some of these to deliver Otherwise things are fairly straightforward, 3D is on the way out of favour again (ho hum),
its superb results. Lets find out how. with Epsons usual solidity of offering. The glasses are now an optional accessory.

11
 Best Buys Audio & AV 2017-#2

TVs/PROJECTORS

Right: the back of the Epson.

If youre using WirelessHD to
send the signal, only the
mains connection is required.

Below: plug your sources

into the transmitter unit and
WirelessHD does the rest.

PERFORMANCE But the native black levels (i.e. auto-iris rendition. However some UHD resolution is
Making the projector produce a picture of the switched off ) of the projector were extremely clearly lost. Theres a grainy, pointillist feel to
right size and with the right focus and pointing impressive and really, this mode delivered an even the recent UHD release of the original 1984
it in the right direction was a snap, thanks to the output level with appropriately dark blacks. Ghostbusters and that quite disappeared with
powered lens adjustments. These employ the usual When delivered a UHD signal with HDR this projectors pixel-shifted version.
convention of allowing button taps for the finest of and WCG information, the colour and greyscale There was one quirk with 50Hz interlaced
adjustments, and respond to a held key by adjusting delivery were smooth and extremely impressive. material perhaps because Epson designers live
fairly quickly. During these adjustments a simple The test patterns on Sony Ultra HD Blu-ray discs in a 60Hz country. Use your source to deinterlace
grid test pattern is shown. (accessed by keying in 7669 while on their main and deliver 50p instead.
So, what about that WirelessHD functionality? menu) showed a smoothly graduated ramping up
Hard to use? Flaky? Not in the slightest; there was of greyscale with no visible stepping whatsoever. CONCLUSION
no particular set-up required it took around Ultra HD discs seemed to deliver a benefit with That aside, the Epson EH-TW9300W AV
20 seconds for the projector and transmitter to natural green and brown tones, and a slightly projector is the best yet from Epsons conventional
move past their meeting pleasantries and engage more glowing scarlet aspect to some reds. line-up, which means that its very good indeed. Its
in some action the first time, and afterwards So we approve the ability to benefit from also reasonably priced. Dont expect true Ultra High
somewhat less, if still rather more than with an UHD signal information, though we couldnt Definition resolution from it, but do expect it to go
HDMI cable connection. The signal was delivered say it achieved actual UHD resolution. To do so, beyond mere 1080p inputs by making use of the
with 12-bit colour, 4:2:2 colour resolution and the pixels would need to be much smaller than other aspects of UHD, including High Dynamic
with the BT.2020 colour space selected right up to usual. The default mode does the pixel shifting Range and increased colour gamut. The results
2160p/60Hz a great deal of data going over the thing, which actually softens the picture a little, from this are quite brilliant at the price.
air, and with no visible degradation at all. but then post-processing (at the default level)
As for the image, lets begin with black levels. sharpens things up to roughly the same amount as
The projector has a dynamic iris that could, the original picture when fed with 1080p content. Epson EH-TW9300W
according to the specifications, yield a contrast Pixel boundaries are completely eliminated, AV projector
ratio up to a million to one under ideal circum- creating a smoother picture when viewed up close,
r
Excellent picture
stances. The iris has two speeds, accessible under but sitting just a little further away around 2.5 r
Supports 4K HDR and WCG
the Image menu: fast and slow. The idea of a metres from a 2.1 metre screen there seemed r
WirelessHD connectivity
dynamic iris is that it opens and closes to adjust little difference between the 4K enhancement and
the amount of light needed. Dark scenes can not having it on. Having said that, the differences r
Quirk with 1080i/50 and 576i/50
have the light clamped down. For bright scenes were clearest only with UHD test clips, which are Price: $4999
it opens up. For the most part the High Speed deliberately razor sharp, whereas real content from
setting worked very nicely, but it didnt seem to Ultra HD Blu-ray discs lost little of significance Projection technology: 3 x 18.8mm
work on the frame-by-frame basis of many earlier in sharpness, with the picture looking simply Polysilicon TFT active matrix LCD panels
Resolution: 1920 by 1080 pixels
Epson projectors, resulting occasionally in a little stunning, and we marvelled over the superbly Aspect ratio: 16:9
brightness lag, ramping up the output of a scene detailed rendition of the images, with first-class Lamp: 250 watts UHE-E
over a second or so. sharpness, excellent colour and a very smooth Lamp life: 3400 hours
Contrast ratio: 1,000,000:1 (Dynamic)
Brightness: 2500 lumens (white and colour)
Inputs: WirelessHD (4 x HDMI on transmitter,
1 with MHL support), 2 x HDMI, 0 x compo-
nent video, 0 x S-Video, 0 x composite video,
1 x D-SUB15, 1 x Ethernet
Outputs (on transmitter): 1 x HDMI,
1 x optical digital audio, USB charging port
Dimensions (whd): 520 x 170 x 450mm
Weight: 11kg
Warranty: Three years (three years on lamp)

Contact: Epson Australia

Telephone: 1300 361 054
Web: www.epson.com.au

12 www.avhub.com.au
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BEYOND."
Hans Wetzel
SoundStage Network

Distributed by
Convoy International

NADElectronicsAustralia NADElectronics.com.au 02 9774 9900

 Best Buys Audio & AV 2017-#2

TVs/PROJECTORS

AV PROJECTOR

SONY
VPL-VW550ES

W
hile we are seeing clever ways to brightness. But be reassured that other Sony 4K the forthcoming broadcast HDR standard HLG,
achieve Ultra High Definition models offer home-friendlier sizing, and pricing and some changes to the way the VW550ES will
projection by the superposition- witness the VPL-VW550ES 4K projector upscale signals to 4K.
ing of multiple images of lesser reviewed here, and for extreme room-friendliness The projector has a wide zoom range of slightly
resolution, there is one company for whose check out the new Ultra Short Throw VZ1000ES, over 2:1, plus vertical and horizontal lens shift
projection no such complexities are required which sits below your screen firing up, a very to allow matching of picture to screen without
Sony. And this is not only true UHD, but also space-saving proposition (see next article). keystone distortion. The zoom, lens shift and
true 4K, by which we mean that the horizontal focus are all powered and can be adjusted by
resolution is 4096 pixels, actually rather more than EQUIPMENT controls on the remote. (A menu setting allows
Ultra High Definitions 3840 pixels. If youre using If the price of this projector ($15,999) still sounds these to be switched off so people cant fiddle with
the projector in some kind of professional capacity like premium pricing, we must stress, of course, them accidentally.) For a 100-inch (2.54 metre)
connected to a computer, youll probably want that you do get premium quality for your money. 16:9 screen the projector needs to be located
the full pixel count. For home cinema, you should The SXRD reflective chip technology is high-end, between 3.05 and 6.28 metres away.
stick with the 3840 pixels across. Those pixels while a 280W UHP lamp provides the light. The only inputs are HDMI, making clear this
are native to the SXRD (Silicon X-tal Reflective The lamp is rated at 6000 hours of life (in Low projectors consumer orientation. They support
Display) panels within, with three 0.74-inch lamp mode) and a replacement costs $1150. HDCP 2.2, so itll handshake nicely with the
SXRD panels each having the full native eight- The changes from the previous VW520ES model latest UHD Blu-ray players. There are also useful
million pixel count, no jiggery stuff required. are mainly related to the High Dynamic Range integration connections, including Ethernet. This
Sony was so quick out of the gate with 4K information within Ultra High Definition signals. works with several major standards, including
projection several years ahead of competitors The VW550ES brings a higher native contrast Crestron, and some control via a web browser.
because it could leverage its expertise from ratio, and differently maps the HDR information In addition to native UHD and 4K display,
the movie-making end of the chain, and it within the brightness limits of the projector. the projector will map full-HD content on a one-
has developed its 4K projectors over those The baseline brightness in HDR mode has been incoming to four display pixel basis, so you set up
years, culminating in the extraordinary VPL- raised, and Sony has added manual contrast the projector for the natively displayed resolution
VW5000ES, an $89,999 beast of a projector adjustment while in HDR mode, to help users to overlap your projection screen to the left and
capable delivering up to 5000 lumens of find their preference. There is also support for right. A test pattern shows you the relevant area.

15
 Best Buys Audio & AV 2017-#2

TVs/PROJECTORS

Bigscreen projection in native 4K

the Sony VPL-VW550ES
has lumens a-plenty for
large-scale home cinemas.

PERFORMANCE match your preference, or indeed calibrate to the motion smoothing technology was first class. If
We attached the projector to our usual ceiling highest standard. But we think the defaults will be you set it to Smooth Low, just about all judder
pedestal, the only difficulty in installation being pleasing to most viewers. is ironed out, with no visible artefacts created and
holding its weighty body in position while the We also ran through our favourite 1080p very little artificial glossiness to the picture.
attachment was made bring a friend! Thereafter Blu-ray scenes, including discs that had been
an exact match with our screen was quickly made Mastered for 4K. Theres a picture mode for such CONCLUSION
with the powered lens shift and zoom, and getting discs, the main advantage being that these discs Given that Sony has had several years lacking
a sharp focus was facilitated by being able to stand are a precisely known quantity for the projector. competition on 4K/UHD front projectors, we
right at the screen while adjusting it. We did spend And they looked fine indeed. But then so did should be thankful that theyve done such a fine
a bit of extra time adjusting focus, because with just about everything else. Even our test patterns job of it. As other paths to UHD appear, Sonys
this projector there were no pixel boundaries looked ridiculously good. projectors still rule the roost for full-scale native
to focus on! The eight-million-odd pixels were Sony clearly employs some fine algorithms UHD projection at an extremely high standard.
packed in so tightly, and the reflective pixels of the in working out how to map 1080p signals up
SXRD display have such thin boundaries, this was to UHD. All jagginess was eliminated from Sony VPL-VW550ES
hard to spot. In the end, we projected something hard edges, including those problematic ones 4K/UHD AV projector
static and simply made it as sharp as possible. which are just off the horizontal.
With native 4K material oh, wow the But you may need some external upscaling, r
Brilliant UHD picture
results were uniformly stunning. UHD content as surprisingly the VW550ES did not support r
Compatible with UHD Blu-ray
r
First-class motion smoothing
really shows off the high resolution performance interlaced 50Hz material at either 576i or 480i.
here, even more so than on UHD TV screens. It did support 1080i/50 and the auto cadence r
Not inexpensive
With the ability to project a huge image, this was detector was largely adequate, although a little r
3D eyewear not included
just so much the better. Were going to borrow too easily fooled (only for a second or so, usually)
Price: $15,999
from an earlier characterisation of ours (not into video mode when presented with ambiguous
coincidentally from our review of an earlier material. On the other hand, Sonys Motionflow Projection technology:
Sony 4K projector) and 3 x 18.8mm SXRD panels
note that: This Brightness: 1800 lumens
Resolution: 4096 x 2160 pixels
projector just seemed
Lamp: 280W Ultra High Pressure
to instead paint on Lamp life: 6000 hours
colour in an analogue Dynamic contrast: 350,000:1
way, unconnected from Lens: 2.06:1 zoom range
any underlying dot Inputs: 2 x HDMI
structure. Control: 2 x 12V trigger, 1 x Ethernet,
1 x RS-232C, 1 x IR in, 1 x USB (for firmware
The colour was bold
updates)
and the black levels Dimensions (whd): 496 x 203 x 464mm
excellent, not quite Weight: 14kg
inky in their blackness Warranty: Three years (first of 1500 hours
but extremely satisfying of use or three years on lamp, first of 5000
nonetheless. There are hours or three years on optical block)
tweaks galore so you can Contact: Sony Australia
change all settings to Email: [email protected]
Web: www.pro.sony.com.au

16 www.avhub.com.au
EXPERIENCE
SOUND

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 Best Buys Audio & AV 2017-#2

TVs/PROJECTORS

AV PROJECTOR

SONY VPL-VZ1000ES
I
n the previous review weve seen Sonys 4K Given that the resolution of 4K is considered The projector seemed to run impressively quietly
VW550ES projector delivering its thrilling to deliver its full effect at distances at one-and- during the launch, and remarkably cool too, while
native 4K images, but the company has a-half picture heights away from the screen, you Sonys Michael Bromley pointed to its low latency
just delivered something rather different could place seating a mere 125cm from a 100-inch processing as making the projector also excellent
the new ultra-short-throw projector, the screen. If you try that, its a bit alarming, though for gaming applications and virtual simulations.
VPL-VZ1000ES, which fires 4K up from the certainly immersive the picture quality supports You can turn any wall into a life-sized window
floor, and does it with, mmm, lasers. it. Most will sit far further from the screen. But it to another world, said Sony at the launch.
The VPL-VZ1000ES is still native 4K, so still does show that the VZ1000ES system is entirely For modern houses and apartments with large
ready for all the latest releases on UHD Blu-ray suitable for relatively small viewing rooms with windows and limited wall space, a drop-down
or 4K streaming, if you have the bandwidth, a just a few seats, rather than your multi-rowed screen in front of the window enables great
from the likes of Netflix, Amazon and YouTube. dedicated home cinemas. viewing of TV, movies and sports. There are no
But instead of hogging room or ceiling space, You also get longevity into the bargain thanks issues with shadows or obstructions from ceiling
its positioning offers huge advantages able to to the use of a Z-Phosphor laser light engine lights or fans. And when the show is over, raise the
be as little as six inches away from the wall yet as the light source, replacing mercury lamps screen, and once again enjoy your view.
deliver a 100-inch image (around 120 inches is with semiconductor laser diodes that not only As weve already seen, native 4K projection
its maximum). The VZ1000ES is around 40% promise around 20,000 hours of usage (thats isnt cheap, but it is the real deal. Were currently
smaller than the previous-gen Sony VPL-GTZ1, a movie a day for 27 years), but also maintain reviewing the VZ1000ES, and our review will
although as the team admitted at the Sydney brightness and colour accuracy longer. Coupled appear online at www.avhub.com.au/vz1000es.
launch, its still not exactly dinky, at 925 494 with Sonys SXRD panels, the VPL-VZ1000ES
219mm, and weighing in at about 35kg. generates 2500 lumens of colour light output,
It does, however, deliver the goods in many 25% brighter than the VPL-GTZ1. Connections Sony VPL-VZ1000ES
situations where a ceiling-mounted projector are made under a bay to the right of the projector ultra-short-throw
would not be possible, especially given the size unit, with four HDMI inputs, USB, and remote AV projector
of native 4K projectors at this time. And where operation via a number of methods, including Price: $30,999
actual floor positioning isnt ideal, or the screen Ethernet. It features HDR10 and HLG (the Projection technology: 4K SXRD panel
needs to be higher, the VZ1000ES could easily be broadcast version of HDR), with Dolby Vision Brightness: 2500 lumens
incorporated into cabinetry below the screen. on the roadmap for Sony products in general. Resolution: 4096 x 2160
Aspect ratio: 16:9
Light source: Laser diode
Screen size: 80-120 inches
Dynamic contrast: Infinite claimed!
Inputs: 4 x HDMI, 1 x D-sub 9-pin, 1 x RS-
232C, 1 x USB-A, 1 x 12V trigger, 1 x IR In
Dimensions (whd): 925 219 494mm
Weight: 35kg

Contact: Sony Australia

Email: [email protected]
Web: www.pro.sony.com.au

19
 TVs/DISPLAYS
Pictured is an attic theatre from a recent whole-
home installation by Len Wallis Audio, for which
Alberto Vangi, Senior Custom Sales Consultant of
Len Wallis Audio, chose a 125-inch Cinemascope
screen (2.35:1) from Stewart Filmscreen.
Stewart screens are world-renowned for their
reference-quality image performance, and weve
had consistently excellent results with their
products, he says. The screen features motorised
PROJECTION SCREENS black side-masking which allows the viewer to
perfectly border the image for multiple formats.

SURFACE TENSION
Choose your surface carefully! Projecting onto a IN THE FRAME
wall may give you a large-screen image, but not the In comparison, any fixed frame projection screen
will provide a much flatter surface to project
quality that a proper projection screen will deliver. upon. A surface that is tensioned into a frame will,
Paul Kutcher from Visual Fidelity, distributor of in most circumstances, form a flatter and more
planar surface upon which to focus the projector.
Stewart Filmscreen, explains why. The flatness of the surface will eliminate those
previously mentioned artefacts such as rippling and
poor geometry on straight edges. It should also

W
hen I was chatting to the Editor The next time youre in your hallway or have a frame wide enough to absorb any image
of this magazine concerning somewhere you have a clear wall, take the time overscan from the projector, to assist with increasing
the subject and scope that this to shine a light along the wall obliquely and perceived image contrast.
article should take, I told him a youll be probably be surprised as to how flat The choice of screen surface itself becomes
story that was relayed to me by a customer who the wall isnt. Most likely you will notice waves, a little trickier given the number of products
was having a projection system installed into a undulations and random texture areas where and solutions in the marketplace. A stretched,
multi-purpose room within his house. After the flaws have been patched, marks from where rear-reinforced material, such as fibreglass-backed
installer had mounted the projector and pointed the plaster has been nailed onto the frame and material, will typically exhibit a degree of surface
it at the wall, he turned it on to demonstrate to patched, and possibly even the direction of texture due to the structure of the reinforcing
the customer and told the client that the image painting lines. This is hardly ideal as a projection material. Also, most cheap vinyl surfaces that are
looked fantastic, and dont waste your money surface upon which to get the best image out of manufactured from an off-the-roll solution will
on a screen, it wont make much difference and your new HD or 4K projector. typically have one side that is quite shiny and the
youll barely notice any improvement over the wall. Projecting upon a wall will result in an image other side having an embossed finish which is
Given that the customer had already ordered a devoid of image pop, as paint is simply not designed to be projected upon. The embossing is
screen from the salesperson as part of the project designed to reflect light back towards the audience done to remove the sheen of the material to avoid
that was going to be installed a day or two later, in the same way that a projection surface is. the aforementioned hot spotting, but unfortu-
frantic phone calls ensued in an effort to seek Dependent upon the paint used on the wall, nately the drawback is that the surface now also
clarity and assurance. you might also have hot spotting, a spot on the has a textured finish that can be detrimental to the
Unfortunately, this type of misinformation is image in a particular area of the screen that is resolution displayed on screen.
commonplace, and all it does is sow misconcep- brighter due to the false gain or brightness of A quality projection surface will employ an
tions, falsehoods and uncertainty into the minds the paint used. optically-coated surface that has been engineered
of consumers looking to set up a projection system If the wall has any sort of textured finish to and manufactured to provide a defined screen
in their house or business. it, you might be seriously impacting upon your brightness (gain) and will diffuse and reflect light
resolution, especially if your projector is a 4K in a preferential direction, hopefully back toward
BOUNCING OFF WALLS model. You will also notice that content having the audience. These optically-coated surfaces
A wall is simply unable to produce a projected straight lines may have poor geometry, and such provide the flattest, most planar surface upon
image with the same level of quality as a projection lines will undulate and wander as they move over which to focus the projector, and as a result will
screen. This is not surprising, given that walls a non-flat surface in much the same way as water also produce the best image performance.
are designed to determine room boundaries and ripples across a pond. This same rippling effect In conclusion, a wall is not suitable for
provide a space for mounting pictures, art, a clock will also be apparent for motion such as camera projecting upon if you are looking to achieve
or perhaps even a projection screen. In practical pans or zooms as the content moves over the even a modicum of image quality. Even a cheap
terms, it is near impossible to produce a wall non-flat areas of the wall. fixed frame projection screen will provide superior
surface that is flat enough (within commercial And just to round things off, if the image area performance to a wall, but only a surface that
constraints) to project upon without it having to be on the wall has not been framed or bordered with has been optically coated can provide the level
consistently worked and re-worked. The amount a black edge to provide a clear delineated edge of image performance that will make you sit up
of labour and materials involved to work a wall from where the image ends and the frame starts, and go Wow! Paul Kutcher
to provide a flat, planar surface would be more you will also have a reduction in the perceived
expensive than a decent quality screen. And that contrast of the projected image. A black border
is prior to any form of optical coating or paint around an image assists with increasing perceived Stewart Filmscreen
being applied to the wall that would also require contrast and also helps to focus the eyes to the
application, sanding, re-application, etc. image framed within the border. Contact: Visual Fidelity
03 9338 8995
www.stewartfilmscreen.com

