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General Meeting Reports for 2013 Return to Index
December 2013 Annual DIY Night

System One:

Audio Aero La Fontaine Music Centre,
80w Stereo Power Amp with valve buffer,
3 way speaker system with 5 inch Mid and 12 inch Bass driver.

System Two:

Audio Aero Music Centre,
80w Stereo Power Amp with valve buffer,
2 way 'Bamboo' boxed speakers with SEAS aluminium Mid/Bass and SEAS 25mm fabric dome TW.

Web Ed

November 2013 Rockian Trading with Osborn Speakers

October 2013 Mark Doehmann from Telos Audio

Minus K Isolation Base. No lid, showing the spring damping technology.

Another view.

Sutherland Engineering - DUO Phono Pre Amp. Dual Mono Chassis.

Rumen Artarski from THRAX AUDIO, with his Maximinus DAC.

Web Ed

September 2013 Hugh Dean Presents Aspen Amplifiers NAKSA 80 and NAKSA 100

OOur September meeting had the presence of the inimitable Hugh Dean. With his usual authority he effortlessly spoke about his amplifiers and the reasoning and technologies behind his unique designs. Once again he has a new breed of amps that sound terrific. Hugh is doing something right.

Playlist from September GM

Artist � Album � Track No � Label

  • Idea of North -Smile-Tr.5: Big yellow taxi- ABC Jazz
  • Ted Heath & his music -Beatles vs Stones, British pop hits go groovy-Tr.13: Honky tonk woman-Universal Music Group.
  • Allen Taylor-Old friends, new roads-Tr.9:Let me be-Stockfisch Records.
  • The very best ot the Eric Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops -Tr.11:From Russia with love (James Bond)-Telarc
  • Mercedes Sosa -Misa Criolla-Tr.1:Kyrie-Decca
  • The Fabulous Baker Boys, Motion picture soundtrack -Tr.5:Shop till you bop (Dave Gusin)-GRP.
  • Cassandra Wilson-Closer to you : the pop side-Tr.10:Lay Lady Lay-BlueNote.
  • Jacqes Loussier - Plays Bach
  • Anna Sofie von Otter meets Elvis Costelllo-Tr.7:The other Woman-Deutsche Grammophon.
  • Peter Gabriel-So-Tr.4:Mercy St.-SACD
  • Swan Lake scene 1.Tchaikovsky-Chicago Symphony Orchestra / Sir George Solti-Decca

Nick Karayanis
Program Co-ordinator

August 2013 Audio Visual Revolution Presents Wharfedale, Quad and NuForce

For this month's general meeting, we returned to good old fashioned two channel audio, with a presentation from England's most recognised names in hi- fi, Quad and Wharfedale. The Australian importers AVRevolution, will be demonstrating two systems. The first comprised of a complete family of Quad electronics and matching speakers. The second, was Wharfedale's latest range of floorstanding speakers matched with a new name in hi-fi called Nu Force.

The Quad system comprises of a CDP Elite player with the 180w Elite integrated amp powering the Quad 12L bookshelf speakers. These two-ways house a 165mm woofer made from woven Kevlar with a conventional 25mm tweeter. The CDP Elite is more than just a CD Player, it also features a digital pre-amp with a selection of digital coaxial and Toslink optical inputs, fixed and variable to accommodate six extra digital sources.

  • Audiolab 8200 CD $1499
  • Quad Elite Integrated Amp - 2x80w. $1599
  • Quad 11L $699

System number two will feature the Wharfedale Jade 5 floorstander, a three way speaker comprising of a 25mm aluminium dome tweeter, a 75mm "alu-pulp" cone midrange driver and two 165mm woofers. The bass drivers are made of "Acufiber", said to marry the responsiveness of glass and carbon fibre materials with a self dampening woven matrix. The speaker box is formed of a composite material that Wharfedale calls Crystalam. "Aperiodic" cabinet loading, is another feature designed into the box. This comprises an internal port that vents into a tuned slot, which is filled with a resistive porous foam. This type of loading reduces the bass overhang common to conventionally ported floorstanders.

  • Audiolab 8200 CD $1499
  • Nu Force IA -18 Integrated Amp - 150w $4199
  • Wharfedale Jade 5. $3299

The NuForce IA-18 amplifier is a recent model that has just landed on the Australian market this month. This unit incorporates components used in NuForces celebrated Reference Series products, such as the same circuitry used in the P-20 flagship pre-amplifier, and two NuForce V3 power amp modules. An Audiolab 8200 CD player will be the source for this system. The unit is market ed by the manufacturer as a DAC + CD with its multiple digital inputs including a USB connection that can accept 24-bit/96kHz High-resolution audio.

