Australian Hi-Fi Magazine September / October 2023

Home | Hi-Fi Audio Reviews | Audiophile Shows | Partner Mags | News

Australian Hi-Fi Magazine September / October 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 majestic Rega Planar 3 deservingly takes center stage this month, flanked by Roksan's superbly flexible streaming amp and MartinLogan's striking floorstanders.

Editor's Lead In: What It Means To Be Legendary
Sir Jony Ive, Gilad Tiefenbrun, and the Linn Sondek LP12 turntable.
Editorial By Becky Roberts
The answer to 'What's more legendary: Sir Jony Ive or Linn's Sondek LP12?' would probably be different depending on whether it came out of the mouth of a hi-fi enthusiast or a technology nut. Both have made a huge mark in their respective fields — Ive for being the chief design lead at Apple for over 20 years, and consequently behind some of the most landmark devices in consumer technology; the LP12 for being arguably the most iconic turntable of all time and incontestably an inspiration not only for future Linn products but also those from other hi-fi manufacturers. Their worlds have recently, somewhat unlikely I suppose, collided. Linn and Ive collaborated for a new 50th-anniversary edition of the Sondek LP12 record player, fittingly called the LP12-50 and set to ship between August and March in a limited batch of 250 units. It marks Ive's first non-Apple hardware project and Linn's first LP12 redesign of this scope.
---> Editor's Lead In: What It Means To Be Legendary.

Features
6 Audio News
Yamaha True X Wireless Surround System; Wilson Audio Sasha V Loudspeakers; Wharfedale Elysian 3 Loudspeakers; Volumio Integro Streaming Amplifier; Sony WF-1000XM5 Wireless Earbuds; Rotel 14 Series Amplifiers & CD Player; Orange Amplifiers Box Wireless Speakers; Musical Fidelity M3x DAC & NuVista 800.2 Integrated Amplifier; Monitor Audio Anthra Subwoofers; Klipsch R-40PM, R-50PM Powered Speakers; iFi iCan Phantom Headphone Amplifier; Goldmund Tethys Loudspeakers & Eidos SACD player; Chord Electronics BerTTi Power Amplifier; Bowers & Wilkins Nautilus Pearl and 800 Diamond Signature Loudspeakers.

44 History Of Portable Audio: Part 1
The first in a new six-part series takes us back to the early 1920s and the humble beginnings of portable (loose term) radio in wartime Australia.

48 Should You Buy A Single-Brand System?
There are pros and cons to staying loyal to one badge that go far beyond the obvious aesthetic implications, so should you have a matching stack or mix and match?

54 Hi-Fi Primer
Your handy guide to all things hi-res in four pages, from formats to its future. So if you're contemplating making a move into digital or simply want to know your FLACs from your ALACs, this one's for you.

Equipment Reviews
18 MartinLogan Motion F20 Loudspeakers
The $7k territory in the speaker market is a highly competitive one, but MartinLogan's latest Motions more than hold their own. "Beautifully smooth" and "totally cohesive" is how this impressed reviewer describes these true three-way floorstander designs.

26 Roksan Attessa Streaming Amplifier
Representing real value for money here in Australia, Roksan's first streaming amplifier is a great-looking component with an ultra-modern offering and equally compelling performance. No wonder it won an EISA Award!

34 T+A Solitaire T Wireless Headphones
German high-end brand T+A has had a stab at the wireless headphones market following the success of its passive design – it's swung and far from missed. The Solitaire T set a new benchmark, no less.

38 Naim NSC 222 Streaming Preamplifier And NAP 250 Power Amplifier
It feels like Naim has tried to move more towards the mainstream with the NSC 222, but that's no bad thing. It is a terrific all-rounder, and its partnership with the matching power amplifier makes for a formidable pairing.

50 Rega Planar 3 50th Anniversary Edition Turntable
When a turntable makes LP after LP sound like the best album in the world, you know it's doing something very right. Rega is celebrating its 50-year milestone in style with this special production of its popular RP3.

Music
79 Best Live Albums
Some of music history's most sensational live performances have been committed to tape, and I gave myself the agonizing task of selecting just 10 I consider to be among the best, from Aretha at her most soul-stirring to an on-campus classic by The Who.

81 Top Picks
Michigan's Greta Van Fleet continue to (successfully) from their heroes Led Zeppelin, while Joni Mitchell's live 2022 performance proves moving and inspiring in the extreme. Plus new material from Nils Lofgren, Penguin Cafe and Oxbow.

82 Reissues
Pet Sounds gets a new from-all-angles Dolby Atmos mix; Clutch has release a wallet-worrying collector's box; and the latest (and certainly definitive) Eric Clapton release filles six CDs — or 16 sides of vinyl!

Esoterica Section
59 Sound Travels
Australian Hi-Fi contributor Tom Waters heads to Sydney's Northern Beaches to discuss the past, present and future of AV retail — including how to best match a customer with their perfect system — with Sydney Hi Fi Mona Vale's Mick Stillone.

64 High-End Review
Perreaux's VP4 vinyl preamplifier gets the spotlight treatment this issue, but does it, and its accompanying smartphone app, do enough to warrant an upgrade from the VP3?

Subscribe To Australian Hi-Fi Magazine
Get this issue of Australian Hi-Fi Magazine by clicking here.