20 www.avhub.com.au
Best Buys Audio & AV 2017-#2

21
 SYSTEMS &
SOLUTIONS

ALL-IN-ONE SYSTEM

CYRUS LYRIC

B
ritish tradition meets British innovation when you lift it, so highly legible, excellent Quick Start Guide that
in this quirky but quality box which with only a few odd icons to successfully covers everything
proved to be very smart in more ways find your way around (and sharp clearly and concisely in four pages
than one. The Lyric aims to deliver clicks from the centre nav/confirm buttonry, networking, source
pretty much all you need for a system except cluster). It can learn TV/PVR selection and the Cyrus Cadence
speakers, and to bring the traditional amplifier up commands, should that be useful. app for iOS and Android. A
to date with wireless streaming, app control, a CD As its all-in-one tag attests, more in-depth User Guide is
player for those still playing those digital discs, and you could just add speakers, available on CD and online.
radio too, with FM, DAB+, digital and internet given the amplification and CD We began with DAB+ digital
radio built in. Yet all still supported by those player on board, three radio types, radio, attaching the provided rod
fundamentals of solidly engineered amplification network streaming and Bluetooth. antenna, which was quickly tuned
on which Cyrus built its reputation. But its also well-provisioned to our local digital stations. Given
with digital inputs theres just a high quality pair of speakers the
EQUIPMENT the one analogue RCA input quality of the Cyrus amplification
While a great many classic British brands pair (turntable owners will need is quite capable of revealing the
have been sold into foreign ownership and/ a phono stage or a model with limitations of DAB+ better
or production over the years, Cyrus remains in line-level output), along with an The Cadence app nicely fits than most internet radio, but
private British hands, its HQ still in the UKs output pair can be set to fixed or a phone, with a neat input surprisingly compressed at times
Cambridgeshire, and it not only designs and variable output. screen (above) from which and with DAB+s characteristic
prototypes there but also still manufactures its Otherwise its digital all the you select a source then high-frequency sawtoothing of
distinctive hi-fi in the UK. The iconic Cyrus way theres USB-B for a browse through the sources, strings and high brass tones.
designs are half-width, with the fascia on the short computer, two optical inputs, two be they Tidal, internet radio The FM tuner was excellent,
end of the chassis, but the Lyric is not of this coaxial digital inputs, and two or your various networked and astounded us with its
ilk, facing the usual wide way to the world, and USB-A slots (one rear, one by the and USB-connected music sensitivity; given our roof
coming off looking rather space-age with its lower minijack headphone socket under collections. The Now Playing antenna, this was the first
CD drive section supporting an angular fascia a small cover front right, which screen shows artwork where tuner ever to receive our local
available, and displays more
where a 55mm-wide display is flanked on either is matched aesthetically by a fake community radio station clearly,
metadata than most, and you
side by a touch square and up/down buttons. cover on the left). The USB-A even on its weaker frequency,
can swipe sideways for more.
(Impressively the screen and the touch buttons slots can play from a smart device assisted well by the Lyric
Two volume control options
brightness can be separately dimmed.) and charge it even if a different are given in the app, with the switching to mono automatically
Theres no volume knob! But perhaps few input is selected. friendly slider working best. for weaker stations and you
people now interact directly with their hi-fi Cyrus Cadence is a can force its decisions via a
these days here you have both the app for PERFORMANCE simple enough app, with no settings menu, which delights us.
smartphone or tablet, and a high quality remote We salute the delightful packaging multiroom abilities, but it The logic of the settings
control, which bursts into life with backlit buttons here, and more importantly an proved reliable and speedy. menus confused us at first few

22 www.avhub.com.au
 Best Buys Audio & AV 2017-#2

of the menu options appear on the app, so you use Also notable was the
the front panel, and to enter FM settings when delivery of metadata to both
playing FM radio you press the back symbol on the app (which showed
the remote, not the Menu or Setup button, as notes as well as basic
you might expect. But this is more cunning than track information) and
it sounds, because Menu takes you to the very the Lyrics front panel,
top of the menu structure, from where youd have which showed track and file
to get through several layers to FM settings. But quality information.
back enters at the lowest level effectively a But most notable at all was the sheer
contextual menu button. Clever. quality of the Lyrics drive. The power here was
Playing from computer via USB, we were highly impressive in its apparent ability to slam, to
surprised to find that as a USB DAC the Lyric deliver dynamic swings at volume, where necessary
accepted only 16-bit at 32/44.1/48kHz, so no with jump-out-of-your-seat power edges. The sheer
high-res at all, even 24-bit. Cyrus labels it a a zing and definition of Audio Alchemys Marrakesh
driverless USB connection, which generally means was an audio delight, the plectrum strikes on and this Speaker Impedance Detection (SID)
USB 1.0, for which even older PCs dont need a string clicking with every guitar note, while drums procedure flattens that to within half a decibel.
driver, but which does indeed top out at 16/48. and percussion were so controlled and lacking in If you switch speakers, remember to unplug the
Yet the Lyric has a 32-bit DAC and will play up overhang it seemed you could detect the silent Cyrus entirely and turn it back on when the new
to 24-bit/192k WAV, AIFF and FLAC from other background behind the full ensemble in action. speakers are connected.
paths, and we gather that Cyrus recommends We use kd langs The Air That I Breathe as a Firmware upgrading is quite the task; it requires
USB direct connected drives or NAS storage in tester to see when speakers fail to unravel the layers 660 words of instructions, a cable connection to a
preference to computer USB. But computer replay here every separate harmony was individually PC, and a ballpoint pen, so that wed recommend
sounded great anyway, and for files of CD quality rendered while the force of the choruses simply asking your dealer to ensure your new Lyric has
or below, theres nothing being lost at all. We also grew without restraint. Its a wonderful presenta- been fully updated before you take it home.
began to get the measure of the power reserves tion from an all-in-one, and points to an excellent
available in this Cyrus. DAC implementation as well as power a-plenty. CONCLUSION
To hear its best shot, however, we attached Still more impressively, things were almost as Theres more in-app access to Tidal, internet
a USB hard drive of music to the rear USB slot zippy for UPnP networked music shares. The file radio (often grungy through a unit of this quality),
(labelled iPad rear). This is where the Cyrus format support was confirmed for WMA, AAC, a surprisingly enjoyable Bluetooth, and a minijack-
Cadence app comes into its own for browsing, and MP3, Apple Lossless, and up to 24-bit/192k WAV, sized headphone output. With all those digital
in this regard it controls the Lyric very effectively AIFF and FLAC (there seems no DSD support inputs, a system of some complexity could be built
(also particularly good at finding it when first at all). While you can store individual tracks to a here, or alternatively the Lyric could be entirely
opened, which can be a time of stress with many permanently stored network playlist, we could standalone, your CDs and USB and networked
app control systems). Cadence nicely fits a phone, find no way to create an ongoing queue, so you music delivered by its high quality amplification,
with a neat input screen (see left) from which you simply select one track or album at a time. and plenty of it. Sounds pretty smart to us.
select a source then browse through the sub-menus, The CD drive sucked in our silver discs to
be they for Tidal, internet radio or your various produce further delight, proving its claimed high
networked and USB-connected music collections. reading accuracy by delivering no discernable Cyrus Lyric all-in-one player
After selecting our USB drive there was a pause, difference to the same tracks played from USB.
which turned out to be the Lyric indexing the With this price and tradition (and performance) r
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playback queue as you browse, other than a master the left one at least, to measure its high-frequency
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23
 Best Buys Audio & AV 2017-#2

SYSTEMS &
SOLUTIONS
NOISE-CANCELLING HEADPHONES

KEF/PORSCHE DESIGN
SPACE ONE

I
t is unheard of us to wear a pair of review of brand cachet. But thats not it at all. When headphones, and we get the impression that back
headphones daily for a month and not write CEO Dr Jan Becker talks about the Book One, or then it was KEF consulting F.A. Studio Porsche
a word about them. Yet thats what happened Chief Design Officer Roland Heiler talks about for its visual flair, while now we see Porsche
with the Space One. Every commute, a the Sound portfolio, of which the Space One Design using that connection to get KEF involved
couple of short flights we normally note down is part (see our interview overleaf ), theyre not with sound for its own line of products. And the
tracks that show up particular characteristics of talking about mere aesthetics, but rather complete result seems a pleasingly even-handed collabora-
the sound. But really, what characteristics do you product design all the performance, but nice- tion symbolised by the detachable cable for the
want? A pushy bass? An overladen midrange? looking too, indeed function feeding form feeding Space Ones, which has a KEF logo on the plug at
Peakiness on high-mids? No, none of those. You performance. Theres nothing blingy about the one end, a Porsche Design symbol on the other
want nothing extra at all just the music thanks. Space Ones nobody stared at our head on the end, with no direction of insertion indicated. Nice.
And thats why we didnt write anything about the bus commute. But classy yes, with black cups and
Space One. They werent doing anything wrong. headband, and cast aluminium for the body with
BELOW: KEFs original M500 received a
a sandblasted titanium finish.
Sound+Image Highly Commended award for
EQUIPMENT When we first saw pictures of them, we its combination of solid sonics and neat design
The Space Ones are over-ear wired headphones, were struck by the resemblance to KEFs -- which had input from Studio F.A. Porsche.
with a button on the left shell to turn on active previous M500 and M400
noise-cancellation, magically removing background headphones, and were
rumble (plane, bus and train noise) by inverting surprised that Porsche
sound captured by microphones on the headshells. Design hadnt indulged
ANC is a travellers friend; fly longhaul with ANC in greater differen-
once and youll never fly again without it. Business tiation. But we had
travel is a key market serviced by Porsche Design forgotten that KEF
with its own catalogue of products, and when the had worked with
company decided to create a Sound category, Porsche Design
noise-cancellers were top of the list. on those M500s
So with the Porsche Design name on the too (pictured right),
Space Ones, theres a danger of thinking that and on the subsequent
the design is adding style rather than substance, M400s. Those were,
superficially Porsching up the exterior for the sake remarkably, KEFs first ever

25
 SYSTEMS &
SOLUTIONS

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PERFORMANCE popped open. We replaced the batteries. We were Why no Bluetooth? In nearly all cases,
The Space Ones are comfortable, and fit firmly keen to replace them because we werent fond of Bluetooth transmission reduces quality and
but not excessively against the head. Indeed such the tonal effect we were hearing when activating also limits available volume and with the
is the excellent seal thus created, there is a high the noise cancelling, but this proved inherent quality-first attitude of both companies here, thats
level of passive noise reduction even without rather than a battery issue. While the cancelling probably enough to explain the omission.
ANC, and passive proved our preferred listening was certainly effective, it added a boxiness to the Theres no control lanyard on the cable here,
mode, as well see. music and softened the sounds delightful edge, but we rarely missed it, and while the earcups
But first, the battery insertion. This involves which plays so well to their imaging abilities. Its pivot flat for storage, their yokes dont fold in
pressing a release catch invisibly hidden within not wildly severe; it was more the clear difference for really compact storage, so the supplied hard
the folds of the earcup, its position indicated only when switching from one to the other and carrycase will come in handy.
by a pictogram in the instructions. We could not it will matter not at all when you have them
find it, or work it. We pushed so hard we thought plugged into an inflight entertainment system for CONCLUSION
our fingers might go through the diaphragm; we a movie. But for music or even spoken word, we Try the ANC for yourself it will be great for
can only assume a sticky much preferred just the passive isolation with the aircraft use in particular. But for day to day, you
issue with our review headphones natural sound. may find you dont need it, which also saves on
pair. Eventually Because that was so extremely enjoyable. batteries too (though the quoted 50 hours with
we took the Everything in its place. As mentioned at the start, ANC engaged is very impressive). Meanwhile be
headphones to they did nothing wrong. The bass, for example, is assured that the Porsche Design input here is not
someone who realistic rather than pushed the full underpin- merely skin deep; this even-handed collaboration
already owned ning on the Barenaked Ladies Leave was presented with KEFs voicing skills has delivered a great-
a pair, and with real thrum and firmness but no bloat, even sounding headphone that exudes competence and
after a few when pumping over the rumble of the morning confidence across a full range of music.
attempts, commuite. Similar richness was given the stringed
he punched bass on the Blue Chamber Ensembles wonderful
through and version of Chick Coreas Childrens Song No 16 (a
KEF Porsche Design
the outer Stockfisch recording), while the taps of percussion
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26 www.avhub.com.au
 Best Buys Audio & AV 2017-#2

Roland Heiler, Porsche Design Groups appearance, since the product was clearly
Chief Design Officer. positioned as a travel headphone.
For MOTION ONE, our target was to create an
SOUND+IMAGE: Did you already have sound on utmost slim neckband, appearing rather like a
the Porsche Design roadmap before the work slightly thicker cable instead of a bulky housing.
with KEF came about, and how did the companies The earpieces have a rotating earbud to enable
make contact? the cable to be worn over the ear for greater
ROLAND HEILER: This cooperation with KEF is stability, the cable is detachable by a micro-jack
the first one for sound products under the and the earpieces are joining together by magnets,
Porsche Design brand. It is a result of our strategy to reduce the chance of cable tangles. To integrate
to deliver Active Noise Cancelling headphones all these features into a preferably small housing
along with Bluetooth headphones and speakers. was the challenge here.
These items are essential to todays style-savvy For GRAVITY ONE the challenge was to
business travellers. In order to achieve a sound differentiate the product from the large number
quality that matches our design standards, we of competitive products on the market, many of
partnered with KEF, a company with its own long- them very ambitious, iconic and design-orientated
standing heritage and reputation for high-fidelity already. Our typical standalone feature, design and
sound and refined aesthetics. functionwise, is the overhanging wings functional
However, the first touch-point with KEF was design, which gives space for the downfiring bass
a cooperation between Studio F.A. Porsche and speakers, in combination with the upfiring main
KEF for the first generation of KEF headphones. speakers. This allows for multidirectional sound
Inspired by the success of the M-Series, Porsche emission. In addition this architecture allowed us
Design and KEF decided to enter in a license part- to hide all the connectors.
nership in order to bring high-end Porsche Design/
KEF sound products to the market. S+I: With audio, the form itself can directly affect
acoustics, so was there more to-and-fro between
S+I: How were the three product types settled Studio F.A. Porsche and KEF than might be
upon, and what were the overall priorities for the case in other fields? Did the form follow
the sound range? established function?
RH: In close alignment with KEF we identified RH: Working very closely with the engineering
in-ear and over-ear headphones as a must in departments of partners is part of Studio F. A.
this segment. A portable compact and powerful Porsches philosophy, because functionality plays
An Interview With soundbar was the perfect and logical extension to
the two headphone sets. GRAVITY ONE, MOTION
a key role in our understanding of good design
attitude. Especially for the GRAVITY ONE the form
Roland Heiler ONE and SPACE ONE were to offer a new level was directly determined by KEFs request for an
Chief Design Ofcer, of design and audio performance to the most upfiring main speaker, due to acoustic reasons.
demanding consumers. As mentioned above, the opposite downfiring
Porsche Design Group bass even more determines the unique design
S+I: Can you tell us about any challenges that character. As we are well recognised by the use
were overcome, or design solutions of which of materials like aluminium we decided that the
At the recent IFA Global the team was particularly proud on these speaker should be crafted from a single piece
Press Conference 2017, three products? of aluminium. The black accents underline our
we enjoyed a presenta- RH: For SPACE ONE the biggest challenge was distinctive design language.
to integrate the noise cancellation components
tion from the Porsche including batteries, circuit board etc., while S+I: Many Porsche Design designs are timeless
Design Groups CEO, preserving a somewhat compact and sleek but technology can put a clock on shelf-life, say
for your smartphone or the Book One shown at the
Dr Jan Becker, on the The Book One, detachable IFA GPC, and to some extent with audio products.
tablet-computer with its
companys Book One, a gearbox-inspired
How does this impact on the designs and bringing
them to market?
stylish reinterpretation hinge.
RH: Our target is always to propose designs with a
of the 2-in-1 tablet- focus on functionality, exceptional and high quality
materials, that have a long lifecycle. However,
computer (pictured right). as you mention, consumer electronics do have
But with our audio focus, specific rules in this respect. But we dont really
we were delighted to be change our approach to design. The timeless-
ness of our products is typically a result of a very
able to interview Roland minimalistic design language and therefore even
Heiler, the Groups Chief products with a shorter life feature this same look.

Design Officer, who was S+I: Is the sound range ripe for further
able to answer our development? Any secrets you can share?
RH: Yes, new products are in the pipeline. As
questions on the Sound in the past, we like to surprise but we will of
portfolio and how it was course let you know in due time whats next in
this exciting product category. Interview: Jez Ford
developed with KEF.

27
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 Best Buys Audio & AV 2017-#2

SYSTEMS &
SOLUTIONS

WIRELESS HOME THEATRE SYSTEM

PIONEER FAYOLA FS-W50

P
ioneer has leapt into the wireless Yes, soundtracks Fayola is clearly designed That Controller box is about the size of
multiroom arena recently, introducing a to be used with your TV. It has four HDMI a normal hi-fi amplifier, though it looks very
platform called FireConnect by Blackfire inputs, then one HDMI output feed onto modern with its matte white surrounds and silver
to a raft of products including AV your TV, with all HDMI sockets being UHD- top. It arrived usefully stickered with a warning
receivers, soundbar systems and network music compatible, so things are well futureproofed. to connect the power cords of all speakers before
players. But here we have a full system clearly Theres not much else on offer in terms of turning the Controller on, presumably so it
aimed at modern lounges, with wireless this, physical connectivity one optical input and can do the wireless connections and make those
wireless that, and again the FireConnect platform one analogue RCA pair, which might be useful for decisions about the scope of the system to which
onboard to bring in the wireless music. And it all additional sources but wed guess are more likely its been connected.
adds up to another reason not to buy a soundbar. included to cater for those running sound back Having everything wireless does not, of course,
from their TV should the built-in ARC of the mean there are no cables. There are four separate
EQUIPMENT HDMI output fail to talk nice with a particular power cords for starters the price to be paid
Fayola comes in two versions with or without TV, as can often happen (though in our case, for removing the signal cables between the units,
its wireless subwoofer. Were reviewing the using a TCL 4K television, ARC worked fine). thereby requiring separate amplification in each,
2.1-channel FS-W50 stereo system at $2198, But of course that FireConnect technology and therefore a separate power connection. So the
while the same system without subwoofer sells as inside offers more paths to music, especially since Fayola hogs three sockets for the Controller and
the FS-W40 at $1599. We reckon the subwoofer it also includes Chromecast. To access this there wireless speakers, and a fourth for the subwoofer,
is well worth the extra money for the performance are a few terms and condition sign-ups required which also in matte white, a sealed-box design
level it adds (and given it sells separately for $799, for both FireConnect and Google during the 33cm high with a footprint of 27cm square. Its
you save a couple of hundred bucks). Either initial set-up. (Our Fayola had clearly been used 20cm driver fires down through legs raised high
stereo system can also be easily expanded into a before, so we returned it to default settings.) enough to overcome a light shagpile; its quoted as
true surround system by adding a pair of wireless And youll need Pioneers Remote App. Day to having 150W internal power.
FS-S40 satellite speakers. The Controller at the day, playing TV and movies you will probably use
heart of the Fayola system identifies what con- the nice medium-sized physical remote, but the PERFORMANCE
figuration youre using and automatically adjusts app makes streaming music and browsing USB or We have been excited about the possibilities
multichannel soundtracks accordingly. network music collections far easier. of FireConnect for some time (see our tech

29
 Best Buys Audio & AV 2017-#2

SYSTEMS &
SOLUTIONS

brief at avhub.com.au/fireconnect), having first We pushed tracks from our smart device, things may change. For example the app identified
encountered it in Harman Kardons Omni system, and they emerged from the MRX-3 in apparently the Fayola as the AC-400 and Free Style Sound
and noting its inclusion in first Pioneer then perfect synchrony with the Fayola. Internet radio System, rather than Fayola FS-W50. In any case
Onkyo AV receivers. Pioneer recently rolled out was shared, so was Spotify using Spotify Connect. you can rename your device using the app, so we
the technology as firmware updates across many Not shareable (though this could be just our early made it simply Fayola. It would be useful if you
of its stereo and AV components, in addition firmware) were the HDMI inputs, or high-res could rename the individual inputs too, since
to new products including the smart streaming music files above CD quality coming from either youre stuck with BD/DVD, Game, Cble/Sat and
SX-S30 amplifier (our review at avhub.com.au/ network shares or connected USB. Strmbox for your HDMI inputs, which may or
s30), and the MRX-3 wireless speaker which we But ungrouped, the Fayola accepted our may not suit your connected equipment.
used to test how the Fayola system could share high-res music greedily, and we streamed up to
its music around the home. Because in addition 24-bit/192kHz PCM, and also up to double-rate CONCLUSION
to being both high-res and multichannel-capable, DSD. (We were using an Ethernet network Neat and clever, the Fayolas HDMI inputs and
FireConnect allows multiroom input forwarding, connection; by Wi-Fi only single-rate DSD is prowess on soundtracks make this a great TV audio
grouping and control. Even video is part of the possible.) The Fayola inherits a Pure Direct mode solution compared with most soundbars and bases.
future FireConnect roadmap, and theres a new from other Pioneer products, which keeps things The cool tubular speakers do present a friendly
version about which little is yet known, called in as pure a stereo path as possible. wireless speaker sound rather than hi-fi clarity,
Blackfire RED (see avhub.com.au/red for what The sound from the 21cm-high tubular white yet the system brings a huge music bonus through
we know so far; it doesnt look likely that current speakers and sub proved a pleasant performance, its ability to network and stream music under app
FireConnect products will be updated to RED). better and smoother than youll get from all but control, plus multiroom through FireConnect.
Pioneer doesnt let the technology get in the the highest of soundbars, and particularly effective The Fayola proves a thoroughly modern system for
way of the experience, such is the versatility and at spreading a mix wide. Paul McCartneys todays TV and streaming needs.
ease of use here. The Pioneer app first gives you Every Night (24/96 FLAC, unlimited) was deftly
straight control access to your Fayola, which it handled, snare snaps in the right, guitar jangle
found immediately, as it had the other Pioneer to the left, and a solidly imaged McCartney in Pioneer Fayola FS-W50
FireConnect devices. With the app you can change the middle. It doesnt tick all the fine hi-fi boxes,
wireless home theatre
inputs, use an onscreen remote control and, once lacking openness and sparkle up top and its mids
networked by either Wi-Fi or Ethernet, select the notably boxy on some spoken word sent via
system
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Website:
XXXQJPOFFSBVEJPDPNBV

30 www.avhub.com.au
 A MATCH MADE IN
HOME CINEMA
Pair the UBP-X800 4K Ultra HD Blu-rayTM Player with the
STR-DN1080 Dolby Atmos receiver, for the ultimate home
entertainment experience

