Newsletter March 2006

NEWSLETTER

March 2006

Dear hi fi enthusiast

You have been sent this newsletter because you have subscribed, or purchased product, or made an enquiry to www.decibelhifi.com.au . If you do not wish to be on our newsletter mailing list, please reply to this email with the subject REMOVE and we will do so immediately.

If you are having a problem reading this document it is available here www.decibelhifi.com.au/files/Newsletter March 2006.pdf

In This Issue	Recent Additions to the Website
Recent reviews and news	SoundLink speaker cable
New Jordan JXr6 HD drivers & kits	Eichmann Technologies products
Super Audio CDs – a fad or the future?	Jordan JXr6 HD driver
Eichmann Technologies products	JXr6 HD enclosure kits
Decibel Omni loudspeaker kits	Decibel Omni loudspeaker kits
Review of Ortofon Rondo Bronze and Graham Slee Projects Fanfare phono preamp New low priced digital stylus gauge Agents wanted	Canrong Digital Arm Load Meter The Cartridge Man’s Isolator Ortofon – Advanced phono cartridge guide at www.decibelhifi.com.au/webcontent27.htm
Classic Audax home theatre speakers for sale	Quantity pricing for Jordans, Vibrapods Several secondhand turntables

Recent reviews and news

Origin Live won 3 awards last year for their tonearms - the latest two are awards from 6moons for the Silver arm and Hi Fi World for the Conqueror.

6 Moons "Best of 2005" award "” the Origin Live Silver tonearm is phenomenal and makes me realize what a bargain it truly is at its asking price".

link to 6 moons awards page

Hi Fi World "2005 World awards" for the Conqueror tonearm

Several Origin Live products have had their prices reduced. The Silver tonearm now has a new armtube, so is known as the Mk II, and the price is down from $1400 ex GST to $1250.

The Origin Live Aurora turntable is now $2350 ex GST, down from $2500, and there is a special price for the Aurora with the Silver tonearm of $3400 plus GST, which means a saving of $200 ex on the separate prices.

Origin Live Reference interconnects are unavailable for the next couple of months due to the cable that they are made from being in short supply.

Prices on some of the Graham Slee Projects phono preamps have been reduced, as well as new models being added.

The Cartridge Man’s Music Maker III cartridge has been reduced to $1150 + GST and there are now lower prices on his other products including Hadcock tonearms. We have added his cartridge Isolator.

Due to the EJ Jordan speaker drivers being shipped from Hong Kong instead of UK the prices have been reduced by about 10%, and there are special prices for quantities of 5 or more.

Vibrapod pricing now includes discounts for quantities of 10 or more.

From the next shipment the Vibrapods will come packaged in blister packs of 4. However we will still supply them in any quantity required.

The Belden 89259 coax cable (for interconnects) will rise by more than 20% with the next shipment. There is limited stock available at the old pricing.

Magix Audio Cleaning Lab/10 is no longer available as a boxed product, but can be downloaded. We will be selling a more advanced product Diamond Cut v6, and will include a review in the next newsletter.

The new JORDAN JXr6 HD – the world’s widest range 2” driver

The wait is finally over. We are pleased to announce that the new JXr6 High Definition drive unit is now shipping.

The JXR6 HD is the world's widest range 2" driver. It has a resonant frequency of 80Hz, sensitivity of 89dB and an extended HF response to 30kHz.

The JXR6 HD is a considerable advance on the already well-regarded JX53. It is an all-new driver with a re-designed mixed-metal magnet system, a new coil assembly, single suspension and a totally new, unique composite-material chassis. The JXR6 HD has no rear suspension, so the effective low frequency can be adjusted by the volume of the cabinet.

The new driver joins the JX92S fullrange driver which continues to sell well throughout the world. Together they form the cutting edge of today's drive unit technology, the culmination of over 40 years' experience in metal cone and wide-bandwidth driver design. Used alone or in multiples, they form the ideal building block for a wide range of systems; from high end, single driver loudspeakers to high-power, linear arrays.

There are a number of enclosure kits being produced to suit this new driver. The simplest is a small rectangular box of about 1.8 litres internal volume. Dimensions are just 24cm x 20cm x 7.2cm.

The most impressive is a triangular tower design, standing over 1.2 metres high, with 4 drivers in each. This linear array produces a wonderful sound stage for stereo and home theatre use and has immense power handling.

There is also a slimmer triangular tower for single or double drivers. These are in the EJ Jordan category on the website http://www.decibelhifi.com.au/category24_2.htm

Super Audio CDs

In this issue we take a look at Super Audio CDs. Vinyl enthusiasts should not cringe, because if we are looking to reproduce the most lifelike music possible we should be open to new ideas and technologies.

