Australian Hi-Fi Magazine May / June2024

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Australian Hi-Fi Magazine May / June

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
Halcro's legendary mono amp gets the two-channel treatment. Want more channels? Adcom delivers. And Lithuania serves up a loudspeaker surprise.

Editor's Lead In: Defining The 'Right' Hi-Fi Sound
Taking advantage of DAC filters, tone controls, EQ tools, and more.
Editorial By Becky Roberts
There are very few absolutes in hi-fi today, and what certainly isn't one of them (and never will be) is what defines the 'right' hi-fi sound. Ask a room of music and hi-fi enthusiasts for their thoughts on the matter and things would all too soon erupt into the kind of pandemonium that would derange a digital-cable convention. (Just probably not as quickly.) The die-hard rockers might throw out words such as "powerful", "atmospheric" and "bassy"; those who instinctively request Norah Jones at hi-fi shows may advocate the one that delivers the lushest vocals (midrange); the greatest lovers of life – the bon vivants – could say anything that makes music fun to listen to. Those deliberating quietly in the corner, including myself, would champion the most transparent-sounding system – the one that communicates the music as close to the recording as possible, stamping little of itself on it. We would all be right, and all be wrong... depending on the ears of the beholder.
---> Defining The 'Right' Hi-Fi Sound.

Equipment Reviews
18 Topping DX9 Pro DAC
This premium proposition from China is as versatile as digital-to-analogue converters come, combining vast connectivity with support for almost any digital file you would want to throw at it.

26 Adcom GFA-5705 Multi-Channel Power Amplifier
A five-channel amplifier that lives up to its model name's acronym (Great F*cking Amplifier!) Whack this beast on your shortlist if you're looking for a solid-performing surround sound machine.

36 Audio Solutions Figaro M2 Loudspeakers
Middle-sitters in a series sequel that comes six years after the original Figaros, and so different from them that this reviewer was surprised Audio Solutions didn't see fit to create an all-new range.

Features
6 Audio News
ATC SCM20ASL Limited Edition active loudspeakers; Atlas & Hurd Tempest loudspeakers; Audiovector Trapeze Reimagine loudspeakers, B&O Beosystem 9000c music system; Cambridge Audio CXA81 II integrated amplifier; Dellichord FR2035 active loudspeakers; Meze Liric 2 headphones; Mission 750 loudspeakers; Roon Nucleus One server; Vivid Audio Moya M1 + High End Munich 2024 show news!

44 Australian Hi-Fi Show 2024 Report
The (many) highlights from April's three-day celebration of hi-fi and home cinema in Sydney, including an all-Aussie system costing the equivalent of five Teslas, AlsyVox ribbon speakers from Italy that delivered mind-blowing sound and got everyone talking, and the 'Best Sound' room as voted by show attendees.

49 Hi-Fi Primer
The benefits of adding a separate DAC, headphone amplifier or both to your hi-fi or desktop system are as significant today as they have ever been, but what do these components do exactly and which kind would suit you best?

52 History Of Portable Audio: Part 5
The path to portable digital music would be potholed with failed products and legal threats, but as Darren Yates writes in the penultimate chapter of his series, it was the personal computer that finally brought music into the 21st century....

56 Pressing Plants Interview
The country's pressing plants have tripled in the last four years. So what's behind the resurgence (if not to keep up with the demand for Taylor Swift shellac!) and what does local access mean for artists? Melbourne's Program Records and Zenith Records wax lyrical on today's vinyl scene....

Music
80 Vinyl & Music Docos
One of the great things about the vinyl revival pushing on is that we're still getting a slew of relevant content around it. Here we recommend five documentaries – four free to watch, one available to rent – that record collectors and music enthusiasts shouldn't miss.

81 Top Picks
Mark Knopfler delivers one of his best solo records while The Black Keys and Kings of Leon renew their relevance. Punk rockers Desperate Measures have been reanimated in early 2020s South London, and Marcus King teams with Rick Rubin to produce a real, raw and often beautiful record.

82 Reissues
A new 'Best Of' Bruce Springsteen gives Boss fans exactly what they want (and would expect), while the album that broke Deep Purple in America and made them legends all over the globe to this day gets a comprehensive, surround mix-inclusive reissue. Eno, Sparks and These Immortal Souls also feature.

Esoterica Section
60 High-End Review
Despite this – hint – stereo amplifier carrying a $66,990 price tag, its reviewer believes it could still be considered good value at twice that price. That's quite the compliment for this new, silent and powerful steed, originating from Australia.

67 Sound Travels
Regular contributor Tom Waters sits down with the man behind one of Australia's hi-fi heavyweights, Len Wallis, about his five decades in the industry, the philosophy that drives him and his team, and how to keep the industry's passion alive for the next generation.

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