UBP-X800 STR-DN1080
See the unrivalled visual clarity of 4K UHD Blu-ray HDMI connectivity (6-in/2-out) with 4K/60p (4:4:4)
Discover new depths of realism with 4K HDR pass-through, and HDR support
Experience real cinema sound with Dolby Atmos Dolby Atmos and DTS:X object-based surround sound
and DTS:X support High-Resolution Audio-compatible
Hear more detail with High-Resolution Audio Easy Bluetooth connectivity with NFC
and DSEE HX Wi-Fi, AirPlay and Chromecast built-in makes
Anti-vibration construction for clearer sound and video wireless music streaming easy
Enjoy fast, stable streaming from a variety of services
thanks to Wi-Fi with dual-band MIMO technology
www.sony.com.au
 Best Buys Audio & AV 2017-#2

SYSTEMS &
SOLUTIONS

WIRELESS MULTIROOM AUDIO

YAMAHA MUSICCAST
T
he more MusicCast develops, and house. And this versatility expands enormously MusicCast has one extra trick you
the more products that are released when its applied to a hi-fi amplifier with lots of can even link in a Bluetooth speaker from any
equipped with this wireless multiroom audio sources plugged in, or to a huge AV receiver other manufacturer. Nearly all wireless speakers
platform from Yamaha, the more which comes positively festooned with socketry, can receive a signal via Bluetooth, but MusicCast
valuable become its abilities. This is particularly MusicCast will allow you to have pretty much any products can also send via Bluetooth, sharing its
true of the ability to share any input from one music source anywhere in your home talking to all sound with any Bluetooth speaker within range,
MusicCast device to other MusicCast devices the other rooms. Even vinyl play on a turntable or to a pair of Bluetooth headphones.
this is handy if youre playing your tunes to one in your lounge and you can have those groovy
of the wireless speakers, say, and then with a few sounds emerge from anywhere or everywhere. MUSICCAST SOURCES
presses of Yamahas app you can have those tunes This is the promise of multiroom audio made With your room and product selected, you
flowing through to several rooms, or the whole real, and without the need for a complex audio can control everything through your app. If its
installation with wires through your walls. a simple wireless speaker like the little $249
WX-010 lifestyle speaker (see overleaf ), then the
MUSICCAST ROOMS list of available sources will include internet radio,
So what, exactly, is MusicCast? Its perhaps best Pandora (free online artist-based channels) and
understood through the app that links everything Spotify Connect (controlled from the Spotify app,
together. This takes as its starting point all the subscription required). But theres also AirPlay and
rooms of your house in which a MusicCast Bluetooth onboard, available for streaming music
product can be found. Open the app, and all direct from your smart device or laptop. And
your rooms are waiting to be selected (screen theres the Server option, which will seek out and
above left). Pick the room, control the music in stream from any shares of music available on your
that room. Simple. network, from a computer or on a NAS drive.
If you want to listen to the same music in more The MusicCast system can handle high-resolution
than one room, or throughout your whole house, music as easily as it can CD quality or lower-
you can link rooms together. Tap the little Link resolution MP3s and AAC files (Apple Lossless up
symbol, select one room as a master (choose the to 24-bit/96kHz and FLAC, WAV and AIFF up
room with the sources you want to play to other to 24-bit/192kHz).
rooms), then select which rooms you want to link. But thats just for the simplest of the MusicCast
Within seconds theyll all be receiving the same units, which doesnt have any physical inputs of
audio, while on your smart device youll be offered its own. Move up the range and every input to the
independent volume sliders for each, and a master MusicCast device is added to the list of options
slider to vary the lot. on the iPad screen left you can see Yamahas

33
 SYSTEMS &
SOLUTIONS

LEFT: The Atmos-enabled

and award-winning YSP-
5600BSW Digital Sound
Projector, which comes
with a wireless subwoofer
and MusicCast, now in MkII
form. Scan the QR code
for our full review or visit
www.avhub.com.au/5600.

R-N402 smart amplifier (see also opposite) hi-fi, a just-add-speakers streaming amplifier (the impressed recently by the R-N402 which adds
offering all those streaming services but also its WXA-50, opposite top). MusicCast to what is more or less a conventional
various digital and analogue inputs as source Many companies have added a soundbar hi-fi amplifier, and it shows how the addition of
selections. Not only can you select these to play and sometimes two as part of their ecosystem. smarts can completely transform a whole product
via the app, you can share them to other rooms. But from the start Yamaha promised to include category, because while you could plug in various
If your CD player is plugged into this amp, you MusicCast in as many of its products as possible, sources to the R-N402, you could equally just
can send that on to a small speaker in the kitchen, not just a separate collection, and this promise add speakers and enjoy a smart streaming and tidy
or a Frame hanging in your bedroom. has been delivered upon. system with nothing else added.
The most extreme example of this would be So MusicCast is not in one or two soundbars, Even more compact a system solution comes
Yamahas top Aventage integrated AV receiver, but in soundbars from entry-level up to the from our favourite MusicCast product, the
the RX-A3060 (right), which won Sound+Images companys top model with Dolby Atmos, the YSP- NX-N500 stereo active speakers at $999, which
2017 AV Receiver of the Year over $2000. The 5600BSW, now in mark II form you can read deliver true hi-fi sound in such fine-sounding
back panel of such an AV receiver is populated our original review at the link noted above. proper stereo that it won Sound+Images 2016
with dozens of inputs, almost all made available to There are standalone wireless speakers, but also Multiroom Component of the Year. Links to the
the MusicCast app and network. lifestyle solutions like the Frame range which full review by URL or QR code are shown.
offers hang-on-the-wall sound systems. Compact At the other end of the spectrum, Sound+Image
MUSICCAST PRODUCTS hi-fi systems and active speakers are also equipped recently dropped a 2017 award on the afore-
As noted, Yamaha has expanded the MusicCast with MusicCast abilities. mentioned Aventage RX-A3060 networked AV
platform into such a wide range of products that And with Yamaha long famed for its AV receiver; again theres a link here to the full review.
we cant include them all here its even now receivers, its no surprise to find that every one of The new 2017/8 Aventage receivers are arriving in
available in one of the companys Disklavier grand the latest Aventage series has MusicCast inside. Australia as we go to press, and well be reviewing
piano. These can play themselves (keys moving the latest of them in Sound+Image very shortly.
on their own, slightly spooky), and now the A FEW FAVOURITES
piano sounds can be piped through MusicCast to Weve reviewed a good many MusicCast CONCLUSION
Yamaha hi-fi through out the home. components, from small portables to that top AV So while other manufacturers are now extending
As with other multiroom platforms, Yamaha receiver, with many of our full reviews available their multiroom systems to a wider range of
has the basic ecosystem covered several sizes to read on AVHubcom.au. Opposite weve product, we reckon Yamaha MusicCast has a
of wireless speakers, a streamer to add to your summarised some of these. We were particularly headstart in this diversity, while its app and
MusicCast offerings are at the top of the tree, and
its product quality second to none.
There are, perhaps, two ways to enjoy
MusicCast. You may have simply chosen a Yamaha
product on its main merits, and find you have
MusicCast as a bonus, and a big bonus too.
But now you know what the platform can
achieve, its worth planning more carefully in
advance. What might work best in your main
music room or AV space? And then how might
you choose to expand the system either now or
later using further MusicCast-enabled products
around the home? Its an interesting change in
the traditional hi-fi upgrade path that instead of
simply making your system better, you can now
choose to upgrade horizontally, by expanding
your music throughout your home. And were of
THE MUSICCAST APP. Start with one room, link other rooms, the firm opinion that you simply cant have too
pick your source from the main room, and control them all. much music in your life.

34 www.avhub.com.au
 Best Buys Audio & AV 2017-#2

Yamaha WXA-50 ($699)

This is perhaps the simplest
MusicCast component the
just-add-speakers solution for
Yamahas MusicCast wireless
multiroom system. The $699
WXA-50 provides amplification
plus all the MusicCast streaming
abilities, so it can create a Music-
ABOVE: Yamahas Aventage Cast zone just by plugging in any
AV receivers all have MusicCast pair of speakers. There are also a couple of inputs AirPlay, Bluetooth and DLNA network streaming,
inside, making them a hub one analogue input (and output), one optical various online music services, and MusicCasts
for your home as well as your digital, which makes it good for a compact TV still unique abilities to send via Bluetooth as well
AV system. Our review of the
and music solution in the lounge, or for a simple as receive, handy for chaining on a second (any
$2999 RX-A3060 range-topper
for 2016/7 can be read at secondary system in any room. We love the design brand) Bluetooth speaker, or for playing its output
www.avhub.com.au/a3060. with its nod to classic hi-fi components here through Bluetooth headphones. The power rating
rendered in miniature (it is just 21cm wide), and it is 70W per channel (specified into 6 ohms with
has the full suite of MusicCast abilities including 0.06% THD). Its a great little performer.

Yamaha WX-010 ($249)

The smallest member of the MusicCast Spotifys app and of course any
family is a compact wireless speaker unit some other service via Bluetooth
16cm high and with a 12 x 13cm footprint its direct from
just the thing for a bedside table of office space. your device, or
We found its tonal character varies dramatically AirPlay using your
with listening distance, and also for different home network.
volumes, with a lift of bass underpinning music Its connectivity
at lower levels to prevent too thin a sound, while also includes the
the relative accuracy as you raise the level to ability to operate
90% allows enjoyable listening for a range of in stereo with a
styles. It is not a spacious sound this is, after second WX-010.
ABOVE: The award-winning all, a mono speaker, using one 25cm tweeter So definitely the
active stereo wireless and a 9cm woofer supported by a couple of entry-level point for
NX-N500 speakers at $999 passive radiators. The big miracle here is that this eco-system, or
are perhaps our favourite something so small has access to so many ways ideal for extending
MusicCast product. Scan the
to play DLNA streaming from network music your multiroom
QR code for our full review
or visit www.avhub.com.au/ shares, internet radio and Pandora from the streaming experience
yamahastudio. MusicCast app and Spotify Connect from to an additional zone.

Yamaha R-N402 ($799)

Why have just a smart speaker when you have play by Bluetooth or AirPlay, network streaming at the same time unless theyre both an unusual
have a whole proper hi-fi system which is just as or from online music sources,which includes inter- 16 ohms). Otherwise you can use the Yamaha
smart? We love how companies are beginning net radio, while the R-N402 also brings FM and AM R-N402 just like any traditional hi-fi amplifier via
to put their smart streaming platforms inside tuners (but not DAB+ digital), with antenna inputs its front panel or supplied remote control or
proper hi-fi amplifiers, and Yamahas R-N402 is the and antennas provided. As an amplifier it uses a start up your MusicCast app and enjoy all that
perfect example. Its a stereo integrated ampli- variant of Class D, which allows far higher levels smartness, including the ability to forward any of
fier with three analogue inputs on RCA pairs, one of power than Class-AB circuits might at this price, the amps inputs on to other MusicCast devices,
of these a tape-type loop with an output, plus though Yamahas figures are sometimes a little and even to a non-Yamaha Bluetooth speaker
two digital inputs at the rear one optical, one hard to interpret 2 x 100W is the headline into thanks to MusicCasts ability to send via Bluetooth
coaxial and a USB slot on the front to which eight ohms, though quoting 0.2% THD at a figure as well as receive. This combination of classic
you can attach sticks or drives of files. Theres no of 50W but it performed up to and above its with multiroom streaming abilities positions the
USB-B for computer, and a single optical input is level, and there are two sets of speaker terminals Yamaha amplifier as a leading example of the new
a little light for todays world, but of course with here, so you can attach Aand B speaker pairs breed of smart, networked, multiroom-capable
MusicCast built in there are many other ways to (though you should are advised not to use both music hubs for the home.

Yamaha MusicCast
wireless multiroom system
r
So many paths to music
r
Well-designed and versatile app
r
Enormous range of MusicCast products

r
Just the need to choose...

Contact: Yamaha Music Australia

Telephone: 1300 739 411
Website: au.yamaha.com

35
 SOURCES

ENTERTAINMENT STORAGE & MEDIA PLAYER

ZAPPITI 4K HDR
PLAYERS & NAS

I
ts quite the debate at
present ownership versus
streaming. Do we keep copies of our
music and movies, either as physical discs from the hard drive installed, you connect
or as files, or do we abandon convention and live the company the Player to your network, connect the
our lives entirely on subscription? The answer, of included three physical HDMI output to your AV system or TV, then
course, is neither one nor the other most of us players (see opposite) and a software view your video library through the main Zappiti
will continue to do both for the foreseeable future. playback interface called Zappiti Media Centre. Media Centre app, which displays full artwork and
How do you store and serve up your movie The players provide the option of local hard-drive titles, or a video wall (image above). And Zappiti
and music collection? Loading discs into players storage in addition to playing back over your adds movie information for you synopses, tech
around the home is starting to seem rather 20th network from computer or NAS drive, all under specs and genre information. When you add new
century. The dream would be one of those fancy control of apps running on the player. And there files, Zappiti sends identifying data to its servers
media servers which serves up your media with are plenty of apps available, because the Zappiti out there on the internet, and hopefully finds a
snazzy graphic interfaces and networking around players use an Android operating system and can match, downloading cover art and fairly detailed
the home. But of course those cost thousands and download any compatible apps from the Google movie information.
thousands of dollars. Or do they? play store. So while Zappitis own pair of playback And not only is the interface gorgeous, so
apps (Media Centre for local storage, Explorer for is the picture quality. It upscales very well, and
ZAPPITI MEDIA CENTRE attached and network playback) do the day-to-day actually claims to improve things via the wonder
Zappitis French design team had a clear goal playback, other apps can provide further options. of Zappiti MagicPixel technology, which seems to
from the start to deliver that rich movie server We were highly impressed when we played with claim improved dynamics, accuracy colorimetry,
experience, snazzy menus and all, but to do it the original Zappiti player, the middle size of the more contrast, solid deinterlacing and better
without breaking the bank. The initial offering three. Setting up was quick and idiot-proof. With upscaling. The results speak for themselves.

36 www.avhub.com.au
 Best Buys Audio & AV 2017-#2

ZAPPITI 4K PLAYERS
When we first reviewed the 4K players, their only
drawback seemed to be that the HDMI outputs
were 1.4, so they didnt support 4K at high frame
rates, or with High Dynamic Range. Thats all
changed with the new generation of players
their HDMI 2.0 outputs allow storage and replay
of Ultra HD and 4K up to 60 frames per second,
including HDR, 10-bit colour encoding, and also
support for H265/HVEC files right up to 4K,
allowing users to save greatly on disk space.
An upgraded chipset inside also doubles
processing speed and allows for still further
improvements in graphics handling.
The three media players start with the $450
Zappiti Mini 4K HDR, the most compact unit.
This has three USB slots (including one USB 3.0),
a SD/MMC card reader, and it connects to your
network by dual-band Wi-Fi or Ethernet. While it ZAPPITI NAS The Zappiti NAS and player are seriously
doesnt have space for a hard drive inside, it sports The final ace up Zappitis sleeve is its NAS impressive bits of kit. Its not just that they work,
a SATA connector so you can use an external one. drive offering (pictured above), which not only but that they work smoothly, with most aspects of
Next up is the $550 Zappiti One 4K HDR, a provides eight bays to hold hard drives (it comes the system thought through to deliver maximum
media player equipped with a hot-swap internal unpopulated), but also has a disc tray from which convenience to the user. You can, for example,
SATA HDD 3.5-inch rack so you can add a you can rip CDs, DVDs and Blu-rays into that have separate collections for different family
drive of your choice for local storage (see left) in storage. Any of your Zappiti players can then members, and you can use the Movie Sagas
addition to its sockets and networking. stream content from this central storage. function to place all your Star Wars or LOTR files
Top of the players is the $650 Zappiti Duo When we reviewed the Zappiti NAS we were in groups, sorted by release date and displayed in
4K HDR, claimed as the worlds first 4K HDR delighted by its ease of use. We popped a DVD an impressive carousel. 3D movies are handled
media player with a hot-swap internal SATA HDD into the optical drive tray, closed it and the unit without problems. And Zappiti Sync keeps your
3.5-inch dual rack, a total capacity of up to 32TB. got to work, ripping its contents. Thirty-five collections automatically synchronised between
Another recent innovation for the new minutes later the tray opened up, job done. Then Zappiti players and your computers.
players is Zappiti Share, which allows you to the Zappiti software added all those movie details, The NAS is flexible to grow with your storage
share content between multiple Zappiti units in and the DVD was made available to the network needs, since you can start with a couple of drives
different rooms. Its like a traditional multiroom as a complete disc, with menus and special extras (they can RAID for data protection) and add more
audio system, but with video sharing. and so on. as required. And with Zappiti Share, you get a
Talking of audio, all Zappiti players also handle Its different with Blu-ray discs. With these, true multiroom video system and playback up to
music file playback up to 24-bit/192kHz, which it rips just the movie, not all the other stuff, four files in Blu-ray quality at the same time for
can be output via HDMI or from their optical grabbing the biggest title on the disc. Its just different rooms. It is, in a nutshell, the high-end
digital outputs. Another change for the better is a possible this may not be the movie in one movie (and music) experience we all dream of,
new remote control (left) with backlighting a instance we found it had ripped the 132-minute but without the high-end prices.
much better experience in a theatre environment. Icon Mode version of a movie, intercut with
Avation, the Australian distributor for Zappiti, making-of segments and directors commentary.
also still has the original players available, so if But it worked fine on all the other discs we tried,
Zappiti NAS &
you dont need the full 4K abilities and faster ripping them in around 40 minutes. Playback 4K HDR players
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37
 Best Buys Audio & AV 2017-#2

AMPS/RECEIVERS

NETWORKED AV RECEIVER

ARCAM FMJ AVR390

A
rcam hails from the UK, where it The $3995 of this model buys you seven Four of
built its reputation on high-quality times 80W into eight ohms. The top-of-the- line those
amplification and also a penchant AVR850 is close to $9000 and comes with seven channels
for bravely investing in technologies times 120W into eight ohms. But it uses a very are via
that were often only being developed by different Class G amplifier technology, and pre-outs,
giant international companies such as explicitly supports four-ohm loads, delivering to which
CD mechanisms and Blu-ray players. Todays an enormous 200W into those. Apparently it is youll need
AV receivers combine many ever-changing recommended for the AVR390 that eight-ohm to add
technologies with multiple channels of power impedance loudspeakers be used, though the power amps,
so perhaps its no surprise that Arcam has manual doesnt make a big thing of it, noting it but it means
garnered itself a reputation for these as well. only in one graphic of the rear panel. that you have Arcams MusicLife app can
The tuner here is firmly modern in offering the choice to go double as a controller for the
AVR390, while theres also a
EQUIPMENT FM and DAB+, rather than the old FM/AM type. all the way to 11 smart physical remote control.
The company current has three models of multi- While most of Australia is still a DAB-free zone, channels should
channel receivers the AVR390, AVR550 and those in the capital cities (Hobart soon) can enjoy you so wish.
the AVR850. (There is also a processor which can digital radios easy tuning and selection by name. Second, it is thoroughly up-to-date in video
be combined with various power amps, and also a As for audio-visual stuff, its hard to see handling, with all but one of its seven HDMI
very fine stereo receiver in the SR250.) anything missing. In addition to the bullet-proof inputs complying with the HDMI 2.0a specifica-
Here we look at the entry-level model, the construction (16.7kg!), the Arcam FMJ AVR390 tion and HDCP 2.2 copy protection. (The one
Arcam FMJ AVR390. But its worth noting that features full support for everything that you might that doesnt supports MHL instead, a standard
those three AV receivers appear to be identical to need for a fine movie or music performance. for sharing from Android phones.)
each other in every respect excepting only their First off, theres decoding. It does all the usual Its video handling is so up-to-date that it has
power outputs. So if you go for the entry-level surround formats including Dolby Atmos and abandoned analogue video entirely. There are no
model you lose absolutely nothing in functionality. DTS:X. And not half-hearted 5.1.2, but 7.1.4. composite or component video inputs or outputs;

39
 AMPS/
RECEIVERS

its HDMI all the way. The video is straight

through as well, with almost no processing other
than the overlaying of some on-screen messages.
The exception are 1080p signals, which the
receiver can upscale to Ultra HD, although we
generally advise leaving this to your UHD display.
The receiver offers support for music delivered
via the USB socket at the rear, and also network
audio via its Ethernet socket. In addition to
streaming local network audio, the receiver
supports Spotify Connect and vTuner
Internet radio. Theres a control app
(Arcam MusicLife) for iOS, but not
for Android. Of course, the receiver
also comes with an IR remote control.
Arcams auto-calibration system is Dirac, which requires a PC/Mac to run, but offers unusual versatility. The two
PERFORMANCE traces show how the original response (blue) is improved (green) for a closer match to the guide curve (orange).
Some high fidelity brands kind of insist that you
accompany their electronics with loudspeakers and
even a listening room which offer performances as software from Arcams website. The receiver is One reason we especially liked this approach,
even as that provided by the electronics. But such supplied with the calibration microphone and a despite the increased complexity, was that we
combinations are vanishingly rare, so its good tiny USB ADC/microphone pre-amp to use with knew precisely what the system was doing, what
to see that Arcam has incorporated a room and the calibration microphone and your computer. was being adjusted. Was the subwoofer also being
speaker calibration system. Unlike the auto-calibration systems on many tuned? With most systems the answer is... were
And its great to see the system that Arcam has receivers, the Dirac system does not try to set the not sure. With this system, the answer is yes, if
chosen. This is the Dirac audio calibration system. sizes of your loudspeakers. This may seem like a you want it to be. And you should. Bass is, more
Among the places youll see this at work is in the weakness, but we reckon its a strength. At least than other frequencies, altered by room effects.
factory audio systems for Bentley and Rolls Royce nine out of ten autocalibration systems get at least But a little caution is warranted. It isnt a good
cars. So posh stuff. some of the sizes wrong! This way, youll ensure idea to try to correct for the basic incapabilities
The set-up phase is pretty processor-intensive, theyre right. of a subwoofer. If it is designed to roll off below
so it actually requires the use of a computer, The Dirac system is not very pretty on your 30Hz, let it. Trying to lift 20Hz to the same
Windows or Mac, to conduct the measurements computer (see screens above), but the software output level will result in greater distortion and
and perform the calculations to generate the is laid out in a reasonably logical manner. The even possible damage to the subwoofer.
adjustments to be loaded into the receivers DSPs. main trick is to realise that you set target We kinda ignored the eight-ohm loudspeaker
Once thats done the computer is no longer frequency response curves for each speaker pair recommendation for a while, and did a big
required. In addition to the computer youll need and the system works out corrections to make chunk of our listening with a pair of four-ohm,
a network connection for the receiver (thats how the output match those curves. All that is done relatively low-sensitivity loudspeakers, just using
the settings are loaded in) and a download of the pretty visually. this receiver as a straight analogue stereo amplifier.

