EQUIPMENT REVIEWS
Musical Fidelity Supercharger 550k
What the hell is a ‘Supercharger?’ More importantly, what the hell does it do? And, perhaps, even more importantly again: ‘Do you need one? All excellent questions and all answered in Jutta Dziwnik’s in-depth review.
T+A TS350 Loudspeakers
They may look conventional, but T+A’s new TS350 floorstanders are anything but. They’re one of that rare breed of loudspeakers that delivers the very lowest of bass sounds using the ‘quarter wave’ principle.
Yamaha CD-S2000 SA-CD Player
If you’re after a superbly constructed audiophile CD player which delivers high-end performance at such a low price it will amaze you, Yamaha’s CD-S2000 is a tour-de-force. What’s more, it plays SA-CD as well, delivering even better sound again…
Burson Audio Buffer
Manufacturers producing products at the cutting edge of high-fidelity rarely think of anything other than the performance of their own products, with the result that incompatible components abound. Enter the mediator: Burson’s Audio Buffer.
Elektroakustik Criterion TCI 2E Speakers
It was not just the adjustable amplified electrostatic tweeters on the TCI 2Es that had reviewer Edgar Kramer gasping with astonishment, or even their impressively overpowering size!
FEATURES
Audio News
AKG HD Headphones, Arcam CD17 Player, XTZ in Oz, Aaron Décor, TDK DJ Comp, Marantz RC9001 Remote, VAF SW-19 Sub, T+A Music Player, Cambridge 840W Power Amp, Stealth X Series, van den Hul Wave interconnect, StyleAudio Carat DAC, Mission 79 Series speakers, Legend Series 6 Monitor Range, Ortofon RS-212D Tonearms, Musical Fidelity A5.5 revamp, Mordaunt-Short Mezzo, Cayin VP-100i Int. Valve Amp, NAD Viso 5/Viso 2 receivers, Yamaha awards Len Wallis, Electrocompaniet Prelude Maestro, harman/kardon Bridge II, Tivoli Networks Radio, Aslan Acoustics R1 Reference—all this and more…
The New Digital Sound – Part II
While SA-CD and DVD-A were fighting to become the supreme audiophile format, Blu-ray slipped quietly in under the radar, offering audiophiles audio riches aplenty. Stephen Dawson concludes his informative article on what you will get for your money…
Interview—Dr Sidney Harman
The world-famous brands harman/kardon, JBL, AKG, AudioAccess, Infinity, Lexicon, Revel, Mark Levinson, Soundcraft and Studer are all controlled by Dr Sidney Harman. In this revealing interview, he explains why he has been so successful.
The Definitive CD Collection
The controversial and renowned music writer Norman Lebrecht continues his listing of the CDs he believes to be the most important classical recordings of all time… discs that should be in every audiophile’s library.
Audio Clinic
Audio Clinic is a completely free service for readers of Australian Hi-Fi Magazine—all you need to do is email the details of your problem to hifi@wolseleymedia.com.au. This month, Jutta Dziwnik answers some real doozies!
Editor’s Lead-In
According to one expert, this month will go down in history as the one in which the number of digital music downloads in Australia exceeded the number of music sales on CD. But does this mean the end of the silvery disc? Not according to another so-called expert…
Super Fidelity
This month, John Sunier unearths a landmark release that combines an SA-CD with a Blu-Ray audio-only disc. Released by a tiny Norwegian outfit [www.2l.no] it enables you to compare the same music across eight different data streams.
Rock On
Jez Ford bemoans that they’re still not getting it right. Almost all the tracks on Paul Weller’s latest release (22 Dreams) sound muddy and congested when played on a good high-end hi-fi system… though they sound fine played back through an iPod.
Jazz Track
After carefully listening to his latest album, Book of Velocities, John Shand has decided that Jon Balke must be a sorcerer. There’s just no other way to explain the creation of such new sounds from a grand piano, with no overdubs or electronic treatment!
Classic Corner
Fabulous Kiwi pianist Tessa Birnie died earlier this year. She recorded the only known version of Beethoven’s Moonlight sonata played in B-minor instead of C-sharp using Beethoven’s original pedal directions. The ABC has just released a 2CD set of her performances to kick off its new Australian Masters series.
DVD Reviews
There are supposed to be no copies of Nosferatu in existence: A US court ordered all prints of the film be destroyed. So why are we now able to obtain a brilliantly restored version on DVD? Stephen Dawson investigates why this blatant rip-off of Bram Stoker’s Dracula is now available in stores…
ESOTERICA SECTION
Sound Travels
In this regular column we travel around Australia interviewing audiophiles who have achieved musical nirvana by cleverly assembling high-end audio systems that truly satisfy their senses. We listen and we learn…
High End Review
In which reviewer Edgar Kramer discovers the delights of a loudspeaker that extends the soundstage to such a remarkable depth that some sounds seemed to come from his neighbour’s backyard!
Interview
Ryszard Balys discovered it was a long journey from starting as a junior engineer at David Bogen’s public address company to becoming the executive chairman of Harman International. He interviewed Dr Sidney Harman shortly before his 90th birthday.
DEPARTMENTS
Audio News
Audio Clinic
Audiophile Recordings
Behind The Scenes
Classic Corner
Dealer Directory
DVD Reviews
Editor’s Lead-In
Jazz Track
Hi-Fi Marketplace
High End
Interview
Rock On
Section 52 Information
SoundSites
Sound Travels
Subscriptions
Super Fidelity
|