Calling all audio buffs! It's been 10 looong years since Sydney's hosted a high-end HiFi show. For various political and practical reasons, there has not been a forum for large-scale public exposure of high-end audio in Sydney, barring the monthly meetings for the members of the ever-growing Audiophile Society of NSW (ASoN) of which I am an Organising Committee member. The Super-Fi show therefore was a welcome high-end oasis of audio in a Sahara desert calendar. The ongoing and relentless flow of audio enthusiasts was testament to this fact as streams of people with eager and anticipating faces queued down the serpentine stairs of the North Sydney Leagues Club. Indeed, after years of starvation, deprivation and pent-up cold turkey for interaction with like-minded audio freaks, the Super-Fi show hit Sydney's audiophiles with over-dose intensity. |
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The scenario was carefully set: As we know, most HiFi shows are hotel/motel affairs where the usual proliferation of manufacturers, importers and dealers is allotted a cramped display environment through which punters flow from room to room at their leisure. The Super-Fi show was to be a little different. A very select group of only three of Australia's top high-end audio dealers combined forces to showcase the very best (read most expensive) of upscale audio which Down Under has to offer. The environment was a large conference room with - bless the organisers -- a bar offering complimentary drinks. Hourly sessions were held from 11am to 8pm on both days, with each system getting its turn in succession. All three exhibitors were reasonably happy with the sound quality achieved in unfamiliar and acoustically untreated environs. What nobody knew? What would the punters think. The main attractions: System 1 from Sydney's own Len Wallis Audio of Leafy Lane Cove. Len Wallis himself, Nigel Macara -- head of distribution -- and Dominic Baker, designer of the JMLab Grande Utopia, introduced the audio demonstrations. |
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Source: Musical Fidelity Tri-Vista CD player Amplification: KW preamplifier and KW monoblock amplifiers Loudspeakers: JMLab Grande Utopias Cables & Accessories: a variety of cables from Musical Fidelity and Audioquest. On Silent Display: the new Musical Fidelity M1 turntable, with Len Wallis playing DJ. |
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System 2 from Joe Riediger's Audio Connection of downtown Leichhardt. Phil Powell from Audio Connection and Silvia Hadel from MBL introduced the system. |
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Source: Clearaudio Reference turntable, MBL Reference transport and Reference DAC |
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System 3 from Reference AV in Melbourne, house of Steve Eleftheriadis and son David. The system was introduced by Steve, Bruce Candy from Halcro and Caelin Gabriel of Shunyata Research. |
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Source: Basis Debut turntable, DCS digital playback front end (5 chassis!) |
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Foyer Stand: The amiable Rob Woodland from Eichmann Technologies International held a passive display of the extensive range of cables, connectors and resonance control goods the company is now world-renowned for. A home theatre anteroom was available for audiophiles wanting a break or for those that arrived late for a session. This room played a continuous selection of DVDs on a large screen that displayed one of the best images I have ever seen. The culprits were a Barco CineVersum 110 HD2 3 chip DLP projector and a Krell DVD player. The rest of the system was made up of Krell Showcase amplification and the JMLab Electra range of speakers, with video and audio courtesy of Total Home Entertainment in Melbourne, a retail satellite of Reference AV. To the organisers' surprise and delight, all sessions were standing-room only. The crowd was a mixture of familiar audiophile faces aka the usual suspects, and a far larger proportion of audio enthusiasts, music lovers and the young and the curious. Refreshingly, there was a healthy representation of women and some very well-behaved youngsters amongst the audience. During a session I attended, a young boy sitting close to me who looked to be approximately 10 to 12 years of age seemed entranced by a classical piece being played at the time. Suddenly he straightened in his chair and began waving his arms in sympathy with the music, oblivious to the people around him. As the piece reached its climax, his agitation grew more fervent and he poignantly reminded me of the transcendence of musical bliss. Lost in his ecstasy, he was in front of the whole orchestra - il maestro! |
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Comments regarding sound quality varied, much as would be expected. Over the event's two days, I briefly spoke to a small cross-section of attendees and preferences were randomly split between the three systems. Bearing in mind the conditions vis-a-vis room size, acoustics and the large audience, I will focus only on the positives and very briefly summarize the strengths of each system: |
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