There are few differences between the inputs and facilities on different levels of Arcams AV receivers; they are differentiated mainly by power level and type.

40 www.avhub.com.au
 Best Buys Audio & AV 2017-#2

But we ran the receiver primarily as a 5.1.4 unit, using a stereo power
amplifier for the additional two ceiling speakers.
Over a period of a couple of weeks we watched a wide range of TV
shows and movies, primarily streamed from Netflix or played from
Blu-ray or Ultra HD Blu-ray. The receiver ran with perfect solidity,
doing its job of delivering music, effects and voices with impeccable
accuracy. It turns out that 80W a channel from Arcam can whip just
about any loudspeaker into shape and make it a slave to the receivers
desires. We generally use a receiver rated at closer to 150W, and if there
was any difference in levels, control or sound-field accuracy, wed be
inclined to say that the Arcam AVR390 was the preferred unit.
The surround included Atmos and Dolby Surround, both making
use of our ceiling speakers. The Dolby Surround decoder in the receiver
delivered some startling results even from two channels. The British
show Misfits is available from Netflix in two channels only but is clearly
encoded with surround, which was faithfully extracted and delivered in
an impressive three dimensions by the AVR390.
As for stereo, were talking a truly audiophile result with this receiver.
Again, that control of the loudspeakers was simply first-class. We mostly
streamed sound directly to the receiver from our network resources.
We must note that this was a little disappointing, in that high
resolution audio was not supported. It topped out at 16-bit/48kHz. The
receiver supports MP3, WMA (lossily compressed), WAV and AAC in
addition to FLAC. None of our 24-bit 96kHz FLAC files would play,
let alone even higher resolution stuff. Which was a pity because our
CD-quality material sounded so good. As we approached the keyboard
for this bout of writing, wed just finished listening to Pat Metheney &
Lyle Mays album As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls, and wed defy
anyone to find a stereo amplifier that could do a better job on delivering
every nuance available within the digital signal, along with a nigh-on
perfect soundstage.

CONCLUSION
The Arcam AVR390 is a fine home theatre receiver with superb
performance right out of the box, and with an ability to be upgraded in
the power amplifier department, not just with the addition of amps for
the four other channels, but in all channels if you wish, thanks to the
pre-outs for everything. We doubt that youll need to be upgrading for a
long while, though. Add wireless
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41
 AMPS/RECEIVERS

NETWORKED AV RECEIVER

DENON AVR-X2300W
H
ow far do you want to go with your redirected to do other things, like bi-amp the
home theatre? You can spend, oh, front speakers or drive a second zone.
hundreds of thousands of dollars if There is no provision for the addition of more
you want. Or a couple of thousand amplifiers no pre-amplifier outputs beyond that
could get you a collection of gear that some for the subwoofer (there are two RCA sockets but
might call home theatre. But we reckon theres the signal to both is identical). So two overhead terminals.
a sweet spot, beyond which performance and channels is the most possible with this receiver. Normally
feature benefits diminish relatively rapidly when It has eight HDMI inputs, including the one wed skip
compared to the monetary costs. And we further on the front, and can rescale video to higher this, but you
reckon that the Denon AVR-X2300W sits very resolutions. All of these support the HDCP copy have to tell the receiver
close to that sweet spot. protection scheme used for Ultra HD Blu-ray, your speaker arrangements some way
along with High Dynamic Range and Wide or another. Wed opted for a 5.1.2 system: front,
EQUIPMENT Colour video standards. And this is no entry-level centre, surround, subwoofer and two overhead
Recently Denon has added a feature to some of its receiver, so it includes useful legacy connections speakers. The system needs to know that its that
premium offerings: support for the HEOS multi- component and composite video inputs, along and not 7.1 or 5.1.2 with two front wall speakers,
room system (see the next review for an example). with optical digital audio (but not coaxial). But it or some other arrangement. So we went through
But if you dont need or want multiroom, or doesnt convert those inputs to HDMI. the whole process, and quickly learned which bits
youve gone for a non-HEOS solution, then why There is a USB socket on the front panel, and to skip. If youre unfamiliar with anything, theres
spend on HEOS support? The Denon AVR- Ethernet on the rear. Plus two Wi-Fi antennas, plenty of clear explanation as you go through the
X2300W does everything, network-wise, that which double as Bluetooth antennas. The Wi-Fi process. At the end youre asked whether you want
those premium models do, short of HEOS, while is dual band and supports the various historical Audyssey Dynamic EQ applied. No you dont.
also providing 7.1-channel sound, Dolby Atmos standards up to 802.11n. One routine in setting up home theatre
and DTS:X three-dimensional sound decoding, equipment is checking whether the firmware is up
and full Ultra High Definition video support. PERFORMANCE to date. The firmware is the computer program
Now, to details. Seven built-in amplifiers each The set-up wizard is, as usual with Denon that runs within the receiver, enabling its various
offer up to 95W into 8 ohms with hi-fi specifica- receivers, very comprehensive. It even incorporates capabilities. As delivered, this receiver had within
tions. A software switch provides support for some animated elements showing you, for the box a note saying that while the receiver is
four-ohm loudspeakers. And spare channels can be example, how to connect the speaker wire to the DTS:X capable, this would be provided by a

42 www.avhub.com.au
 Best Buys Audio & AV 2017-#2

future firmware. Thats by no means unusual. eminently satisfying levels, while exercising fine versions. Gapless music files were handled
Wed guess that something like half of all the control over them. properly, which is to say gaplessly.
home theatre receivers, TVs and media players we Of equally vital importance these days is Dont worry Apple folk you arent left
review have required at least one firmware upgrade video handling or, more precisely, carriage. out. The receiver fully supports audio via Apple
during the review period. HDR and wide colour spectrum (BT.2020) video AirPlay. Indeed, as were writing these very words
This Denon receiver has an auto-update from our Ultra HD Blu-ray players were happily were enjoying Robben Fords debut album, the
facility, so that it can monitor over the internet passed through by the receiver to the TV, with live Discovering the Blues, playing in the iOS music
whether any new firmware for itself becomes full support for the HDCP 2.2 requirements of player on an iPad mini 4, transferred via AirPlay
available and download it in the background. Ultra HD Blu-ray discs, even up to 60 frames-per- to the receiver. And fine sounding it is, too.
We forced the matter immediately after installing second Ultra HD. All those issues from a couple Denon receivers incorporate a network
the receiver and set it going on the process which, of years ago where one had to choose between interface. You access it simply by entering its
it estimated, would take 43 minutes. Wed say it 10-bit colour and Ultra HD copy protection IP address in the web browser of a computer or
took around two-thirds of that time. compatibility have now gone. device connected to the same network to which
Returning to our theme, does this receiver While this receiver might not form part of the the receiver is connected. This doesnt provide
provide you everything you need for a satisfying HEOS multiroom ecosystem, its network audio operational control, but does allow full access to
music and home theatre system? Wed say, capabilities were otherwise excellent. Indeed, we all the set-up menus so you can make changes.
emphatically, yes. The completist aspect of our wouldnt be surprised to discover that big chunks More importantly, you can use this to save your
natures would probably prefer, all other things of the network audio handling was simply adopted set-up to a file on the computer. This must take
being equal, four overhead speakers, while the from the Denon DNP-730AE Network Audio quite the amount of work by the receiver because
most that the receiver can support is two. But the Player (a unit we use in one of our reference the page tells you that the receiver cannot be
whole speaker allocation process in Dolby Atmos systems). The capabilities appeared to be similar. used during this process, which takes about ten
and Dolby Surround is very effective and we have Last year Denon released a new control app minutes. Its probably worth doing, though,
to admit that often the differences between having for its recent receivers (shown left). We used the because then you can restore all the settings should
two and four overheads can be quite subtle. Android version. It worked pretty well. In fact, something go wrong and you have to do a factory
As is the difference between five and seven wed say that with normal people it will work very reset at some point. (Not that were suggesting
channels around the edges of the room. Wed well. We tend not to use these things like normal such a possibility is likely. For us the receiver
say that, with a crude estimation, youre getting people, putting things through their paces fully, so worked perfectly.)
something like 90 or 95% of the full experience of we did manage to get it a bit confused on a couple
7.1.4 even if youre using only 5.1.2. of occasions. It got stuck in Spotify Connect, for CONCLUSION
Thats certainly what we experienced with example, when we were controlling it with the Ah yes, the sweet spot. Wed suggest that the
our favourite test moments, such as the elevator Spotify app on our desktop computer, rather than Denon AVR-X2300W AV receiver is sitting right
and the water pool scenes in Hunger Games; switching to Media Player mode as we asked. Or on top of on it.
Mockingjay Part 1 delivered by Dolby Atmos, refusing to allow a third-party DLNA app running
and this receiver was engrossing with its fully on a different device to take control. (Oddly,
encompassing surround fields. Likewise, stereo the Spotify app showed two Denon receivers
and 5.1-channel content was enhanced nicely available for playback this one, and a Denon Denon AVR-X2300W
with Dolby Surround to produce real-feeling AVR-1300W. We have no such receiver in our networked AV receiver
overhead sound elements. system, but we did review it last year, so perhaps
Is 95 watts of power enough? Most certainly it was remembered in our Spotify profile. It went r
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ridiculous, will do the job nicely. This up to 192kHz sampling, and Direct Stream Tested with rmware:

receiver certainly drove our loudspeakers to Digital up to the double speed 5.6MHz Power:

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43
 AMPS/RECEIVERS

NETWORKED AV RECEIVER WITH HEOS

DENON AVR-X6300H

I
mmediately preceding this review, youll Atmos-enabled ones. Or, perhaps, we should But part of the package on a premium model is
find one of the Denon AVR-X2300W AV say it achieves full mainstream Dolby Atmos, support for older equipment which the discerning
receiver. We opened that review by asking: since Atmos can support many other channels, user may still love.
How far do you want to go with your and there are some very exotic high-end devices Denon has made some interesting choices on
home theatre? We then went on to commend which do provide more channels. However, that this front. First a surprising set of inputs has been
that receiver for striking a fine balance between is a matter of diminishing returns. Its difficult eliminated: there are no multichannel analogue
economy and features. to exceed the effectiveness of the 11.2 model in audio inputs. Were not complaining. We dont
But what if you want to answer that question anything short of a massive theatre room. The know why anyone would still want to connect
not as a matter of compromise between competing receiver supports a wide range of height speaker some old device in such a manner when, chances
priorities (among which the dollar cost inevitably placements, including some on the front or rear are, this receiver is going to do a far better job of
has a big part) but to answer it: all the way! walls, or all on the ceilings. You will need to add decoding any digital audio than said old device.
The Denon AVR-X6300H home theatre two more channels of amplification for a full 11.2- But 7.1 analogue inputs are something to which
receiver is going to take you a very long way channel system deployment. manufacturers have clung for the premium
towards all the way! One of the markers of a premium AV receiver models. Not Denon.
is the retention of a lot of legacy connections. Yes, On the other hand, there are no less than
EQUIPMENT this receiver has all the good stuff youd expect, five composite video inputs, and one of those
The Denon AVR-X6300H is an 11.2 channel- with eight HDMI inputs and two HDMI outputs, is labelled Blu-ray! Now the Blu-ray Forums
capable AV receiver, packing nine actual amplifier all rated to full Ultra HD specifications with licensing controls have prohibited the release of
channels. And, oh, what amplifiers they are! Each wide colour and 10 bits of resolution, and the new Blu-ray player models capable of composite
is rated at 150W output (full audio bandwidth, latest HDCP copy protection. And, yes, it has a video output for quite a few years now, so having
eight ohms, 0.05% THD, two channels running). phono input (for a turntable with moving magnet such an input does seem to be overkill. Still, no
Unlike some brands, all channels support cartridges). And the usual optical and coaxial harm, and all those composite video inputs (and
four-ohm loads (with a protective system switch, digital inputs. the two component video ones) are assignable. Or
so no increase in power output). And some of Theres also a bunch of surprising analogue perhaps people just want to use them to pass video
the amplifier channels can be redirected to the video inputs. In lower-cost models these have through to the Zone 2 composite video output.
usual other functions driving additional zones, been mostly shed to shave a few cents here and The component video output can also be assigned
bi-amping the front speakers and so on. there from manufacturing costs. You might get to Zone 2, and theres a dedicated Zone 2 HDMI
The 11.2 thing means that the receiver one composite video input, or one component output. Plus analogue audio line levels for both
supports full Dolby Atmos or DTS:X. That is video input, but maybe none at all. Pretty much Zone 2 and Zone 3, and assignable amplifiers.
with three front speakers, two surrounds, two all video sources nowadays have HDMI outputs, Theres also a single RCA socket labelled
rear surrounds and four height speakers, or Dolby so those old analogue inputs arent really needed. Denon Link HD. This is a kind of legacy

44 www.avhub.com.au
 Best Buys Audio & AV 2017-#2

connection too, but a proprietary one. It dates movies, but then have quite different settings for fine within their category,
from before HDMI took off HDMI with its your two-channel music. Just go into the speakers they cant measure up in
strong HDCP protection system and it was set-up, choose Manual and consider switching audiophile terms to a
Denons way of getting uncompressed multichan- off the subwoofer if your speakers have been proper speaker system
nel digital audio from player to receiver while identified as Small but you know them to be driven by the Denon
complying with copy protection requirements. bass competent. receiver. But, then,
And while its kind of legacy for that reason, And then select Direct as the playback mode they can return
Denons latest high quality Blu-ray player still to eliminate EQ, and youre getting something the favour to
sports a matching output, so its also current. close to a pure, unprocessed signal path. We the receiver. It
The receiver can convert and upscale composite listened to a lot of music in this mode, mostly can in turn
and component video to HDMI output, something network audio and vinyl, and in both cases it was playback
again often missing from lower-priced receivers. delightful. The performance brought to mind that source
Being a modern receiver, it provides full delivered by an old-fashioned but high quality devices
network connectivity, with Ethernet and analogue system. Control over the loudspeakers plugged
dual-band 802.11n Wi-Fi. And theres a USB was excellent, including with a large four-ohm pair into HEOS
socket on the front (normally under the fold-up we sometimes use at the front. units. And
front panel that hides much of the fiddly stuff ) And the result was equally impressive with as the HEOS
and Bluetooth (SBC codec only). 5.1.4 sound during movies. We didnt add an platform spreads
And since the Denon AVR-X6300H is going extra pair of amplifier channels for surround rear. into more products,
all the way, rather than compromising, among We put on the Ultra HD Blu-ray version of Mad including those from sister
its network functions it provides support for Max: Fury Road just to make sure that the Atmos brand Marantz, its potential
fitting into the HEOS multiroom audio system. was working as expected, and ended up spending power for sharing audio around
This is part of the extension of HEOS from a the whole two hours re-watching the movie. The the home only increases.
typical multiroom ecosystem of wireless speakers transmission of the wide colour gamut, high
and soundbars into more serious and traditional dynamic range video was perfect, while the Dolby CONCLUSION
components such as amplifiers and receivers. Its Atmos sound was delivered to spectacular effect. If youre in the market for a networked AV
quite the bonus, as well see shortly. This is a movie which must be watched loudly, receiver, you arent really looking to do much
and this receiver permits that, in full. compromising. And thats something you
PERFORMANCE The network audio functionality worked wont have to worry about with the Denon
This receivers set-up system is close to that of the perfectly, even over Wi-Fi. We enjoyed double- AVR-X6300W. Its connectivity and performance
Denon AVR-X2300W; you can read the details speed Direct Stream Digital, and our collection are excellent, and HEOS brings the potential
there. The calibration and signal processing is of remastered 192kHz, 24-bit FLAC renditions to expand beyond your AV system and use this
performed by Audyssey MultEQ 32, so its all of the Blue Note Records back catalogue. All the receiver as a hub for the whole home.
very high quality. But there are, as is often the playback was delivered gaplessly of course.
case, a couple of things you should watch out for.
When we started playing network music using HEOS MULTIROOM INSIDE Denon AVR-X6300H
losslessly compressed FLAC files the system Amid such a wealth of features and raw networked AV receiver
initially sounded a little harsh and bitey. Exploring performance, the HEOS multiroom functionality r
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compressed audio, such as MP3. Its ineffective for not only easily access online music services, we
that purpose, and positively damaging for FLAC. could digitally pipe music from any input on the Price:

So switch it off. AVR-X6300H (the H marks the HEOS compat-
Tested with rmware:

One other thing worth looking into is much ibility) to either of the two HEOS 5 speakers

more positive. Denon receivers have an optional we had available. That included music from the Power:

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45
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individual Halo components. - in every respect.
Now it is here - Halo Integrated.

Network Audio Visual Pty Ltd 02 9949 9349 [email protected] www.networkav.com

 Best Buys Audio & AV 2017-#2

AMPS/RECEIVERS
INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER

ELAC
ELEMENT SERIES
EA101EQ-G

F
or many years now we have watched Its a very neat design, just 5.5cm high, and with anything less than confidence. It uses BASH
with some sadness the rise of the soundbar only 21cm wide, presenting its narrowest face to amplification (Bridged Amplifier Switching
as a neat solution for TV audio and the world, extending back 28cm to a rear panel Hybrid), which is not a variant of Class D; the
music in the lounge, when in fact they which, for our money, makes the perfect choice amplification itself is more like conventional
rarely deliver hi-fi performance, and in truth are of inputs for an amplifier seeking life in a desk or Class B but with the power supply modulated by
not particularly neat either, once the wires are all TV lounge situation two analogue RCA pairs, the output signal to vary the gain using PWM
tumbling from cramped connection bays behind two optical digital inputs, one coaxial digital, modulation. BASH is best known for its use in
them. So we are, conversely, increasingly delighted and a USB-B input that can be connected to a subwoofers and, yes, incar amplifiers, and the
by hi-fi companies fighting back, bringing real computer. Theres also a subwoofer output. technology is owned by by a Canadian company
hi-fi sound back to the lounge in compact units The speaker sockets are wonderfully compact Sonavox, which is apparently connected in more
tailor-made for TV, music and movies. ELACs yet high quality 5-way terminals, taking bananas, ways than one with ELAC, given we noted that
little Element amplifier is just such a solution. spades, bare wires, as you desire. the app for this amplifier is also from Sonavox.
The front is formed by a nicely solid curved
EQUIPMENT block of brushed aluminium, sporting a nice silver PERFORMANCE
You might be surprised to see an amplifier from knob, a full-size headphone socket and just two At face value everything is so very self-explanatory
ELAC this German company is best known buttons, one for power, one to shuttle through that it might seem superfluous for ELAC to
today for its hi-fi speakers, for the renowned JET those inputs. The display is unusual, an OEL provide such a nice A4 book of Operating
folded ribbon tweeter, award-winning subwoofers (Organic Electroluminescent) visible from wide Instructions. But in fact there is plenty more here
and more. But the companys earliest roots (more angles even in bright light, yet without being than meets the eye. Crucially its app does far
than 90 years ago) were actually in sonar, and piercing like LEDs, allowing a nice compressed more than merely shifting control from a physical
during hi-fis golden years ELAC was known font, just a little small perhaps, but clear. remote to a software-driven touchscreen. It allows
for its superb turntables and receivers, before The top of the unit is rubberised; indeed the input selection, a master volume control and a
getting more into speakers in the 1980s. Now design reminds us rather of an upmarket in-car useful offset control for each input, in case you
its electronics are in resurgence again, with an amplifier. And like car amplifiers the EA-101 have some sources louder than others.
anniversary turntable, a DAC, phono stage and wears its watts on its sleeve 80 watts per Then under Setup it has Input Naming, which
two series of amplifiers, Alchemy and Element, the channel boasts the manual and its web page, as allows free typing, your words displayed in that
latter currently being just this little EA-101EQ-G. if to stop you peering at the compact enclosure beautiful font on the display, which is, of course,

47
 Best Buys Audio & AV 2017-#2

AMPS/
RECEIVERS

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a marvellous chance to make your ELAC display