What is SACD? For a start it is a totally different process to CDs. Without wanting to get too complicated, CDs involve sampling (measuring) music 44100 times a second and storing the result as a digital signal (binary number) in the range between 0 and 65535 (2¹⁶). You only have to compare an LP to the same recording on CD to realize that there is a great deal lost in this process. One of the reasons for this was to get a reasonable playing time on a standard CD.

Super Audio CD (developed by Philips and Sony) is much simpler, but needs a lot more space on an optical disk (similar to DVDs). The music is sampled at up to 2.1 million times a second, and is converted to a Direct Digital Stream. The first difference to CDs is the frequency range. CDs are 20 to 20kHz. SACD is 20 to 100kHz. The second is dynamic range. CDs are about 96dB. SACD is 120dB. Another difference is the number of channels. CDs are 2 channel. SACD is up to 6. So technically, SACDs have major specification advantages.

How does this translate to musical performance?

To give an example. Many recordings in the late 1950s were done with simple 3 microphone setups. Living Stereo has just released a series of SACDs where the original 3 channel master tapes have been transferred to SACD without mixing, compression, equalization, filtering, noise reduction, or any other kind of manipulation. So any audiophile wanting to get closer to the original performance can’t ignore this technology.

What do you need to be able to play these SACDs? Unfortunately most DVD players don’t have the ability to play SACD. And up to now players which can play CD, DVD, and SACD have been very expensive. But, I found an inexpensive Pioneer model a few months ago that plays those formats plus a whole lot of others like DivX that I am not particularly interested in.

So you can experience SACD without parting with large sums of money. The model I am using is a DV676A but this has been superceded by the DV686A. At $230 this is a great buy considering it is also a DVD and CD player. You’ll find it in the Selected Hi Fi Products category on the website.

What about titles? Good question. About 15 months ago I was in Hong Kong and was amazed to see how many titles were available on “hybrid” disks ie SACD and CD. But they are difficult to source in Australia. Amazon.com has quite a good selection and there are more titles being added everyday. Until Australian retailers embrace this new exciting media it seems necessary to purchase from overseas sellers. STOP PRESS. I’ve just found a new Australian site www.australianSACD.com.au with several hundred titles already. Let’s support them!

What about the sound? Getting back to the Living Stereo recordings I mentioned above, it is difficult to imagine having a source which is any closer to the actual performance. Even though these recordings were made nearly 50 years ago there is an immediacy and sense of “being there” which I have not experienced with most other recordings. Most modern recordings are close miked and mixed down, and often the multi-channel facility is used to create an unnatural effect with instruments located around the listener. These Living Stereo recordings used only 3 microphones for a whole orchestra and so capture all the venue acoustics as well as the instruments, similar to the original Decca and Deutsche Gramophone LPs. One of them has the Saint Saens “Organ” Symphony played by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1959 in the Boston Symphony Hall.

In a word, the sound is “stunning”.

How does it compare to vinyl? Another good question. I haven’t done a direct comparison between an LP and the same title re-released on SACD yet. (So if any reader has done so please email me your comments.) I played two versions of the Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 2 and thought the vinyl version was warmer and better focused. But that was probably just due to the microphone techniques used. What is incredible is that a technology introduced about 50 years ago is still providing a quality of sound that hasn’t been superseded, but maybe now equaled. This new medium is a breakthrough for high fidelity sound and I encourage everyone to have a listen. You won’t stop listening to vinyl but you might just start buying new titles in SACD. By the way if you want a detailed explanation of the whole vinyl LP and phono cartridge recording process there’s a new article on the website by Ortofon called Advanced Phono Cartridge Guide. It’s at www.decibelhifi.com.au/webcontent27.htm

Here’s a few sites I found interesting when researching this topic.

http://www.dsdproaudio.com/html/dsd_sacd_explained.html

http://www.cdfreaks.com/article/95

http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6462_7-5125589-1.html

http://www.sonymusic.com/sacd/

http://www.superaudio-cd.com/

Eichmann Technologies International

Keith Eichmann is a Brisbane based inventor and has developed a number of products which improve the transfer of sound signals between components. The product range includes RCA connectors, Banana plugs, amplifier and speaker terminal blocks, interconnects, speaker cables, AC power cable, and a resonance control device.

As a confirmation of their effectiveness the connectors are now being used by several cable manufacturers in Europe and are soon will be standard on several well known high-end cable manufacturers in the USA.

We now have all their products on our website and have started by using his RCA and Bullet plugs on our own cables. And the CablePods are now available with the speaker kits.

And the sound? So far everything I have tested has been excellent. I have no hesitation in endorsing the Eichmann products and therefore selling them on a moneyback basis.

