Australian Hi-Fi Magazine November / December 2017

Home | Audio Reviews | Audio Show Reports | Partner Magazines | News

Australian Hi-Fi Magazine November / December 2017

Since 1969, Australian Hi-Fi Magazine 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 Magazine 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 Magazine 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 Magazine 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 via digital download.

Features
3 Editor's Lead-In
Warranty periods on high-end components should be longer... much longer, and here's one reason why!

Equipment Reviews
20 Sonus faber Chameleon B Loudspeakers
These new Italian-made speakers represent a triple experience: visual, tactile and auditory!

26 GoldenEar Triton Two+ Speakers
The new Triton Two+ speakers are better-sounding than the originals, and since the originals sounded so good, this is really saying something…

36 Pioneer A-70DA Integrated Amplifier
A very solid, very well-built, high-performance integrated amplifier (with on-board DAC) with an attractively lower-priced twin.

78 Lumin A1 Network Music Player
Lumin's A1 is now reviewer James Castle's reference network music player. He says: ‘For me, it's the A1 that hits the sweet spot on all counts.'

82 AudioQuest DragonFly Red DAC / Headphone Amp
Compact, pretty to look at, works with everything, sounds great, drives high-impedance, low-sensitivity headphones… but with one drawback.

96 Focal Utopia & Elear Headphones
Jez Ford listens to the ultimate pair of headphones, as well as a pair you'll be able to afford. And both are made by Focal.

Australian Hi-Fi Magazine November / December 2017

Features
6 Sound Bites
Angstrom, Conrad-Johnson, Bryston, Dali, Unison Research, Furutech, McIntosh, Sony, Def Tech, Grandinote, Musical Fidelity, SGR, Naim, Focal, B&W, Dynaudio, Panasonic, JBL, Tivoli Audio, Bose, Bluesound, Jeff Rowland, MoFi and Bowers & Wilkins.

32 EISA Awards 2017–2018
Australian Hi-Fi Magazine is now a member of EISA, the European Imaging and Sound Association. Here we present this year's awards in the ‘Hi-Fi' category.

76 Sound Travels
It's rare to find a high-end system comprised of components sourced exclusively from the same manufacturer, yet other than cables and cabinetry, this is exactly what one New Zealander has done.

86 Obituary
Chris N. Strahm developed some of the most important design and measurement tools used in loudspeaker design.

90 Dynaudio Factory Tour
Dynaudio has a brand-new multi-million dollar R&D facility in Denmark financed by its new owner: Goertek. Rod Easdown says it proves that engineers still run the company.

94 Hi-Fi in Denmark
How is it that a country with one-quarter the population of Australia is home to Dali, Dynaudio, Gryphon, Ortofon, Jamo, B&W, and Steinway Lyngdorf?

103 Hi-Fi Deconstructed
Rod Easdown thinks that Kostas Metaxas is going to have a great deal of trouble selling his new Siren loudspeakers to anyone who lives with a woman.

Music
99 Rock On
New releases from The Strypes, Neil Finn, Yusef / Cat Stevens, and Benny Andersson, and two interesting projects: Twin Peaks and Resistance Radio.

100 Jazz Track
Walkley-award-winning reviewer John Shand listens to albums from Aziza, Noah Preminger, Jasper Hoiby, Jeremy Rose, Michelle Nicolle and Tangents.

101 Super Fidelity
Music from Procol Harum, Shostakovich, Samuel Barber, Lyn Stanley, Haydn and Jens Harald Bratlie is now available on SACD, while the music from KIDS is now on coloured vinyl...

102 Blu-Ray Reviews
Is talent all that's required for a musician to be successful? Are more talented musicians more successful than less talented ones? Stephen Dawson reviews two discs that beg the question.

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