Arse or similar. The display can be dimmed via
the app with 100 possible levels of brightness.
Also available in the app are sliders for bass,
treble and left-right balance, for subwoofer volume
if you have connected one, and then an interesting two-channel limitation, with apparent headroom in your Bluetooth list, once for Control (already
section called Auto-EQ. Regular readers will know to go as high as required. There was little to connected if youre using the app) and a different
we generally avoid the unexpected distortions choose between the analogue and optical presenta- one for streaming music. Happily we were able
that even digital EQ can bring. But this is clever. tions, which says much for the ELACs DAC, to be on both simultaneously, and although the
There are two flavours Auto EQ, and Auto since the Oppos is certainly a fine one. (A possible signal was audibly deteriorated by the Bluetooth
Blend. The Blend is for getting your subwoofer alternate interpretation of this came from a chance link, the lightness of touch to the ELACs sound
crossover right, and the EQ is room correction, conversation with another reviewer, whose tests was here a positive boon, and in addition to
comparing a test tone recorded near-field (close to indicate that the analogue inputs are digitally stored music it made an enjoyable way to listen
the speaker) with another recorded at the listening sampled at 96kHz anyway, so everything will go to Pandora and Spotify streams, with all the
position. Confidence is increased by seeing the through the same DAC eventually.) convenience of control from the screen.
two graphs laid over each other and the correction So to music, starting in Mancunian mode In most situations the half-sized remote proved
curve applied (see above). And no microphone with The Stone Roses Second Coming on CD the easiest way to control volume, with the up and
is required it uses your smartphone. By through the analogue inputs. It was strangely flat down volume top and bottom of the centre ring;
comparing the two positions, the ELAC can at lower levels, Driving South and Love Spreads the mute is actually unmarked, doubling as a play/
cancel out variable microphone characteristics. only gaining dynamics and separation once the pause button which usefully paused and restarted
The result we liked it, and left it in circuit level was up in the 60s (moderately pumping). Bluetooth playback.
for much of our listening (not quite a first, but We came right up to date with the new Gorillaz
nearly). You can switch it off easily on the app, album, and while it seemed tonally accurate CONCLUSION
using this toggle to compare the EQ on or off. enough, it hardly leapt to life either. We switched Wed recommend the ELACs simplicity of design
We let the ELAC warm up on daily TV and to our more sensitive and larger JBLs in the and hidden clever bits to anyone looking for a
movie duties, for which it proved an impeccable music room and if you move it, do recalibrate compact solution to pair with speakers either side
performer, fed either optically from a visiting the Auto EQ! We had very thin sound until we of your TV, to deliver enjoyable TV and movie
TCL TV, or direct via analogue output from realised we had transported the inverse lounge sound beyond that of a soundbar, and to enjoy
an Oppo Blu-ray player, and powering a pair room EQ characteristic along with the amp. everyday music playback streaming from your
of average sensitivity high-quality German (but Recalibrated, and in fact here preferred flat, many smart device or coming from your media box.
not, apologies, ELAC) standmounters. It proved things went well Leonard Cohens vocal on
tonally impeccable, doing just what an amplifier Going Home was wonderfully present with the
should in getting out of the signals way (other right edgy rasp to it, the slightly soft recording ELAC Element Series
than making it bigger), and able to push climaxes of Paul McCartneys My Valentine was almost EA101EQ-G
high without apparent stress. surprisingly tightened. This ability to brighten up integrated amplier
Moving to movies in earnest, the soaring recordings just stopped short of overbrightening
soundtrack of the third Indiana Jones movie gave edgy recordings, though rather it nicely opened r
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keeping everything well separated even within its iPad Pro, noting that the ELAC turns up twice Inputs:

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48 www.avhub.com.au
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 Best Buys Audio & AV 2017-#2

AMPS/RECEIVERS

AV PRE-AMPLIFIER WITH HEOS

MARANTZ AV7703

S
ometimes you want more. More than It can feed a power
even the best home theatre receivers can amplifier or active
provide. That more might be more power, speakers using either
or more refined power. Or sometimes it RCA or balanced XLR
might even be no additional power at all. In all outputs. Balanced
these cases, the high-end stereo systems of the past connections are the
show the way you separate the preamplifier hefty three-pin plugs
from the power amplifier. Then you can choose used a great deal in
each of those individually to better fit your needs: pro audio, particularly
the more that you want. for microphones. An
RCA connection is ABOVE: The Marantz AV7703 has its own control app (iPad, left) but theres
also the big bonus of HEOS streaming and multiroom control (iPhone).
EQUIPMENT necessarily unbalanced
The Marantz AV7703 is the AV equivalent of that one conductor
hi-fi preamplifier. And being for home theatre in the circuit is the wire down the middle of a 12V trigger output, which youre likely going to
it has not two, but lots of channels eleven the cable, while the return conductor in the want to connect to the power amplifier of your
main channels, and two subwoofer ones. And circuit is the braided metal shielding around that choice, so they switch on and off together.
this being 2017, it does a great deal more than a wire. Since the shielding is part of the circuit, The Marantz AV7703 has a feature set broadly
traditional preamplifier. It is itself a source device, it may have noise induced in it by the rooms in line with the highest level of Marantz receivers.
delivering all manner of digital media in addition electromagnetic environment. With balanced It can deliver full 7.2.4-channel Dolby Atmos or
to decoding digital inputs to analogue audio. And connections, both wires for the circuit are inside DTS:X decoded sound from its 11.2 outputs.
this is another of the higher-end products into an earthed shielding, electrically separate from it. That is, a full 7.2 channels of surround sound
which D&M Group, which has both Denon and If somehow electromagnetic noise is induced in the best that was available until about four years
Marantz brands, has added the HEOS platform, those wires despite the shielding, it will be induced ago plus four overhead channels. The AV7703
giving it app-controlled streaming and multiroom near enough equally in each, cancelling out. As manages its two subwoofer outputs separately so
abilities. And of course it handles video, too. engineers are wont to say, balanced connections its a real .2, not just .1 with duplicated sockets.
But as a preamp it can drive no regular loud- exhibit high noise rejection. (Thats why they are In addition to decoding such things as Dolby
speakers. For that you need as many amplifiers used with microphones, where often the signal is Atmos and DTS:X and other lesser formats, it
as you have passive loudspeakers. Or perhaps only a few millivolts and the cables long.) With can perform Dolby Surround and DTS Neural:X
no amplifiers if youre using high quality active a metre or so of cable joining the AV7703 to a processing to convert two-channel and multichan-
speakers. For those with unusual loudspeakers power amp, and a signal in the tens, hundreds and nel sources into full 11.2-channel sound. You
which they would be loth to entrust to the thousands of millivolts, noise is not a problem. can purchase (for 149) a firmware upgrade
amplifier section of any AV receiver, the Marantz The AV7703 also has plenty of system to incorporate Auro-3D processing. What isnt
AV7703 is the kind of front end you need. integration features. Importantly, one of those is provided are the many strange DSP surround

51
 Best Buys Audio & AV 2017-#2

AMPS/
RECEIVERS

modes of old, which would try to recreate the Setup has you connecting both your amplifier of the room to behind us, followed by a closing
sound of a jazz club or church. These have been and speakers to the preamp.) In general, the door. It might as well have been 5.1.
missing for a while (and no loss as far as were instructions are very detailed and easy to follow. With network audio, our 24-bit/192kHz
concerned, because we never used them). It tells you, for example, how to strip speaker FLAC music files from the network were rendered
As a source the AV7703 provides AM/FM cable and attach it to the binding posts of the perfectly, as were both regular and double-rate
radio, Bluetooth and extensive network audio power amplifier. Then for each output you have to Direct Stream Digital files. The bandwidth
capabilities, including streaming from internet specify whether youre using XLR or RCA outputs available over the Wi-Fi network connection (dual
radio stations and Spotify Connect, Apple AirPlay which allows you to mix and match. band) proved plenty to support these streams.
and DLNA audio. And Bluetooth (SBC codec As it happens, the firmware version number The receiver also worked with the HEOS
only, not the higher quality AAC or aptX codecs). here was identical to that for the Marantz SR7011 multiroom system a new addition to Marantz
Plus external sources of course the socketry receiver which we recently reviewed in sister for this year. We had a couple of standard HEOS
is significant, as you can see from the rear panel publication Sound+Image. Which makes sense. wireless speakers to hand, and using the fine
below! There are eight HDMI inputs and two The firmware does almost nothing with regard to HEOS app on an iPad Mini 4 we were able to
main HDMI outputs (plus a dedicated second the power amplifier. Its all about the processing. control the AV7703, group it with the HEOS
zone HDMI output). All are rated to handle (and We wired it into a very high quality 11-channel speakers or have all running separate content.
did in fact handle during our use of the unit) full power amplifier. The Audyssey calibration worked Best of all, we found we could use the app to
4K output from Ultra HD Blu-ray discs at up to surely and effectively, and chose values of which select an input on the AV7703 and send it to one
60 frames per second. There are also component we approve for speaker size and crossovers. We left of the HEOS speakers, even while the Marantz
and composite video inputs and outputs, optical off the Audyssey extras like Dynamic EQ which, continued playing an Ultra HD Blu-ray disc in the
and coaxial digital audio inputs, and a sufficient we think, adversely affects sound quality. main room. That worked even with the turntable
number of analogue audio inputs. These include And then we proceeded to enjoy a great deal plugged into the phono input.
a phono input suitable for use with turntables of program material. We concentrated on three
having moving magnet cartridges. things: two-channel content recorded from HD CONCLUSION
This is a large, proud unit. It stands 185mm stations on our PVR, Ultra HD Blu-ray discs, and Clearly the Marantz AV7703 is for those who
tall, not counting the 70mm extra of the two rear- network audio. want the highest performance, along with the
mounted Wi-Fi/Bluetooth antennas. A fold-up Disc after Ultra HD Blu-ray disc delivered ability to choose their own power amplification.
panel covers most of the complexities, leaving only magnificent performance. Colour and resolution HEOS is icing on top of an already huge cake.
a power/standby button, volume knob, input knob passthrough to a 65-inch OLED was pretty much It does the job brilliantly.
and a round display visible. This 50mm display perfect. We had to dial around 120ms of audio
shows things like input selected and volume level. delay into the preamp because the TV, unlike
Under the flap is a much larger rectangular the AV7703, doesnt support auto lip sync over
display which shows the things normally shown HDMI. That done, everything about the picture
Marantz AV7703
by an AV receivers display. There are also various and sound was a delight. AV pre-amplier
control switches, a 6.5mm headphone output, Not quite as good on the picture front was r
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Marantz AV receiver, and is in fact identical, enough of that survived the mixdown to allow the Price:

subject to necessary changes. Clearly the extensive AV7703s Dolby Surround processing to perform Tested with rmware:

text explanations have simply been edited from wonders. Early in the first episode the sound 

the receiver version. (A typo on [2/6] of Speaker perfectly tracks the footsteps down the right side Inputs:

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52 www.avhub.com.au
 Come and listen to the new Dynaudio

[Special Forty]
Being launched at Australian HiFi AV Show
Intercontinental Sydney | 28-30 July 2017
ch an
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Au

Dynaudio launched a new product to celebrate its 40th Delivering uncompromising sound quality and dynamic range,
anniversary. The Dynaudio Special Forty is a two-way The Dynaudio Special Forty is available in high gloss grey
standmount/shelf-mount loudspeaker whose fabric-domed birch or high gloss red birchtwo nishes Dynaudio says it
tweeter was designed and built specically for it. has never used before and are exclusive to this model.

(]HPSHISLPU
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 AMPS/RECEIVERS

INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER Why settle for a small wireless

NAD C 338 smart speaker if you can have a
whole smart hi-fi system?

T
he NAD C 338 signals the emergence Digital concepts with the innovative Hypex UcD as input selection, volume control, and a +6dB
of a new breed of hi-fi component. analogue Class-D technology. The result is bass-boost button.
Amplifiers have been evolving in recent NADs HybridDigital amplification, as used in its
years, first gaining digital inputs (and unusual compact D 3020, and now in this C 338. PERFORMANCE
therefore internal digital-to-analogue converters), The more conventional inputs include a Then theres the networking. Note there is no
and from there it was a short hop to include generous four digital inputs (two optical, two Ethernet socket here, so if youre going to Cast,
Bluetooth. Now comes network connectivity, and coaxial) and three analogue, which includes a you must connect via the NADs dual-band
thereby access to internet music services the phono stage for a turntable, hoorah! The obvious Wi-Fi, and so make sure the amp is situated in a
kind of stuff were used to seeing in wireless multi- omission here is USB, with neither an A slot (for reasonable reception area. In operational terms it
room speakers. But why settle for a small wireless plugging in media for playback or for charging a works, essentially, just like a Chromecast Audio
smart speaker if you can have a whole smart hi-fi smart device as it plays), nor a USB-B input for unit. You download the Google Home app (a
system? Thats whats on offer from the C 338. direct replay from a computer. pointer to our future!) and follow the prompts.
Indeed higher models in this range can be There is a mono subwoofer output but no For us the NAD was found and activated easily,
fully network-enabled with an optional BluOS stereo line-level output no record out, which though an alarming message warned that This
module which makes them part of the Bluesound we miss, though theres no denying its become Chromecast built-in amplifier was manufactured
multiroom ecosystem. This amp doesnt do that, redundant for most users. for a different country and may not be compatible
but it has Bluetooth streaming and also Googles As for power, several ratings are quoted, the with your Wi-Fi network. But it worked fine for
Chromecast built in, which connects to your unique power circuits making these a guide at us (and if it doesnt, check your router isnt using
home network via Wi-Fi, and thereby streams best, but the headline figure is 2 50W into eight a Wi-Fi channel above 11 these arent used
from Cast-enabled apps and programs on phones ohms with THD at just 0.03%, very much a hi-fi in the US, so often cant be seen by US-centric
and computers. Presto! a high quality NAD specification, as against some digital amplifiers equipment). The app walks you through casting
integrated amplifier, with built-in smarts. quoted at 1% or even 10% THD. with some sample clips (see iPhone screens
A small opposite), and then lists all the apps you can
EQUIPMENT remote control download which have casting buttons you
The other interesting angle to the C 338 is is provided, with can also cast from a Chrome browser on any
its use of a variant of Class-D amplification. basic transport networked computer. From Spotify to Tidal to
NAD has made quite the specialty of Class D controls as well TuneIn radio, theres a big world of music thus
in recent years, collaborating since 2005 with
UK semiconductor company
Zetex to develop its own Direct
Digital for the companys ongoing
high-end Masters series, while
another collaboration, this time
with Dutch company Hypex,
allowed NAD to combine Direct

54 www.avhub.com.au
 Best Buys Audio & AV 2017-#2

This led us for those who prefer their amp always on, ready to
to the Diana play. The C 338 even pops out of standby when it
Krall/Michael Buble (sorry, he was snuck onto senses an active input, though this takes a second,
her Wallflower album) version of Alone Again, so you miss the start of the first track.
Naturally a divine recording by David Foster,
and a delight here both for vocal quality and the CONCLUSION
available, and we found a way to get DLNA imaging depth on strings. Seamlessly combining traditional and modern,
network streaming even from an iOS device Those low distortion figures seemed confirmed NADs C 338 looks more the true successor to
using LocalCast, an ad-supported freebie app. by the quick advancing of level to a comfortable the companys famous 3020 heritage than does
This proved able to send the NAD networked -24dB on the NADs usefully dimmable display, the current D 3020 design. This amp is versatile
files in AAC, MP3 and FLAC/WAV up to and we were almost alarmed at how little we and powerful for its price, with a solid dose of
24-bit/192kHz, though it didnt handle AIFF, seemed to be missing in the way of power HybridDigital power and plenty of inputs, both
Apple Lossless or, unusually, WMA files. compared with our significantly pricier reference digital and analogue, including for a turntable.
From the NADs first blast of sound we were pre-power amps as we moved onto more complex Indeed if your phone, tablet or laptop is your
impressed by the delivery, a sharp-edged punch of material. Bonhams entry into Led Zeppelins primary music source these days, you may need to
sound that spoke to tight timing and an ability to Gallows Pole was held effectively in its own little add nothing but speakers. How modern is that?
deliver dynamic changes rapidly, indicating power acoustic without eating into the surrounding
reserves able to react without delay. The clarity rising wave of guitars and mandolin, the whole
was equally evident, the amp simply getting out perhaps sounding just a little thin, but again, NAD C 338
of the way of whatever source material was played. the digital remaster at 24-bit/96kHz does indeed integrated amplier
The rasping tones of Bob Dylans voice on the sound just a little thin. So we pulled out the vinyl
new Triplicate collection of American standards from the remasters box-set instead noting the A great mid-level amplifier for our time
hung in the central space between instruments, phono input on the C 338 to be rather quieter Solid HybridDigital power
the NAD making clear the difference between than the line level (we turned the volume knob Good range of inputs, plus Chromecast
the light reverb used on most of the albums basic up to -6dB on the display to get the same level as No USB-B for computer input
band tracks but the excessive decay evident on the before still plenty of headroom, though, as the No Ethernet networking
more energetic brass-laden arrangements (rather NAD doesnt stop at zero, but goes up to +12dB). No record out
muddying singer and band on Day In, Day Out The vinyl Zeppelin delivery proved far preferable,
and revealing an electrical buzz on the tracks fade. the thinness replaced by a deliciously realistic Price: $999
It richly portrayed recordings that were made delivery, JPJs bass driving in from the second Quoted power: 2 x 50W (20Hz-20kHz, both
that way, but it didnt fill out lighter recordings. verse, and Bonhams entry more the lift of full channels, THD 0.03%)
Inputs: phono (turntable), 2 x RCA analogue,
Dions I Read It (in the Rolling Stone) is a strangely driving rhythm it should be. Its hard to believe
Bluetooth, Chromecast built in, 2 x optical
pinched and peaky recording, and thats exactly the high-res and vinyl mixes share the same source, digital, 2 x coaxial digital (digital inputs to
how the NAD delivered it. But bring out Holly such was the greater energy and depth from the 24-bit/192kHz)
Cole doing Tom Waits (Looking For) The Heart LP over the 24-96 digital file. Outputs: Subwoofer out, headphone out,
of Saturday Night and all is delight feel how The headphone output proved clean and loudspeakers out
the first acoustic bass notes are hard plucked and powerful, with its half-ohm output impedance Dimensions: 435 x 70 x 285mm (including
good for a range of home and mobile-optimised feet, terminals etc.)
present before Coles smooth vocal gets a perfect
Weight: 4.5kg
presentation, while piano on the left, guitars right headgear. And we were most impressed that NAD
and a wide spread of drums all form a solid whole has included auto-standby (because EU regulations Contact: Convoy International
without getting in each others way. demand it) but includes an easy way to defeat it Telephone: 02 9774 9900
Web: www.convoy.com.au

55
 See CALLIA at: The Australian Hi-Fi & AV Show 2017, in Sydney July 28th - 30th

#HearTheMusicNotTheDAC

CALLIA
The New DAC and headphone amp from Prism Sound

CALLIA is exceptionally detailed... Its an outstanding

and powerful headphone amplifier too.
HiFi+ Magazine

Here are just a few words from other published CALLIA reviews:
Outstanding ... Stellar Sound ... CALLIA is a fantastic piece of equipment ... CALLIA's DSD playback sounds amazing! ... You've never
heard music this way before ... Prism Sound is a name synonymous with high-end audio production ... uncompromising quality and
accuracy ... service, support, packaging, the product itself, spot on and worth it ... the finish is impeccable.

