Australian Hi-Fi Magazine March / April 2023

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	High-Performance Audio Reviews Music News, Show Reports, And More! Celebrating 29 Years Of Service To Music Lovers

Australian Hi-Fi Magazine March / April 2023

Since 1969, Australian Hi-Fi has kept audiophiles up to date on all the latest advances in audio technology and the hi-fi components available to enjoy music. All equipment reviews and music reviews are written by professionals who are experts in their respective fields, and are checked for accuracy by experienced sub-editors. Every audio component reviewed in Australian Hi-Fi is also independently tested by a NATA-certified test laboratory, whose test results and graphs are published with each review, together with a detailed technical analysis of those results.

Australian Hi-Fi also maintains a complete database of all Australian and New Zealand distributors of hi-fi equipment, along with updated listings of the brands they distribute. Australian Hi-Fi is published six times a year and on sale at thousands of news agencies throughout Australia and New Zealand, as well as being available in selected audio stores across the country plus International mail and online.

Our Front Cover: The most digitally savvy product to have been reviewed in Australian Hi-Fi basks in the limelight, while a majestic Marantz AV duo and a powerhouse from Melbourne prove undoubtable highlights.

Editor's Lead In: New LPs Acquired During Record Store Day
Time to spin some new records.
Editorial By Becky Roberts
By the time this issue lands in your letterbox, and hopefully by the time it lands in your lap, Record Store Day will be just days away. The annual celebration of the independent record store and everyone involved in it — the staff, the customers, the artists — takes place globally on Saturday 22nd April and, keeping with tradition, will see hundreds of special release vinyl (over 400, in fact) become available to purchase in stores on that day (and in some cases, online in the following days). If this comes as news, or indeed an unexpected reminder), to you, and you consider yourself a passionate spinner of the good wax stuff....
---> New LPs Acquired During Record Store Day.

Equipment Reviews
20 HiFi Rose RS520 Streaming Amplifier
Could a self-confessed analogue fan come to love a device that goes against all that in just about every particular? HiFi Rose machines are far from traditional hi-fi products, but as it turns out are no less compelling for that.

28 Marantz AV 10 & AMP 10 Preamplifier/Power Amplifier
This reviewer uses the word 'wow' no fewer than three times to describe this magnificent Marantz pair, which delivers the goods on so many levels thanks to its fantastic, box-ticking feature set, powerful delivery, and revelatory sonic chops with both stereo and multi-channel audio.

36 Rega Elex Mk4 Stereo Amplifier
The second Rega amplifier to get the digital treatment, the fourth-generation Elex is even more musically triumphant than its lauded predecessor, holding its position around the top of the class at its mid-tier price point.

Features
6 Audio News
NAD CS1 Music Streamer; Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2 & Pi5 S2 Wireless Earbuds; Sennheiser HD 660S2 Wired Headphones; JBL Classics Electronics; Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista Amplifiers; Sonos Era 300 & 100 Wireless Speakers; Sonus faber Homage Loudspeakers; Audiolab 7000 Series Electronics; Fyne Vintage Five & Fifteen Loudspeakers; Yamaha TW-E3C Wireless Earbuds; dCS Bartok Apex Streaming DAC; MartinLogan Motion Loudspeakers; Revival Sprint Loudspeakers; Sony NW-A306 Portable Music Player; Cambridge Audio AXN10 & MXN10 Music Streamers; Wilson Benesch A.C.T.3zero Loudspeakers; Melco N1-S38 Digital Music Library; KEF Reference Meta Loudspeakers.

33 AI Sound Is Here
You've tried the chat, you've seen the art — now hear the AI audio. Our Jez Ford dives into the sites creating music.

75 Hi-Fi Primer
Record players are arguably the most temperamental of hi-fi components, and even the best are easily upset by inconsiderate positioning, poor adjustment or inadequate support. This is why it's important to follow certain guidelines, to ensure you get the best sound from your turntable....

71 Interview
I sit down, open up Zoom, and discuss with British turntable legends Rega its journey towards digital amplification, the new Naiad-inspired Naia turntable, and what to expect from the next 50 years.

39 Len Wallis Audio Hi-Fi Headlines
Len Walls Audio — specialist audio retailer and one of the most highly awarded hi-fi and audiovisual design and installation companies in Australia — shares news of the latest and greatest audio and AV kit it has in stock and coming soon, from headphones to high-end home theatre solutions. And the rest....

Music
104 Top Picks
Babymetal's latest is a nigh-on no-filler of heavy music meets J-pop, and unquestionably their strongest compendium of delirium to date. Meanwhile, new You Me At Six material rarely falters, and 40 years in Yo La Tengo chooses to intensify rather than subside.

105 Rock Rippers
Lyrically, British rockers Haken use animals to metaphorically and allegorically explore some aspect of the world around us; Supergrass' erstwhile leader Gaz Coombes continues his maturation into a thoughtful and eloquent singer-songwriter; and Anglo-French former YouTube star Laura Cox delivers an album of bracing trad-rock despite it not being a very popular genre in France these days....

106 Reissues
A sweeping collection of Genesis's intimate BBC sessions and massive live shows gets pressed on wax, and indie fans should be able to delight in a boxset of The Strokes' 10 seven-inch singles released from their first three albums, which this reviewer calls "a clutch of magnificent pop moments". Motorhead, Neutral Milk Hotel and Gary Numan get reissues too.

Esoterica Section
58 Sound Travels
Australian Hi-Fi contributor Tom Waters sits down with Nigel Ng of Sydney's Audio Connection distributor and retailer, which aspires to be the place that everyone goes to for hi-fi information.

62 High-End Review
A relative new-kid-on-the-block from Melbourne delivers power in spades from its stereo power amplifier, which has been fittingly named after its 'diamond-like attributes' — purity, faithfulness, and constancy.

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