Here’s the link to the Eichmann site. http://www.eichmanncables.com/

And here’s the link to the new Eichmann category on the Decibel Hi Fi site. http://www.decibelhifi.com.au/category32_1.htm

Decibel Omnidirectional Loudspeaker Kits

We’ve now been evaluating the prototype Omni loudspeakers for about 3 months and have tried them in the living rooms of several family members. In one case attached to a modest Sharp stereo system, in another an ME 550, and also with a T-Amp. The feedback has been consistent. Spacious, good bass, easy to listen to, no “hot spot”, very versatile as far as placement in a room is concerned, no distortion at high levels. So, they are doing exactly what they were designed to do. These are loudspeakers which won’t visually dominate a room, and produce a sound with the omnidirectional characteristics of Sonab and Bose at an affordable price.

The prototypes of the premium version of these kits arrived from Stones Sound Studios just before this newsletter was due to go out so we have had a chance to compare them. The design is exactly the same so has the same spacious characteristics, but the difference is the drivers. The Vifa drivers are more than twice the cost of the PAE drivers in the standard version, and you can hear the difference. Clearer at all levels, brilliant transients, and wonderfully clear undistorted sound at high volumes.

If you are familiar with the way a piano fills a room with sound you should hear these speakers on a piano recording. A great demonstration of the value of sound that isn’t beamed at you.

These prototypes are available for auditioning. If you are close to Brisbane you are welcome to pick them up and try them out at no charge. People further away will have to be prepared to pay the transport costs each way.

The first batch of kits has been produced and so the Decibel Omni is now ready for sale. They are in the Loud Speaker Kits category on the website.

Low priced digital stylus tracking pressure gauge

It is important to set the tracking pressure of your cartridge correctly. And for that you need a gauge. We sell two brands of “beam balance” style gauges, one by Ortofon ($22), another by Shure ($55) and they are both popular devices. We also have two digital units, but at $550 (The CartridgeMan, UK) and $286 (BellDream, Japan) they are expensive.

It seems you can get almost anything manufactured in China these days, and we now have a much lower priced digital gauge, quaintly named “Arm Load Meter”. The CR-B5 is priced at $120 plus GST. It’s made by the Shenzen Canrong Mechatronic Co.Ltd and is a very neat little unit. Weight range is from 0 to 5g , in .002g increments. It comes complete with batteries, protective pouch, and has a 3 year warranty.

SPECIAL OFFER Decibel newsletter readers can purchase this for $90 plus GST during March. Make sure you mention the special pricing when you place your order via the website.

Review – GSP Fanfare & Ortofon Rondo Bronze

When I heard about the new version of the Graham Amp 2 for moving coil cartridges I immediately thought of pairing it with the new Ortofon Rondo cartridges. Both products are mid-priced and I thought the combination would provide great performance at a reasonable price. I was right.

The clean detailed sound of the Rondo Bronze matches the fast response of the Fanfare beautifully. I was particularly impressed with the depth and precise location of instruments discernable on classical music. If you have been thinking of buying a low output moving coil cartridge but don’t have a suitable phono preamp this could be the answer. Separately they sell for $990 and $616 including GST but I’ve set a special price of $1430 for the pair. And of course they are available on the Decibel Endorsed moneyback trial basis.

Agents Wanted

We often get enquiries from people who would like to audition some of our products before purchasing. Many of the products are available on a moneyback trial basis, so that reduces the risk, but with some products like the Jordan drivers and enclosure kits that’s not practical. So, we are interested in appointing agents in the major population centres who are prepared to demonstrate the Jordan loudspeakers to interested prospects.

Obviously you will need to have a pair of JX92S loudspeakers, plus a decent amp and CD player. If you also have other products we sell such as a Graham Slee phono pre-amp, or Super T-Amp, so much the better. So, if you are an enthusiast who wouldn’t mind doing the occasional demo and earning some commissions please send an enquiry to agent@decibelhifi.com.au .

Classic Audax Home Theatre System For Sale

Before we took on the reselling of the EJ Jordan speakers I built an Audax based home theatre system designed by Joe D’Appollito. The complete D.I.Y. design document is available if you want to see just what was involved in its construction http://www.decibelhifi.com.au/files/hometheatre.pdf

This served us well for several years. It has large cabinets, high power handling, and can produce wonderful clean sound at high sound pressure levels with home theatre receivers of up to 150 watts per channel . But it is now surplus to requirements. This system is being sold for less than the cost of the components, and would sell for at least $4000 if commercially manufactured. Details are on the website in the Secondhand category http://www.decibelhifi.com.au/category6_1.htm

That’s about it for this issue.

Happy Listening.

Brian Maddern

brian@decibelhifi.com.au

Unit 1, 201 Evans Road, Salisbury, Queensland, 4107, Australia

PO Box 536, Sunnybank, Qld 4109

Phone: 61 (0) 7 3272 7660 Fax 3216 6284

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