Read more at: www.prismsound.com/calliareviews www.facebook.com/prismsoundaudiophile

CALLIA, by Prism Sound, is a USB and S/PDIF digital preamplifier incorporating the finest Digital to Analogue converter technology
with line level outputs plus an independent low-impedance headphone output with its own volume control.
Learn more at: www.prismsound.com/callia

30 YEARS HELPING TO CREATE THE WORLD'S GREATEST MUSIC! 1987 - 2017

Read about Prism Sounds Pro Audio history at: www.prismsound.com/heritage

Call us NOW to book your

Callia demo or arrange a quotation
Tel: +61-2-9330-1750 Web: www.cda-proaudio.com
Unit 17, 69 O'Riordan St, Alexandria NSW 2015

| [email protected] | www.prismsound.com | UK +44 (0)1353 648888 | USA +1 973 983 9577 |

 Best Buys Audio & AV 2017-#2

AMPS/RECEIVERS

INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER

PARASOUND HALO

T
he arrival of Parasounds Halo (MC) and moving-magnet (MM) cartridges indicators and, in this case, the Power on/off and
integrated amplifier came as something with selectable load (100 ohms or 47kohms) for Mute buttons.
as a surprise to this reviewer, since the moving coil option. Additionally theres a Also carried over is the symmetrical control
founder Richard Schram and designer front-panel 3.5mm input so you can connect your layout, though in this case Schram has not
John Curl have specialised in building preampli- phone or portable player. achieved perfect symmetry, with four controls at
fiers and power amplifiers for more than 30 years. On the digital side, there are optical (Toslink), the right of the panel (input selector, subwoofer
The last integrated amplifier Parasound built was coaxial (RCA) and USB (type B) inputs. The level, balance and volume) and only two at the left
long ago, in 1986. digital inputs route to a 32-bit/384kHz Sabre32 (bass and treble tone controls). Some symmetry is
But this new Halo is more than just an Reference DAC (ES9018K2M). Via optical and achieved because the left side of the panel is also
integrated amplifier. It has an on-board DAC, as coax this DAC can handle PCM 16-bit to 32-bit home to the tone on/off button, infra-red receiver
well as a subwoofer output with its own variable words at sampling rates up to 192kHz. Via the window, a 3.5mm auxiliary input and a 3.5mm
low-pass crossover network, and a pre-amplifier USB input it can handle up to 32-bit/384kHz headphone output the latter two gold-plated.
output with its own built-in variable high-pass PCM as well as DSD and DoP. Apple users can The LEDs in the previously-mentioned groove
crossover network. It also has home theatre bypass just plugnplay, but Windows users will need to light up to indicate input selection in the order:
circuitry. So while its certainly a two-channel download the free USB driver from Parasounds Aux, Line 1, Line 2, Line 3, Line 4, Line 5,
integrated amplifier, its one that offers much website (www.parasound.com). Phono, Opt, Coax, USB, Bypass. While we were
more than you might expect. There is also a home theatre bypass output happy changing inputs using the remote control
that outputs the left-channel, right-channel (which is a nice little unit, about which more in
EQUIPMENT and subwoofer signals without any processing a moment), it felt a little strange changing inputs
Parasounds Halo is certainly full-featured. or volume adjustment. Theres even a pair of when using the tiny rotary front-panel control.
On the analogue side, there are five line-level fixed-level Record outputs, so you could send If Parasound likes things to be symmetrical, why
analogue inputs, four of which are unbalanced analogue audio to a recorder of some kind. not balance the large volume control with a large
(RCA terminals) and one of which can either be The front panel continues a cosmetic theme input selector?
balanced (XLR terminals) or unbalanced (RCA thats been a constant at Parasound for many As for that remote control, its made from
terminals) but not both at the same time years, with a slight outward curve to the front plastic but feels very solid in the hand, and comes
you can only connect one or the other. Plus theres panel, and a shallow groove running along the with illuminated keys, a particularly nice touch.
a phono input that handles both moving-coil bottom, housing most of the tell-tale LED Press the illuminate button on the remote and

57
 Best Buys Audio & AV 2017-#2

AMPS/
RECEIVERS

the keys glow for a useful ten seconds. Using

either of the volume controls on the remote
cancels muting (it should really only be cancelled
when the up volume control is pressed). The
remote is powered by two AA batteries which, as
supplied, were Toshiba zinc-carbon types. Wed
recommend immediately replacing these with
high-quality leak-proof alkaline batteries.
Internally, as youd probably guess from its
size and weight, the Halo uses a tried-and-tested
Class-AB bipolar output stage, although the driver
stage uses MOSFETs and the input stage JFETs.
DC servo circuitry ensures DC is never present
at the output terminals, and theres also circuitry No matter which of the two systems we (from the newly released Little Girl Blue) with
to prevent the amplifier from accidental short- used, there was power aplenty available from spine-tingling authenticity.
circuits, excessive current draw and overheating. the Parasound Halo. We dare say you will The quality of sound from the headphone
The heart of the headphone amplifier circuit never ever! need more power than the output is outstandingly good, so if this is your
is a Texas Instruments TPA6120A2, which is a 160W available (240W if youre using 4-ohm preferred method of listening at home, youll be
Class-AB current-feedback design that has a very loudspeakers) no matter what loudspeakers able to dump your external headphone amplifier
high slew-rate to eliminate odd-order distortion you connect to it. and simply listen via the Halo.
and enable current-on-demand at the output, It was also good clean distortion-free power no
so the amplifier responds quickly and linearly matter whether we were listening at background CONCLUSION
without distortion, and with gain-independent music levels, standard listening levels or cranked The Parasound Halo is an excellent amplifier,
frequency response, so full bandwidth is available right up to party. We didnt even get a hint of but its also an excellent phono stage, an excellent
at all volume settings. output stage distortion no matter how hard we headphone amplifier and an excellent DAC. Its
Parasound amplifiers are designed, engineered listened, and when nothing is playing, either also outstanding value for money. Schram was
and QC-tested after completion in the USA; between tracks or between notes, the Halo was once asked about the secret of Parasounds success,
theyre built in Taiwan. In Australia, the Halo totally silent. No audible hum and no hiss. In fact, and he said it was because of respect. Specifically
comes with a three-year warranty and full no circuit noise whatsoever. he said We respect our customers because most of
after-sales support from local distributor Network Turntable owners will find the Halos input them dont have trust funds and have to work for
AV, but Schram is happy for Parasound owners stages completely transparent with both MM their money. So we give them their moneys worth
to contact him directly and is renowned for and MC cartridges, removing the need for an and then some.
answering every email he gets, which has earned added-cost external phono stage unless you have Wed have to echo those words, because with
him a well-deserved reputation for providing a cartridge that requires a particularly unusual Parasounds new Halo, you are most definitely
service second to none. loading. Phono RIAA equalisation was spot-on, getting your moneys worth and then some.
and the dynamics we were able to extract from the
PERFORMANCE LPs we played proved the phono circuits overload
We used Parasounds Halo in two different margin was more than adequate for even the most Parasound Halo
systems. One was two-channel, using only a single dynamic audiophile recordings. integrated amplier
pair of large floorstanding speakers; the other was We had the same sonic experience using the
also two-channel, but had small bookshelf speakers digital inputs, no matter whether we were feeding r
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anywhere in the room, so you instantly know how in like rifle shots and the multi-layered vocals Price:

high the volume is set. Also helpful are the blue delivered with astounding clarity. Exceptional Analog inputs:

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the muting circuit is active. We werent so sure and, if you have an older CD player with a digital 
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plugging headphones in immediately mutes the quality from your CDs. THD:

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your loudspeakers, although Parasound has built will deliver to its outputs is a faithful replica of Warranty:
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its unlikely to happen. The Halo delivered Janis Joplins Work Me, Lord Telephone:



Web:
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58 www.avhub.com.au
YOUR MUSIC,
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 Best Buys Audio & AV 2017-#2

AMPS/RECEIVERS

INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER

PEACHTREE AUDIO
nova150

P
eachtree recently entered what it called, listeners sticking with full quality hi-fi using a recordings. But now Peachtree has switched
unofficially, Peachtree 2.0. Coming proper amplifier and speakers. Computers and to Class-D, using B&Os ICEpower modules,
as the company reached its tenth year, smart devices are now key sources, either replacing so theres more wattage quoted, but also higher
this rebooting is part philosophy, part or adding to CD and vinyl. Peachtree Audio 2.0 preamp signal-to-noise, an impressive 111dB.
action Peachtree is giving new emphasis to real aims squarely at these consumers, and the first 2.0 Shoving in a valve stage would just crush that.
hi-fi dealers over internet sales, it has hired a new fruit plucked was this nova150 amplifier. Peachtree tells fans of its valve circuit not to
engineering team and, perhaps most remarkably, despair, however there are plans for an add-on
it is now assembling and building its products in EQUIPMENT valve buffer to insert into the novas loop stage.
Canada, rather than China. Cheers all round. Pictures of the nova150 can make it look quite Loop stage? Yes so there are five digital
This is all the more remarkable given that compact. Not so its substantial, a little less inputs, two being optical, one coaxial, one
Peachtree was, from the start, a thoroughly than rack-width at 14 inches, and nearly 7kg in USB-A slot, and one USB-B for your computer.
modern affair. Its first product in 2007 was the weight. It has air vents on top, so dont be stacking One of the opticals is the increasingly common
Decco amplifier, claimed as the worlds first amp stuff on its lovely gloss finish (our review unit was mini-Toslink. There are two analogue RCA pairs,
with a USB input to play straight from computer. black; the pictured gloss ebony mocha adds the one of which can be switched to be a moving
(How times have changed today we look joy of wood grain). The curves, the aluminum magnet turntable input (theres a terminal for the
askance at any amplifier that doesnt have a USB front plate with its press buttons and knob, these grounding cable), the other of which can be used
input.) Over its decade of existence, Peachtree follow previous designs, but things have changed in home theatre bypass mode, which bypasses
has witnessed the general rush to convenience inside. Peachtree started out delivering Class-AB the volume control and throws everything out at
products, but also the full-scale change in the way amplifiers, and had a penchant for a visible full level. That way you can have the Peachtree
we consume music, even for those audio-centric valve stage, supposedly to smooth over rough powering front cinema speakers under the control

61
 AMPS/
RECEIVERS

Separation and staging? The dual vocal parts on the

24/96 of Bowies Blackstar sounded not overlaid but
one before the other, the low one forward, the falsetto
behind and even vertically higher... Quite the show.
of an AV receiver, the volume
controlled from there, while
still doing duties later as a
high-quality two-channel amp.
To switch between either
of these input modes, all you
do is hold that input button
for five seconds. Indeed
holding any input button for
five seconds takes the volume
control out of circuit, lest you
should prefer to use a level
control built into that source.
(As noted, on the first analogue
input, this long press instead
switches between line-level and
turntable level.) This simple
software control method freaks us out, to be the latter, but will go to 96kHz with the former. iTunes may
honest if you (or it) went into the other mode Mac users just go with 2.0 all the way to 384kHz instantly
by mistake while music was playing, it might (see screengrabs below the manual says 32-bit pick this
signal a farewell to your speakers (and possibly should be possible; our Mac Mini offered only up, some
your ears) as everything slams through at full pelt. 16/24-bit). The other digital inputs will go to other
Theres other stuff, a preamp output should 24-bit/192kHz. programs
you wish to upgrade beyond the Peachtrees power, There is an extra bit of thought behind the wont we use
a 12V trigger output, and an IR control input. USB-A slot at the rear, specifically aimed at an Amarra shell around
You press the current input button ten times to iPhone and iPad users. Peachtree has incorporated iTunes (mainly to switch file
disable the front IR receiver and activate the rear a circuit to eliminate computer noise from these frequency automatically) and that
IR input, or vice versa. devices when connected via the normal Lightning- required a tedious restart each time;
The last sockets are two pairs of RCAs labelled to-USB cable this DyNEC (Dynamic Noise ProTools is similarly allergic to having its
Loop input and Loop output. So these will Elimination Circuit) aims to eliminate any audible playback engine suddenly removed. In certain
operate like the tape loops of old, but Peachtree power supply and screen noise before handing the situations it might be an advantage; in others,
also suggests they could be used for inserting room digital files over to the Sabre DAC. not so much.
correction equipment, or that planned proper While trying to A-B between computer input Similarly, and probably for the same sonically
stereo tube buffer, which will slot into this loop. and iPhone, we discovered that, as for many valid reasons of isolation, we noticed the USB-A
If you wanted. Were not sure why you would. amps with USB-B inputs, when you switch away socket will only charge your iPhone if you have
from the USB-B input, the nova disappears from that input selected. We noticed because our
PERFORMANCE your computers list of sound devices, and your iPhone was dead after an evening listening to
Well, lets get straight into this it is always, as computer will likely switch to its internal speakers vinyl. (Which has a certain karma to it.) But
a reviewer, mildly disappointing when something or another default output. Re-select the USB-B Australian distributor Audio Marketing tells us
clearly improves on your price-comparable input on the Peachtree and it reappears. While they expect this to be fixed in a firmware update.
reference system. Within seconds of powering up
the nova150 and playing from our computer via
USB, we were thinking how damned analytical it
sounded (in a good way), how the detail and the
edges of everything were simply better defined
than they are from our reference. This we must
ascribe to the DAC section of the nova150 outper-
forming our resident standalone DAC. Peachtree
has built around the highly regarded ES9018K2M
Sabre32 Reference DAC, capable to 384kHz PCM
and double-DSD (5.2MHz). An in-out button
on the rear switches between USB 1.0 and 2.0
operation Windows PCs (still! but hopefully
changing this year) require a driver installed for The novas DAC is switchable between USB 1.0 to 96kHz (left), or USB 2.0 offering up to 384kHz (and doubleDSD).

62 www.avhub.com.au
 Best Buys Audio & AV 2017-#2

Meanwhile we carried on listening. And started Voices from an Aria music servers digital output, CONCLUSION
turning it up. We love how Peachtree uses the and sat spellbound by the sheer loveliness of There is also the nova300 available (and a nova500
line of input lights on the front panel as a volume Alison Krauss, Eva Cassidy and the rest, all held in the wings) should you want still more power
indicator, slowly extending rightwards. And in space above the giant silences of the acoustic for larger spaces or ragingly difficult speakers
upwards, nudging slowly northwards, as is our spaces perceivable behind the instruments. (or headphones). With our speaker selections,
wont. No reservations here, no pause for power, This sense of space also brought magic to Keith no more was required; we loved the nova150, its
no apparent limit at all. No change in tonal Jarretts classic Kln Concert, which encouraged combination of power and precision, its ability
character with volume, no audible noise-floor us to play two full sections of it, and even gave to cleverly combine todays digital sources with
whatsoever, other than that on the recordings sparkle to older mono recordings setting the those analogue originals, delivering maximum
themselves. Peachtree quotes the nova150 at 150W tape hiss just audible on Karajans 1953 recording musical involvement from them all.
per channel (hence the name) into eight ohms, of the final Rondo from Mozarts Horn Concerto
250W into four ohms, and capable of driving in Eb, the orchestral dynamics were thrilling as
anything down to two ohms. (These figures use they burst with bite around the hall-softened horn. Peachtree Audio nova150
the AES17 standards for measurement of digital We activated the phono stage (volume right integrated amplier
audio equipment, which allow up to 1% THD+N, down, just in case!) and settled into Marvin
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high by traditional hi-fi standards.) Gaye playing on 180g from a Thorens turntable. r
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We thoroughly enjoyed this output into Delight and insight, the Peachtree impressively r
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a high-quality pair of 86dB/W/m German clarifying the spliced tracks so we noticed the
standmounters, and needless to say, it had a ball significant increase in bass content at the edit r
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driving our JBL 4429s with their nominal 6-ohm point from God is Love into Mercy Mercy Me. Price:

impedance and friendly 91dB/W/m sensitivity; no The headphone amp is no afterthought either,
wonder we didnt reach any limits. redesigned for the nova150, a discrete design rather Inputs:

Y
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Blue Man Groups Rods and Cones and enjoy the headphones. It did a superb job with beyer-

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drums slamming from left and right while the dynamics 250-ohm DT 1990 PROs. Outputs:
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tapping of tubes continues centre-stage. If theres an obvious omission from what 
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Separation and staging? The dual vocal parts purports to be a modern digital amplifier, its Power:
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on the 24/96 of Bowies Blackstar sounded not networking. Theres no Ethernet here, no Wi-Fi, 8

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overlaid but one before the other, the low one no Bluetooth you can network or stream online Separation:
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forward, the falsetto behind and even vertically stuff from computer, of course, or an iPhone
DAC:
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and vocal miking on Diana Kralls Alone Again likes of Spotify Connect and Tidal. Its due later Weight:
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Naturally duet with the Mick Bubble man (24/96) in 2017 and is expected to add about $400 to Contact:
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was sublime. We played through the better part of the price of a Wi-Fi version of the nova150. And Telephone:



four discs worth of CD-quality Best Audiophile Peachtree already offers a BT1 Bluetooth receiver. Web:
XXXBVEJPNBSLFUJOHDPNBV

63
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 AMPS/RECEIVERS

NETWORKED AV RECEIVER

SONY STR-DN1080
REVIEWED WITH

SONY UBP-X800
ULTRA HD BLU-RAY PLAYER

W
e have got a little behind with the We think thats for two channels operating. That Theres one surprising input and one surprising
evolution of Sonys AV receivers would mean an output of at least 75 watts per output. The input is Chromecast. Well talk
the last one we plugged into channel into eight-ohm loads, perhaps a bit more more of that later. The surprising output is
our system was four years ago in if output current was the limiting factor with the Bluetooth. In addition to being able to be paired
2013. That was the Sony STR-DN1040, and we lower impedance load. with a Bluetooth source device for playback, you
were quite impressed by it. The model presently The amplifier pair that are nominally for can further pair the receiver with, say, a set of
under review the Sony STR-DN1080 is, surround back can be redirected to drive a B set Bluetooth headphones. The Bluetooth communi-
we deduce, the natural successor after four annual of front speakers, biamplify the front speakers, cations can, depending on the device, be encoded
updates, and it arrived for review with Sonys first drive speakers in Zone 2 or run height speakers using the basic SBC codec, the better AAC codec
Ultra High Definition Blu-ray player. Needless to for Dolby Atmos and the like. (typically used by Apple devices) or the even better
say, the receiver is fully equipped to make the best There are six HDMI inputs, and only one LDAC codec (used, so far as we can tell, only by
of such a high-quality source. Lets see what they optical digital audio input. Component video high-end Sony devices see avhub.com.au/ldac).
can do together. has now been entirely dropped. Thats a little The receivers documentation recommends
connectivity than some (and less than that 2013 using the Sony app SongPal for controlling the
EQUIPMENT receiver offered), but six HDMI inputs ought to receiver and managing network audio tracks. But
One thing that hasnt changed is the the receivers be enough for the vast majority of purchasers. when we went to install this on our iPad Mini 4,
rated power output. Sony quotes this only into six Theres a USB socket on the front for playback the App store kept responding instead with an
ohms: 100 watts from each of the seven channels of music from thumb drives or hard drives. app called Music Center. Apparently SongPal is
across the full audio spectrum at 0.09% THD. Networking is provided by Ethernet or Wi-Fi. defunct, and Music Center has replaced it.

65
 AMPS/RECEIVERS

PERFORMANCE
An Easy Setup wizard helps you set up the
receiver at first switch-on (or after a factory reset).
There are two sections: speakers and network.
We had chosen to do a wired network connection,
so the network section was very fast and easy. If
youre going wireless, thats also pretty straight
forward. The receiver scans for access points,
showing the signal strength of those it finds. You the set-up was an option to enable Chromecast, but with half the number of keys and yet still
select one and enter the password. Both 2.4GHz along with setting the time zone. with a good level of system control (see the UHD
and 5GHz points could be used. There wasnt much opportunity to check Blu-ray information above right). Then of course
Upon completion of this, the receiver displayed the settings throughout this, but afterwards it theres also the option to do things like choose
a message indicating that a firmware update was appeared the receiver had set all speaker positions inputs using the on-screen menu of the app.
available, and said how we could install it. to Large, even our admittedly-competent but When it came to the receivers bread and
The auto speaker calibration system (called nonetheless bass-limited ceiling speakers. butter, this Sony receiver performed sterling
D.C.A.C. EX) uses an interesting double-headed We must spend a few words on the menu and duty delivering to loudspeakers the music and
microphone, with the left and right microphone set-up system here. Its hard to precisely put our sounds provided to its inputs, and delivering to a
elements perhaps 70mm apart. This allowed the finger on it, but there was just a general sense of TV screen the video provided to its inputs. The
receiver to tell us that we had the left and right a more professional, computer-like, layout to the 75W we estimated to be the output into eight
height speakers accidentally swapped. The distance instructions and the wizard than is the norm for ohms did not seem to be a limitation. We would
settings were conducted very quickly once wed home theatre receivers. note, though, that six-ohm loudspeakers are the
fixed that error. Then a second stage went to And similarly we really enjoyed using this minimum allowed, so one should be doubly
EQing the system. You get a choice at that point receiver. The remote is well laid out especially careful in loudspeaker selection: choose both a
of aiming for a flat frequency response, choosing with the volume control sitting almost alone (with suitable impedance and reasonable sensitivity.
the Sony Engineers preferred setting, or going for only Mute next to it) down there at the bottom. With our eight-ohm system the receiver
Front Reference, which matches the rest of the Somehow Sony manages to provide the same delivered excellent sound, both in stereo and
system to your front stereo speakers. Finishing off functionality with its remote as other brands do, in surround. We opted for the match the front

66 www.avhub.com.au
 Best Buys Audio & AV 2017-#2

Sonys UBP-X800 Premium UHD Blu-ray player ($499)

A decade ago, one of the prime movers for the We were supplied the UDP-X800 to use with press of its power button will turn
growth of the Blu-ray format was Sonys decision the Sony receiver reviewed here, and of course off Blu-ray player, AV receiver and
to put a Blu-ray player in the PlayStation 3. For there are good reasons to team them together, television together. Conversely you
a good few years the PS3 was the best Blu-ray beyond the neatness of one-brand aesthetics can enjoy One-Touch Play where
player on the market, and may have helped see and ease of purchase. As with TVs and receivers, pressing play will start your UHD
off the challenge from rival format HD DVD. So most companies implement some form of propri- Blu-ray disc spinning, select the
many were disappointed when Sonys gaming etary communication between connected units. right receiver input and turn on
division chose not to include a UHD Blu-ray player Sonys is called Bravia Sync, in this case using your TV. Convenience and control!
in the PlayStation 4, even though its capable of the HDMI connection to communicate between A full-length review of the UBP-
4K gaming. Now Sonys consumer video team is the X800, the receiver and, if youre using one, X800 will appear in the August
out to fix the omission, with the companys first onto a Sony Bravia television. issue of Sound+Image magazine,
standalone UHD Blu-ray player, the UBP-X800. The most obvious bonus is that you can use a and once published youll be able
Its labelled a Premium player, but the price is single Sony remote control youll note the AV to read the full review online at
pleasingly not so premium at $499. receivers remote is labelled AV System, and a www.avhub.com.au/x800.

speakers EQ, and that delivered a relatively unadul- throughout) was initially rather flaky. Remember performance with everything
terated sound from the front speakers while having how we said earlier wed wired the receiver into up to Ultra HD Blu-ray (and
the others match them tonally. One thing led to Ethernet? Well, we switched over to a Wi-Fi operational benefits from pairing
another and we spent way too long enjoying several connection and the whole thing settled down. Our it with Sonys player, above) and
of our Super Audio CDs in 5.1 surround. At all Chromecast-enabled apps found the receiver (and the convenience of Chromecast
reasonable volume levels, and even at levels verging those which used a representative icon showed Audio along with DLNA
on unreasonable, the receiver delivered clean, well- it as a Chromecast stick). DLNA-enabled apps and Apple AirPlay, the Sony
placed, properly-balanced sound. found the receiver (its icon was a receiver). STR-DN1080 home theatre
As it did for movies. The HDMI connections Using DLNA the receiver did a fine job with receiver looks like a winner.
easily passed through full 2160p/60 with HDR our FLAC music files, along with MP3, AAC and
and a wide colour gamut from discs played on the Apple Lossless, with the FLAC one going all the
Sony Ultra-HD Blu-ray player (and from another way up to 24 bits and 192kHz. The manual says
Sony STR-DN1080
brand of player as well). the receiver also supports Direct Stream Digital networked
The Dolby Atmos decoding delivered a fine, up to 5.6MHz, but we couldnt make it work. AV receiver
encompassing surround field despite the system If we used a DLNA app to send such a track, it r
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being limited to two overhead speakers. One reported no success. If we directly accessed the r
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feature we think may be unique phantom folder containing the DSD tracks (we tried both r
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surround back speakers. The receiver can process DSF and DFF formats) using the receivers own $ISPNFDBTU
the incoming channels to make it seem as though interface, then it said that the folders were empty.
r
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there are surround back speakers, creating a kind If we used the Music Player app, the tracks were
of virtual 7.1.2 speaker arrangement. found, but when we tried to play them the app Price:

As for network audio, were pausing for a reported Playback failed. So we have no idea Tested with rmware:
.3

moment, pondering the big question: is there any what was going on there. GWQ


protocol this receiver does not support? Okay, the Especially as the receiver had no problems Rated power:

Y

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only internet streaming service directly provided decoding both stereo and multichannel DSD )[ )[

5)%

Inputs:

Y
)%.*

Y
DPNQPOFOU
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by the receiver is Spotify. To use that youll need when we played Super Audio CDs to it in native

Y
DPNQPTJUF
WJEFP

Y
BOBMPHVF
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a premium Spotify subscription which gives you DSD via HDMI. (It is Sony, after all.) Indeed, 
Y
PQUJDBM
EJHJUBM

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64#

Spotify Connect. If you prefer Pandora or Tidal the receiver played DSD including double rate 
Y
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or some such, youll have to use a smart device to 5.6MHz DSD from a USB stick plugged into Outputs:

Y
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Y
DPNQPOFOU
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access that and send the music to the receiver. But the front socket. Perhaps it didnt like our network 
Y
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Y
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thats where this receiver is so very open. You can configuration, even though we routinely play 
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use just about any of the main systems to do that. DSD tracks to other receivers and audio devices.
Zone:

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You can use Apple AirPlay if youre using an BTTJHOBCMF
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iPad or iPhone. Or DLNA if youre using an CONCLUSION Other:

Y
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Android device with suitable player software. Or Wed be surprised if that werent fixed in a Dimensions (whd):

Y

Y
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Chromecast if youre using a suitably equipped forthcoming firmware. After all, we note that this Weight:
LH
Android device or Chrome browser. All of that model has not yet appeared (as we write) on Sonys
Contact:
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(except for AirPlay which worked perfectly website. We were very impressed. With solid Telephone:



Web:
XXXTPOZDPNBV

67
 LOUDSPEAKERS

LOUDSPEAKERS

ATC LOUDSPEAKERS HTS SERIES

N
ot familiar with ATC Loudspeakers? Theatre Series (HTS), which were impressed to satin finish, and in either vertical or horizontal
Perhaps youd like a few references. see is still handmade in England, and comes with configuration the horizontal versions get a C
The UK company can certainly oblige an impressive six-year warranty. after the name, indicating their likely use in a
its home website lists Clients But dont think that Home Theatre name centre-channel position. Both versions of each HTS
in a panel at the bottom, rolling through a short means theyre just for the movies. They aim to model are said to offer equal performance and are
but spectacular list of those using ATC. First up, provide world-class TV and home cinema sound, freely interchangeable, allowing flexibility in the
Pink Floyd. Then The Killers, the BBC, the Royal for sure, but they are also designed to be capable choice of speaker configuration to suit your room.
Opera House, and Coldplay. Gosh. So when ATC of true hi-fi resolution for music in the home, with So lets meet the family.
calls themselves manufacturers of the finest audio neutral voicing and very low distortion aiming to
systems in the world, the claim at least has some deliver audiophile performance. HTS7/HTS7C
impressive backing. And for many users, or perhaps their spouses, The smallest of the HTS range is the HTS7,
one of their great attractions may be how slim they described as a compact two-way design suitable for
THE HOME THEATRE SERIES are. With cabinets measuring less than 14cm (5.5 small-to medium sized rooms, and also useful as
The company began (and still continues) in the inches) deep, they can wall-mount or be recessed a potential surround speaker for any installation.
realms of professional audio, but its products into walls, making things easy via key-hole plates Measuring 39cm high and 24.5cm wide, and
were being used in home systems even before the on the rear to mate with wall fixings, and with each weighing 8kg each, in this case the speaker is just
company began a dedicated range for audiophiles product shipping with a template to assist quick 125mm deep not including its grille, and as with
and home theatre enthusiasts. The companys and accurate marking of fixing positions. all the range it has hidden wall-mounting brackets
most recent launch is the pictured new range of There are three models in the new series, all and input terminals, so that once mounted (or
high performance on-wall speakers, ATCs Home passive speakers, each available in white or black even better, recessed), cables can run away out of

68 www.avhub.com.au
 Best Buys Audio & AV 2017-#2

ABOVE: a 60-inch TV flanked on three sides by HTS7, with the larger HTS11 and HTC40s shown left to indicate their scale.

ATC and driver development

ATC has been innovating in speaker design for tweeter used throughout the range, ATCs 25mm Neo
decades, right back to its breakthrough soft-dome Soft Dome, also shares technology with the midrange
midrange driver in 1976, an innovative up-scaled unit. This tweeter uses a unique dual suspension
design which became hugely popular in studio system which aims to suppress rocking modes even
monitoring for its uniform dispersion, wider bandwidth at high output levels, and a short edge-wound voice
and much lower distortion than contemporary designs. coil in a long narrow magnetic gap to ensure low
Forty years on, the soft-dome midrange is still a distortion throughout its operating band.
stalwart of ATCs high performance speakers, and The middle size of speaker in the series, the
the HTS Series borrows driver technology straight HTS11, uses one of the companys CLD (Constrained
from ATCs high-end studio monitoring products. So Layer Damping) bass-mid drivers, while the largest
the current 75mm (three-inch) Soft Dome mid-range design, the HTS40 (right), has both the 75mm Soft
is used in the largest of the HTS models here (the Dome midrange driver and a 164mm (6.5-inch)
HTS40 and its HTS40C horizontal version), while the short-coil/long gap bass driver.

sight, and out of mind. But not out of hearing at 2.2kHz, and ATC lists the HTS11 and 11C R&D listening labs, and in its VIP listening suite
the combination of ATCs new SH25-76 as designs suitable for main loudspeakers in at its new flagship San Francisco HQ, which
tweeter (see panel) and 125mm mid-bass driver medium-sized rooms, or as a surround speaker in opened in 2015. And if theres one crowning
benefit from the natural bass reinforcement and medium-large rooms. glory of ATC designs in general which their users
efficiency of wall positioning to reach down to constantly praise, its their ability to deliver high
44Hz (-6dB point) and up to 22kHz, while ATCs HTS40/HTS40C dynamic range while maintaining low distortion
crossover designs have been completely revised to The top of the HTS Series is a three-way design, levels. Indeed ATC itself includes a warning in its
deliver a wide and accurate response from on-wall with the same tweeter, but adding the latest operating instructions for the HTS series as to how
locations; here the crossover occurs at 2.5kHz version of ATCs famous soft-dome midrange the ear and brain tend to interpret distorted sound
and the HTS7 is quoted as 80 coherent on the unit (see panel), and a proprietary long-throw as loudness and thus underestimate the actual level
horizontal, 10 vertically. bass driver which ATC claims to produce excep- of undistorted sound. The HTS range of loud-
tional low frequency output and linearity, with speakers, like all ATC monitors, demonstrate very
HTS11/HTS11C the HTS40s -6dB bass point of 32Hz approach- much lower levels of distortion than conventional
The HTS11 is larger, 49cm by 30.4cm and ing that of the companys rather larger SCM100 systems of a similar size. It is therefore advisable
weighing 11kg, but still keeping that 125mm system. Theyre a little deeper at 154mm without to begin listening at an artificially low level and
depth for discreet wall mounting or recessing. grille, as well as larger, being 74cm high and 38cm carefully increase the volume. In other words,
Its a two-way design again but benefits from a in their vertical orientation. Suitable as main they can be so much fun you get carried away.
larger handmade bass/mid driver, here employing loudspeakers in larger rooms, and surround too if You have been warned!
ATCs CLD (Constrained Layer Damping) you like, they nevertheless achieve a remarkably
cone technology, the enhanced damping aiming discreet visual impact considering the pro-quality
to reduce harmonic distortion in the critical delivery of sound they aim to produce
ATC Loudspeakers
midrange while improving frequency response Home Theatre Series
and also dispersion ATC says it behaves like CONCLUSION Prices: HTS7/7C $1050 each, HTS11/11C
a smaller drive unit off-axis rather than losing Want some more references? Fox, Abbey Road $1490 each, HTS40/40C $4490 each
its fundamental characteristics. The -6dB point and Skywalker Sound all use ATC speakers, and
Contact: CDA Pro Audio
here is a little lower at 40Hz and the crossover Dolby Labs uses them for the majority of its Telephone: 02 9330 1750
Email: [email protected]

69
 LOUDSPEAKERS

ACTIVE STEREO SPEAKERS

BLUESOUND
PULSE FLEX
B
luesound is one of the best regarded of is aided by the quarter-inch threaded holes at the higher quality if your Android device supports
the multiroom audio platforms that have rear (see below). Each contains a 25mm tweeter it) and these have both analogue stereo and
come to the fore in recent years, built and 89mm bass driver, and each driver scores optical digital audio inputs on a shared 3.5mm
around the concept of networked audio. 20W of power. Bluesound specifies the frequency socket. Since 3.5mm optical inputs are relatively
Coming from the Lenbrook Group which also response of each unit as from 45Hz to 20,000Hz. uncommon, Bluesound includes an adaptor for a
produces NAD, Bluesound was early in focusing Its an irony that as wireless multiroom speakers standard optical plug to work with it.
both on high-res audio streaming and on a high- have got smarter, many of them are delivering There are 3.5mm headphone outputs on each
quality and attractive app to allow easy navigation their streaming music in mono, speaker, but no subwoofer
of your music collection, as well as online music as does a single Pulse Flex. But output, and as yet we dont
services. Bluesound has grown to include wireless these can also be paired into believe the Bluesound SUB
speakers, the usual small zone amp and preamp, a stereo operation, which not subwoofer can be used
soundbar and subwoofer, and a useful disc-ripping only brings the soundstaging with them, only with the
NAS drive unit. And Bluesound is now expanding delights that stereo has given us Bluesound soundbar.
beyond the ecosystem itself into smart amplifiers since its invention in the 1930s They appear to be quite
and receivers via a plug-in BluOS module for and widespread adoption in the robust, and the grille covering
certain NAD products. And very interestingly, 1960s, but also doubles up the the drivers seems to be metal.
DALI speakers has just announced its intention to power for your music almost An optional battery pack
bring BluOS into its own active speakers. without exception, pairing up can be purchased to power a
wireless speakers like this delivers Bluesound Pulse Flex for up
EQUIPMENT a whole additional level of to eight hours.
Here were looking at the Bluesound Pulse Flex performance once in stereo.
speakers, which in most cases will be purchased In addition to their network PERFORMANCE
singly, providing a compact way to bring music functionality (Ethernet or Connecting was straight-
into a medium or small room. These are very Wi-Fi), all Bluesounds speakers forward, connecting to the
compact speakers, only 183mm tall, 125mm support Bluetooth (with the speaker as our Wi-Fi access
wide and 100mm deep. Potential wall-mounting Android-friendly aptX codec for point and then typing in

70 www.avhub.com.au
 Best Buys Audio & AV 2017-#2

a pseudo website address which brings

up a configuration menu. That done,
a download of the app the BluOS
Controller got things going. It found
the speakers instantly, and promptly
announced they needed firmware upgrades
and started doing it (without asking).
You can play networked music, but
not in the normal DLNA way of browsing
through folder layers. Instead the app
indexes whatever networked music
shares you point it to, potentially tens of
thousands of tracks, as on our own servers.
This can take a while an hour or so in
our case, after which all our albums were
properly indexed with cover art and so on.
The sound from the paired Flexes
was smooth, balanced and extremely
pleasing from upper bass through to treble
extremes. There wasnt much deep bass,
and even the mid bass seemed a little
recessed, but what was produced was
well-controlled. What really stood out
here, though, was the stereo imaging. Yes,
these are network multiroom speakers, but and you have to make sure your external inputs are CONCLUSION
paired up in stereo they did a remarkable plugged into it. We had a source plugged into the right One of the advantages of wireless multiroom
job, with a distinctly rounded soundstage speaker, but it only showed up after ungrouping the speakers is that its relatively easy to repurpose
and considerable height spread in the speaker pair and selecting the right speaker first. Then them for special occasions. You could use your
instruments. Their time synchronisation group, then play. Success! And how good was the stereo two Pulse Flex speakers in mono separately most
must be excellent. on that, given that one speaker would be decoding the of the time, but bring them together to be paired
Another very welcome thing to note: digital audio, then sending half of it to the other speaker for a bit of critical stereo listening, and with
the system plays back network audio over the network! The sync was seemingly just as good battery operation available, this versatility only
gaplessly, including local MP3 files on as music fed via the network. The image was as precise, increases. Add high-res multiroom in a well-
the iPad Mini 4 and FLAC files on the but the height was a little different higher on the regarded ecosystem, and only a lack of the lowest
network server. soundstage with network than with the optical feed. bass counts against the Flexes.
For a while we thought you couldnt The successful sharing of an external input means
play external music inputs (such as from that these could be used as a stereo pair for TV audio;
the optical input) when the two speakers this would be especially applicable if your TV allows
Bluesound Pulse Flex
were grouped as a stereo pair. The input backwards as well as forwards audio-sync adjustment wireless speakers
simply didnt appear on the list of music (i.e. delaying the video, as can some LG TVs and Oppo
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71
 LOUDSPEAKERS

ACTIVE WIRELESS LOUDSPEAKERS

DALI ZENSOR 1 AX
W
ireless active speakers are currently home audio music can stream from your smart wall-mounted. The white vinyl wrap was neatly
one of our favourite breeds of device of choice, straight to the speakers. Potentially finished, with a groove around the edge just behind
hi-fi especially when they come no other equipment required. And assuming theres the baffle, and forward of that a few millimetres of
from an established loudspeaker a suitable input on them, you can also plug your edge and the front of the baffle finished in gloss.
company. The wireless bit means you can stream TV in, and enjoy far better audio than your TV Not that youll normally see that, since a grille
music directly to them in some way (they still alone (and if the speakers are good, far better than sits in front of the baffle, held on four posts. But
require power cables), while the active bit means most soundbars too). it is removable, and to our eyes removing the grille
they have their own amplification inside, so you And DALI is most definitely an established elevated these speakers from nondescript boxes to
dont need a hi-fi amplifier to drive them. And that loudspeaker company. The name may make you rather elegant transducers (see below left, the black
makes them one of the neatest dcor solutions in think of extravagant moustaches and melting version)... though thats perhaps because we do like
timepieces, but in our present context it actually a fine speaker driver. The DALI units certainly did
stands for Danish Audiophile Loudspeaker look fine with the 25mm soft-dome tweeter centred
Industries, established in, of course, Denmark, in a large aluminium faceplate, and the maroon/
and dating back to 1983. brown cones of the woofers with their hints of
wood fibre seeming decidedly classy.
EQUIPMENT If youre up for something larger, note that
As often happens with real DALI also does active Zensor 5 AX floorstanding
loudspeaker companies, speakers. Apart from the larger enclosures those add
DALIs foray into active an additional 133mm mid/bass driver, 10Hz of bass
speakers is based heavily on an extension and two decibels of peak output level.
existing line of passive speakers, But back to the Zensor 1 AX. Each of the
in this case not surprisingly channels has 50W of power available, from Class D
called its Zensor range. Thats amplifiers. Both amps are in the left speaker, along
a full range, with floorstanders, with the input connections and controls.
compact units and centre Those inputs are analogue audio (via a 3.5mm
speakers. The Zensor 1 is the socket) and optical digital audio. The Bluetooth
smallest of the range, and connection supports the aptX codec for use with
the Zensor 1 AX here is the higher quality with higher-end Android phones.
powered version of it. Apple devices will have to fall back on the basic
The speakers are marked SBC codec. Theres also a subwoofer line-level
Designed and Engineered in output, so that the bass of these relatively small
Denmark. Black and walnut speakers can be supplemented, should you wish.
finishes are available, but we had the A compact infrared remote control is included.
white models for review, as in the main image The IR receiver is on the baffle to the left of
above, which also shows how they can be easily the drivers on the left speaker. It also carries an

72 www.avhub.com.au
 Best Buys Audio & AV 2017-#2

Facts & gures

indicator light which illuminates in four colours, We thought we might try to get a more objective
giving easy visual indication of what input is sense of the deep bass handling by measuring
selected (once youve memorised them). the output. Close miked, the output from the
The on-enclosure controls are all at the rear (see woofer (top graph) was flat in the mid and upper
bass, and turned downwards starting around
below): buttons for cycling through the inputs and
110Hz to be down six decibels at around 90Hz.
raising or lowering the volume. Using both up and But of course the bass reflex port pitched in. Its
down volume buttons together activates Bluetooth output (bottom graph) was even from 45 to 70Hz
pairing. Theres also a hard-wired rocker for power. with a symmetrical roll-off on both sides of the 20Hz 50 100 300
But youll generally be using the remote control, peak, down by 6dB at 37Hz and 10dB at 28Hz.
which has direct selection of the input, volume, But it didnt sound as extended as that. So
mute, power/standby, and a button, again, to we doubted our technique (which uses pink
invoke Bluetooth pairing mode. noise), thinking that perhaps we were merely
measuring spurious noise from the port. We
repeated the measurement with a sine wave
PERFORMANCE sweep so we could be certain we were getting
Setting up was straightforward. Apart from signal. And we were. This gave broadly similar
checking that the analogue connection worked results. We think that, perhaps, when played at 20Hz 50 100 300
properly, we mostly used the optical input, feeding higher levels (as, we confess, is our wont) the
it from a high-quality network audio streamer. electronics limit the bass output to prevent the in place, with a shoulder at 70Hz. If you use a
And the Bluetooth connection of course. Note system from being overdriven, something that subwoofer and it has its own filter, wed suggest
despite the wirelessness there is a power cable didnt apply at the measured lower level. turning it up to the maximum setting to reduce
required to the left speaker and a four-metre cable The subwoofer output appears to have a possible interactions between the two, or even
to connect the active left speaker to the passive gentle six-decibels-per-octave low-pass filter better, use an unfiltered input.
right speaker; this is of impressive quality and
nicely thick, but slipped easily into the holes in
the binding posts on both ends. We then had lots of fun with the live 1987 was excellent. Despite the strong bass, we felt a
We started with something a little light: the recording of the Capp/Pierce Juggernaut Live slight hollowness in the middle, and since wed
album La Prima Stavaganza from the Australian at the Alley Cat. The big band wasnt too big installed the speakers well out from the rear wall,
Baroque ensemble Capella Corelli. With a for these speakers and the rhythmic brass blasts we experimented with this positioning and found
beautifully restrained harpsichord underpinning, provided plenty of energy. Guest singer Ernestine a noticeable balancing with the speakers pushed
sometimes leading, the strings and the occasional Andersons voice was somewhat emphasised in the back to within 20-30cm of the wall.
recorder, this can break speakers that are upper harmonics, but otherwise the performance The specs suggest that the optical input is
unpleasant in the treble and upper midrange. was exemplary. only good for 96kHz. Yet it somehow coped with
But not these, which seemed equally restrained Moving over the Alice Coopers Billion Dollar some Art Blakey at 192kHz..
and smooth, and completely up to the task. Each Babies, delivered at 96kHz and 24 bits to the
note of the harpsichord occupied its own place in optical input, the track Generation Landslide was CONCLUSION
the plane between and around the speakers, with delivered with a touch of zing, again suggesting The DALI Zensor 1 AX speakers are fine little units
decent height and fine accuracy, the tune dancing a high-end boost. The kick drum was again that give an outsized performance, and work
delightfully from place to place. sufficiently well sketched out to give a solid sense particularly well with classical music. Just get them
Heartened by that, we moved on to the of the whole rhythm section. Imaging, again, in a bit closer to the rear wall for rock and roll.
Schubert String Quintet in C (D.956), performed
by the Australia Ensemble. Weve long had
somewhat of a not love/hate exactly, but love/
meh relationship with this recording. Weve felt
it ought to be great, but somehow it lacked an DALI Zensor 1 AX
attack and energy that would lift it above the active stereo speakers
average. But with these speakers, that energy
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73
 LOUDSPEAKERS

ACTIVE STEREO SPEAKERS

DYNAUDIO
FOCUS 20 XD
T
he review preceding this one shows weve seen such a glorious finish on a loudspeaker. If you have two equally capable loudspeakers,
how wireless active speakers have a Does it sound good? Hell, you imagine it just has each with its own amplifier, how does one split
good case for being the neatest solution to when it looks that good. an analogue or digital signal between the two?
in hi-fi, and potentially AV too send It was the finish, you see. There was a deep With these speakers, if you choose to use the
your music to them wirelessly, plug in your TV, lustre to the gorgeous wood grain of the cabinets digital connection (coaxial only; for optical youll
no amp required you could potentially have no as we pulled them from their cloth bags piano need the additional unit), the master speakers will
equipment on display except your speakers. gloss. Yet these speakers, so their label claims, were split off the second channel and communicate it
You might think such simplicity would built in Denmark itself, from where the brand wirelessly to the other speaker. That only works
limit this idea more to the mass market than to hails, not from some low labour-cost nation. Such with signals of up to 96kHz. If you want to go
those seeking the best in hi-fi reproduction. But work goes some way towards explaining their cost. even higher in
Dynaudio clearly thinks differently. It has been They came in two separate cartons, so that resolution to
working for some years on active speakers that are we wondered if they might be quite independent 192kHz you
able to work not only in a wireless environment speakers, paired as you wish. But no one was will need to
but in multiroom modes as well. One of its latest labelled Right, the other Left. And they connect connect the two
and surely most attractive solutions is the Focus with each other wirelessly when powered up, using speakers together
20 XD. To these you can attach inputs directly, some wireless system of Dynaudios devising. by a cable to
or you can add an additional unit which will then They employ Dynaudios own drivers as carry the digital
deliver multiple inputs to them wirelessly. well, with a 25mm soft-dome tweeter in each, audio signal.
and a 170mm woofer in each cabinet. And each Either speaker
EQUIPMENT driver not each speaker, but each tweeter and can be set to
Now then, if the only thing youll be having on each woofer gets its own 150W amplifier. master or slave,
display is your loudspeakers, they might as well That allows for active crossovers, of course, and so you can
look as good as possible, eh? The Focus 20 XD gives Dynaudio tremendous ability to control use either left
standmounters look so very very good that we were performance. There are controls on the back to or right for
in danger of having our listening notes biased by slightly trim the tweeter level and adjust the bass your source
their sheer loveliness. Its quite a long time since output for different room placements. connection.

74 www.avhub.com.au
 Best Buys Audio & AV 2017-#2

The tweeter face-plate is wide, and the that is original, yet accessible), it was
screw heads securing both of the drivers instantly obvious that not all the price
are exposed. We think the result is pretty of admission went into the spectacular
enough to be left exposed, without the finish on the speakers. These are truly
magnetically-secured black cloth grilles. first-class high-fidelity loudspeakers
If youre feeding an analogue signal, even with their wireless intercon-
youll have to use a split cable and plug nection. The imaging was spacious yet Dynaudio Connect wireless and multiroom
the relevant channel cable into the precise, three dimensional and lifelike. If youre happy with a simple system of one or two sources
matching speakers separately. Things are So, so, very good. connected directly to the Focus 20 XDs, all well and good.
made far more versatile, and wireless, As was tonal balance and dynamic But things are made much more versatile by adding one of
and potentially multiroom by using the liveliness. Dynaudio speakers always Dynaudios hub units, such as the Connect pictured here.
optional Dynaudio Connect box (see stand out in their reproduction of This adds (see back panel below) one minijack and one
right). The remote control with the Focus percussion. With the jazz it was just RCA pair of analogue inputs, plus three digital inputs
speakers uses about half its keys to operate as expected, but turning to something optical, coaxial and USB from a computer. This last uses a
the speakers and the rest for the extension more primal, Rage Against the micro-USB socket; an adapter is supplied with the Connect.
But theres more. The Connect is a networking device,
devices, such as the Connect box. Machines self-titled album, they
able to connect to your home Wi-Fi network and thereby to the
delivered a real punch, a viscerally internet, bringing Spotify Connect and DLNA streaming. Theres
PERFORMANCE hard feel of honest-to-goodness uncon- also Bluetooth Dynaudio has a Xeo range of active speakers
Connecting up really was super simple, strained kick-drum work. We turned which have Bluetooth built in, but its a useful addition to the
although you only get a quick start guide it up, and up, and up, to seeming Focus XD range, since any app source on a smart device can
in the box and you simply must download rock concert levels (it wasnt really, but then be played through the Connect and on to the Focus XDs.
the full guide to understand the meaning it seemed like it). Yet the sound was Bluetooth includes the near-CD quality aptX codec for
of the indicator lights and such. absolutely undistorted. Damn it, very Android phones which support it; Apple devices will stream at
We used the coax digital input signal nearly absolutely perfect. 256k AAC; non-aptX Android will default to the SBC codec. The
optical and coaxial digital inputs accept up to 24-bit/192kHz
on the speakers. It turns out even without While we didnt use the Connect
signals, but the connection to the speakers is made at
the link between them, the Focus 20 XDs box in this review, we have done so
24-bit/96kHz, also the maximum available from the USB input.
work with 24-bit/192kHz PCM inputs. with these speakers predecessors, the But thats if youre using only one pair of speakers.
Presumably it just downsamples it on the Focus 200 XDs, and our panel (right) Underneath the Connect is a little DIP switch to select
fly before wirelessly transmitting it from is based on that experience. multiroom operation, and doing so limits transmission to CD
one to the other speaker. quality. So in multiroom mode, high-res playback is currently
With a system with such as this, one of CONCLUSION supported only from local inputs to the speakers themselves.
the main worries is synchronisation, and For all but the simplest system, we do The Dynaudio Connect sells for $799.
timing between the speakers. And the best recommend adding the Connect box
way to assess that is to check out the stereo to the Focus 20 XD pairing. That way
imaging, which will collapse if theres youll have plenty of inputs, wireless
anything less than near-perfect synch- neatness, Bluetooth convenience
ronisation. Playing (digitally, of course) and a gorgeous pair of active speakers
the 2006 album Mercury by the Alister on the end of it, delivering superb
Spence Trio (wonderfully realised jazz sound quality.

Facts & gures Dynaudio Focus 20 XD

active stereo speakers
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measurements with the
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75
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 Best Buys Audio & AV 2017-#2

LOUDSPEAKERS

STEREO LOUDSPEAKERS

KRIX
ESOTERIX

W
ere delighted to bring you a
magazine exclusive here, on
this entirely new loudspeaker
design from South Australias
Krix Loudspeakers. Krix is a company which
any Australian with an interest in hi-fi and AV
will likely know and respect. Since 1974 Scott
Krix has been designing and selling loudspeakers
first for stereo, then for real cinemas and, by
obvious extension, later for home cinemas. But While Krixs existing home ranges of speakers designed waveguide to maintain control of
the company contains more Krixes than Scott, are designed for both stereo and multi-channel directivity across the entire frequency range, and
with brothers Ashley, Brett, Kingsley and Gary surround use, the company decided to develop a Krix promises that the end result is a refined and
all joining the company over its first decades, and dedicated two-channel speaker that would deliver detailed speaker that delivers a soundstage much
the company now selling its speakers not only the full experience that good stereo can offer. bigger than you would expect from a speaker of
in Australia but internationally, while its cinema For this it has resurrected the Esoterix name its size.
division undertakes installations in 30 countries for this model last used some 15 years ago for
worldwide, estimating that 60% of Australian its then flagship floorstander model. But this new DRIVERS & WAVEGUIDE
cinemas uses Krix products. model is a standmount design, with Krix paying The Krix engineering team decided to use the
particular attention to imaging and directivity same Revelator tweeter that was used in its limited
THE RETURN OF TWO-CHANNEL behaviour, to ensure that an accurate stereo image edition 40th Anniversary Neuphonix speaker
Krix had noted that sales of two-channel stereo is rendered when listening in normal living room released in 2014. Manufactured in Europe, this
systems have dramatically increased in recent conditions. An internally cross-braced, fully- Scan-Speak tweeter uses a ring radiator design,
years, with the resurgence in vinyl records along mitred cabinet provides a streamlined look but coupled with a patented phase plug, while a large
with developments in high-resolution digital, and also results in a very rigid, low resonance speaker neodymium magnet and other design enhance-
the increasing availability of higher-quality music enclosure. Combine that with high quality drivers ments deliver reduced distortion and power
from streaming services. and crossover components, along with a uniquely compression. The resulting high sensitivity driver

77
LOUDSPEAKERS

delivers exceptional performance though Krix tweeter. As

set out to improve on this, as well see. the Krix
The 165mm (6.5-inch) bass /mid driver utilises design
similarly leading-edge transducer technology, team set
highlighted by an innovative cast aluminum basket, out to
which minimises acoustic reflections inside the achieve a
driver through large basket windows and sculpted significant
basket struts. This stylish basket design also leap in stereo
improves power handling capacity by acting as a performance,
highly coupled heat sink for the large neodymium- it of course inves-
iron-boron magnet. tigated each element
The cone and dust cap are pressed from a of the loudspeaker design
natural wood-fibre material, with a proprietary improved drivers, more advanced cabinets,
coating added to improve clarity and frequency higher quality crossover components and so on.
response. A titanium voice-coil bobbin with copper But it decided that the way the speakers interact for two-channel listening. The purpose of the
caps, minimising voice coil inductance, completes with the listening room should also be improved, waveguide is to adjust the balance of the direct
this cutting-edge design. and so building on its wealth of experience in the and reflected mid and low treble in the room by
But the most unusual aspect to the new Esoterix cinema industry, the team embarked on developing controlling the directivity of the sound radiated at
design is perhaps that waveguide around the a high-frequency waveguide specifically engineered those frequencies. By projecting more of the sound

78 www.avhub.com.au
 Best Buys Audio & AV 2017-#2

room is coloured. A waveguide on the tweeter can sound energy within, and the vent positioned
control the tweeter sound, delivering a narrower at the kick-up towards the rear of the enclosure
angle of coverage and so reducing sound radiated see above, where you can also see the bi-wire
onto the side walls of the room. The result gold-plated brass terminals for positive connections,
a more uniform off-axis frequency response. allowing the user to bi-amp or bi-wire the unit for
Given that Krix is renowned for its waveguide improved performance.
expertise, as used in its commercial cinema The baffle of the new Esoterix is angled at 7.5
speakers and in designs for home theatre, degrees, allowing the waveguide to protrude this
including the recent MX series, the team set out to time-aligns the two drivers while also creating what
leverage this existing technology, using computer is obviously a novel design feature. Krix explains
simulation to optimise the throat size and that it expects the speakers to be potentially located
contours of the waveguide for the best possible on low-line cabinets or below seated ear level, while
control of directivity. After a series of prototypes, the optional stands for the Esoterix take the baffle
the final waveguide design was locked in. slant into account and will be ideal for a listener
But a waveguide also increases the apparent seated between two and four metres from the
sensitivity of the tweeter within. The tweeter speaker. A magnetic grille will be available which
normally has a sensitivity advantage of around 3dB Krix says will float over the bass driver.
(1.4 times) over the bass driver; the waveguide The finish continues Krixs flagship model
can raise that approximately 12dB (3.9 times). styling of a timber veneer enclosure with a black
So the tweeters sensitivity is generally padded satin front baffle striking yet approachable says
down in the crossover network to match the the company of this combination. The Esoterix will
acoustic output of the bass driver at the crossover be made in Australia at Krixs manufacturing plant
forward, and away from the ceiling and side walls, point, reducing the actual applied signal level south of Adelaide, so it will be able to offer a variety
improvements in stereo imaging and definition at the tweeters terminals. That has a secondary of finishes including the option of custom veneers.
could be realised without comprising the open and advantage, since distortion increases with the The Esoterix makes its first public outing
sweet sound a true hi-fi speaker can deliver. applied input level so reducing the level to the at The Australian Hi-Fi & AV Show in Sydney
The focusing effect of the waveguide also tweeter is likely to dramatically reduce unwanted shortly after this magazine publishes thereafter
has the added benefit of raising the apparent distortion from the tweeter, especially at higher it will begin making its way to Krix dealers
sensitivity of the tweeter. Krix tells us that volume levels. Reduced distortion plus controlled nationally as the latest example of Australian
loudspeakers which rate highly in double-blind directivity Krix reckons the waveguide thereby loudspeaker design at its best.
listening tests often have frequency responses delivers a clearer, larger listening experience than
which are smooth on-axis and off-axis, and show would otherwise be expected from a bookshelf
a gradual fall off in frequency response at high loudspeaker of this size. Krix Esoterix
frequencies. Whereas classic two-way designs can stereo loudspeakers
compromise directivity the sound from the PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
woofer often becomes too narrow as it rolls off The cabinet for the Esoterix is a bass reflex design Price: $6500 (pair)
just below the crossover frequency, and the sound tuned to a resonant frequency of 45Hz, to take Dedicated stands will be available as a option.
Dimensions (whd): 260 390 380mm
from the tweeter is too wide as it rolls on. The best advantage of the bass drivers extended
result is a hole in the off-axis response, and the range. The cabinet has been shaped to minimise Contact: Krix Loudspeakers
sound radiated on to the side walls of the listening standing waves, with internal damping to absorb Telephone: 08 8384 3433
Web: www.krix.com.au

79
H
eres another solution just begging and efficiency. The bass reflex port is at the rear, to be any filtering on this output, so youd do best
to beat soundbars at their TV and the enclosures are available in black or white. with a subwoofer that has its own low-pass filter.
audio game, while also looking, to The grilles are removable, and we preferred their You will typically control everything using the
our eyes, not only neater than any looks as well as sound that way. supplied remote control, but there is a volume
soundbar but also a darned sight classier. The That phono input can be switched to a control on the rear of the right speaker. It doubles
Triangle Elara LN01A loudspeakers are active, so line-level input using a slider on the back (see as an input selector (you press it to cycle through
they need no external amplifier, and they have right). Theres also a the inputs).
Bluetooth onboard, so you can stream directly permanent line-level input A bright light with
to them. And that might be all you need for a (via 3.5mm minijack), plus sufficient intensity to push
phone-based music system. But take a look round optical and coaxial digital the photons through the
the back not only analogue and digital inputs audio inputs, and Bluetooth, grille cloth is located to the
suitable for plugging in TV audio, but whats this? with support for the aptX bottom left of the main
A set of phono inputs for a turntable, along with a codec. That means the driver, indicating that power
substantial grounding post. We say hooray! Bluetooth is kind to those is on. Its green in most
Android phones which circumstances, but blue when
EQUIPMENT support aptX, though less so Bluetooth is in use.
More to the point, these inputs come on the to iPhones which will have
back of a very nice little pair of loudspeakers. to fall back on the lower PERFORMANCE
Theyre a French design, the smallest model from quality SBC codec. With the It was a genuine pleasure
Triangles Elara loudspeaker range, but fitted amplifier and electronics in using these speakers. They
with a 50W-per-channel amplifier and relevant the right speaker, the passive were trouble-free in operation
electronics inside the right speaker. So far, the left speaker is connected via and sounded delightfully
LN01A is the only active model in the range. a supplied three-metre cable. smooth, including with
These mid-sized bookshelfers use a 25mm Not happy with digital audio inputs. We
silk-dome tweeter with neodymium magnet, and the claimed 50Hz bass spent quite a bit of time just
a 135mm bass driver with a treated paper cone... extension? Then add an enjoying some vinyl, taking
or not quite a cone, it presents a concave spherical active subwoofer to the the opportunity to pull out
section to the world. Triangle says that avoiding a system using the dedicated some discs which apparently
dust cap in this way increases the drivers rigidity output. There didnt appear never made it to CD or other

80 www.avhub.com.au
 Best Buys Audio & AV 2017-#2

We thoroughly enjoyed
these fine little speakers,
then, with their excellent set
of inputs for versatility,
and truly hi-fi performance
available from them.

digital formats, such as Cha by Jo Jo Zep, a wonderfully irreverant

recording featuring a great mix of voices and instruments with
big band, jazz and pop influences. It was nicely rendered by these
speakers, with the kind of dynamic delivery needed to fully convey
the delight of the performers.
Princes album 1999 (a new pressing) was delivered with a tight
bass control and timing fitting for both his musicianship and crafts-
manship. Surface noise wasnt unduly emphasised, though of course
inevitable with vinyl. The inner tracks of Laura Marlings Short
Movie were still marred with defects (as they were when brand new
last year) but tolerable.
Which led us to going digital and Marlings latest, the brand-new
Semper Femina, played from Spotify, using a Denon streamer
connected via optical to the speakers. Marling, it turns out, is getting
better all the time. Her characteristic vocal, close-miked and pushed
near to overload, sounded as immediate and with as much presence
as on our regular much more expensive reference system. As usual,
her voice verges on sibilance in some songs, but these speakers held
it just the right side of being objectionable.
Switching over to Bluetooth, while remaining in Spotify, we
continued listening with the music now being delivered by a
Samsung Galaxy S7 (with aptX) via Bluetooth. There was a slight
degradation, to be sure, essentially a harshening and a slight loss of
imaging focus, but the delivery was still musical and pleasing.
Switching to high-quality FLAC, decoded to PCM and delivered
again by the Denon streamer, we played some UB40 to check out
ABOVE: And theres more
the bass. The extension and control of the bass line on Madam Triangle has just created a
Medusa completed the music. It actually seemed fully realised, and package in which you get the
Triangle Elara LN01A
felt like it extended beyond the 50Hz bottom-end indicated in the LN01A speakers along with active speakers
specifications (which some measurements later indicated that it did.) the pictured turntable ready
The optical digital audio input happily accepted 24-bit/192kHz to plug straight in to its phono r
Excellent high fidelity sound
stereo PCM when tested, so you can freely run your high definition inputs. The turntable is badged r
Very good imaging
to Triangle but we gather its a r
Phono input!
audio into here.
Pro-Ject underneath, and the
The remote offers useful treble and bass controls on the remote, package will have an Australian r
No marked centres for tone controls
though a clear indication of the centre position would have been RRP of $1499. The result is a
useful. The volume control changed the level by a little over a vinyl system ready to play, with Price: $1199
decibel on each press. Bluetooth available for
streaming, and with inputs Drivers: 1 x 25mm silk-dome tweeter,
enough to handle your TV audio 1 x 135mm woofer
CONCLUSION too a powerful combination. Power output: 50W
We thoroughly enjoyed these fine little speakers, then, with their Frequency response: 56-20,000Hz 3dB
excellent set of inputs for versatility, and truly hi-fi performance Inputs: 1 x analogue minijack, 1 x analogue
available from them. But theres more Triangle has just released a RCA pair (can be phono/line), 1 x optical
digital, 1 x coaxial
package in which you get the LN01A speakers along with a turntable
Output: 1 x subwoofer output,
ready to plug straight into its phono inputs. The turntable is badged speaker-to-speaker connections
to Triangle but we gather its a Pro-Ject underneath, and the package Dimensions (hwd): 291 x 165 x 291mm
will have an Australian RRP of $1499, making the turntable quite Weight (left/right): 4.5kg/5.05kg
the bargain add-on. The result is a vinyl system ready to play, with Warranty: Two years
Bluetooth available for streaming, and with inputs enough to handle Contact: Audio Marketing
your TV audio a powerful combination for todays preferences. Telephone: 02 9882 3877
Web: www.audiomarketing.com.au

81
 Best Buys Audio & AV 2017-#2

TVs/PROJECTORS

OLED UHD TELEVISION

PANASONIC
OLED TVs

H
ave you sat yourself in front of an the transactional one of buying panels, says Paul EZ950 OLED TVs, but really an umbrella name
OLED television yet? Preferably in a Gray from research company IHS Markit. So for three key capabilities:
real room rather than an open shop part of the deal is that they like Panasonic because t
the Studio Colour HCX2 (Hollywood Cinema
floor? The difference delivered by Panasonic asks them to do difficult things, and Experience 2) 4K Processor, which aims to
OLED screen technology is a real wow moment. they learn things from them. And I think that control the accuracy of colours, clarity and
With OLED, the pixels shine from the front has helped both Panasonic with OLED but also gradation-to-black levels at a pixel-by-pixel
of the screen itself (rather than through little LG.Display and indeed LG Electronics with level, including processing previously only used
holes from a backlight, as with LCD televisions), better performing OLED, especially at the black in pro monitors, we were told;
and when a pixel turns off, it is absolutely off, level, with all that shadow detail. I think thats got t
HEXA Chroma Drive 4K Pro, pro-quality
completely black. And those blacks make colours Panasonics thumbprints all over it. colour management technology which interest-
and contrast wonderfully vibrant. OLED has Panasonic Australias Doug Campbell made a ingly incorporates 6-colour reproduction, with
become the cream of high-end televisions. similar point at the Sydney launch of the new TVs. C, M and Y added to RGB, something that
LG has dominated the first years of OLED, Panasonic OLED TVs take OLEDs unique merits further investigation, since presumably
because its display division, LG.Display, has the qualities and add a powerful mix of hardware and this doesnt operate at the pixel level, rather
only fabrication plant yet capable of making software innovations born from our decades of through definition of colours and their
OLED panels in larger TV sizes. But other experience in developing TV technology, as well as subsequent delivery; and
companies are now taking those panels and adding a 20-year collaboration with Hollywood, he told t
Hollywood tuning a Hollywood colourist
their own expertise to get the very best out of their Best Buys Audio & AV at the launch. has tuned the TVs for an accurate cinema
performance. And who knows more about TV The two Panasonic OLED Series for Australia experience.
display performance than perhaps anyone else? are the EZ1000, described by Campbell as the
Step forward Panasonic. flagship Master OLED, the absolute best, and Panasonics range-topper has a soundbar
also the EZ950 Series (pictured above), a great attached to the TV itself. While this delivers much
FROM PLASMA TO OLED balance of picture quality and design. better sound than would a normal TV speaker
For those who have forgotten the heyday of The 65-inch EZ1000 is priced at $8899, with squeezed into such a slender frame, we cant help
plasma, Panasonic took over the mantle of plasma a 77-inch giant to follow in November, price thinking that such a premium TV deserves a great
leadership from Pioneer when that company not yet determined. The EZ950 OLEDs are in sound system such as the many options packed
stopped making its still legendary Kuro televisions. 65-inch and 55-inch models at $4999 and $7199 into this issue of Best Buys Audio & AV.
The key Kuro engineering team joined Panasonic respectively. Panasonics 2017 campaign will
and, presumably, is now applied to the OLED market these top-tier TV models under the banner
models, where their experience with detailing in of Extraordinary perfected. Panasonic OLED TV
the blacks will be particularly relevant. The leading tech for the OLED Series is 4K
As I understand it there is a deeper relation- Pro HDR (High Dynamic Range) technology, Contact: Panasonic Australia
ship between LG.Display and Panasonic above described as the brain behind the EZ1000 and Telephone: 132 600
Web: www.panasonic.com.au

82 www.avhub.com.au
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STORE IT ALL!
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