TRACKS PLAYED ON SYSTEM No 1

  • Tiny Island-Tiny Island-Tr.4: When I feel the sea beneath my soul-OPUS 3
  • Joshua Bell- Vivaldi the Four Seasons : Academy of St Matin in the Fields Tr.1: Spring-Sony/BMG
  • Eva Cassidy-The Best Audiophile Voices-Tr.11: Ain�t No Sunshine-Premium Records
  • Helge Antoni-The Piano Experience-Tr.3: Moderato- dB Productions Sweden
  • Kane /Welch /Kaplin-After The Fire-Tr.2: Marysville-Salt Studios Melb' AUS.
  • Jennifer Warnes-The Well-Tr.9: The Panther-Impex Records (Gold CD)
  • Natalie Merchant-Tigerlily-Tr.6: I May Know The Word-Electra

TRACKS PLAYED ON SYSTEM No 2

  • Rachmaninov-London Symphony Orchestra ,Valery Gergiev-Symphonic Dances Tr.1-LSO Live
  • Frederic Alarie-FSI ,Festival Son & Image 2006-Tr.8: George (Double Bass Solo)-Fidelio Reference
  • Boston Symphony Orchestra, Charles Munch- Saint � Saens Symphony No 3 in C Minor,OP.78 "Organ" 4th Movement, Maestoso; Allegro-BMG Classics.
  • Joe Chindamo Trio plays the Paul Simon Song Book-America-Tr.2: Feeling Groovy-New Market
  • Lyle Lovett-Joshua Judges Ruth-Tr.2: Church-Curb,Sony Music

TRACKS PLAYED AFTER THE BREAK

  • Dave's True Story-Dave�s True Story-Tr.13: Fever-Bepop Records
  • Minnesota Orchestra, Eiji Oue-Tutti ! Orchestral Sampler-Tr.1: Dance of the Tumblers-Reference Rec
  • Ben Webster-Gentle Ben from the Dali Demo Disc
  • Ravel Orch, Rosenthal-Just Classics 2-Tr. 10: Song of the Pistachio Harvesters-ABC Classics
  • Rodrigo y Gagriela-Rodrigo y Gabriela -Tr.6: Stairway to Heaven-Shock Records
  • Pink Floyd-Wish You Were Here : Experience Edition-Disc 2,Tr.6: Wish You Were Here (with Stephane Grappelli) EMI Records. EU.

Nick Karayanis
Program Co-ordinator

Ken Tripp
Web Ed.

July 2013 Involve Audio - Surround Master - A night at the movies or Music maestro please?

It is always a pleasure to be at a demo that is at the very least controversial. A surround sound demo will always bring up the question. Is surround sound for movies or does it have a place in music reproduction as well? Charles presented this question last Wednesday evening with his Surround Master SM465 box of tricks and his, now well known electrostatics up front and as a bonus a second pair at the rear, kindly supplied by Wally.

Charles Van Dongen addressing the club.

At the outset it was clear that the question was very much in evidence, as the first couple of tracks had various cinema sound effects ( guns, cars, etc.) as well as music. Charles asked if any members listened to stereo in preference to surround. The answer was, most still do. This, I believe, to be because recording engineers still put you in the middle of the band or orchestra rather than the rears being for ambiance.

The refreshing discovery here wasn't that the system sounded lovely, although it did, but that the surround effect could be tailored to produce the effect the listener believes is right. The SM465 sells for $350.00 which is very afordable and appears to work very well, allowing you to be at the movies or in the concert hall. I, for one, was very impressed with the system as a whole but, in particular with the Whise HA1500 speakers. They were, far and away, the best electrostatics I have ever heard.

Charles is to be congratulated on a well executed idea and for his willingness to present it. And, of course, I cannot end without, once again, thanking Wally for supplying his speakers to complete the system.

Martin

June 2013 AGM & Members Request Night

Does AGM. Stand for "Annual General Meeting" or "A Great Meeting". Well, both actually. The annual tussle to fill places on the committee and for the conveners went very smoothly with almost all the positions filled. A well organised meeting where the nominations were done properly beforehand and not left to a scramble on the night. Just a few adjustments to the personnel and the business was done.

Thankfully this left a lot more of the evening for listening to the members choice of music. It is on these "members requests nights" that we get to hear a truly mixed bag of favourites, not just female vocal. Presenters should take note. We shall continue to encourage presenters to play an assortment of musical styles, not just their likes or what they think will show their piece of equipment off in the best light.

I heard quite a lot of music that I shall investigate for future listening. Thanks to all the members who brought their choices to play. And it is a sign of the times that we heard a couple of hi- res downloads, Our future awaits. You can run from it, you can ignore it but you certainly will not be able to escape it.

And finally a big thank you to Wally Roache for providing a wonderful system for the night. I can tell you now Wally, many members were very impressed with the ribbons. So thanks again.

But back to the business part of the evening. There follows a list of the committee and convenors.

Your Committee.

President. Ron Newbound.
Vice President. Martin Bray.
Secretary. Vacant.
Assistant Secretary. David Bugbee.
Treasurer. Richard Struthers.
Program Co-ordinator. Nick Karayanis.
Editor. Chris Mogford.

The Convenors.

Audio Action. David Duffin.
Classical. Mark Houston.
Home Theatre. Len Lug.
Kaleidoscope. Paul Seymour.
Opera. David Orr.
Pop. Raymond Birzneiks.

Martin

May 2013 Studio Connections Australia presents Genelec 8260A

It has been a month of Sundays since a presentation at a GM. has sparked so much discussion on the e-group. I also expect it has done the same in other parts of our club. All comments were polite but passionately put. Let's look further. No one would dispute that the Genelecs were a very fine product indeed and it is this quality that matters here.

Most loud speakers on the market are greatly compromised in order to sell them to as many people as possible, quite reasonable. This concept was not used for the Genelecs. Here the designer new exactly which marked he was after and has succeeded admirably. Their sharp focus, accurate and detailed presentation was something to behold. This appealed to some and of course not to others. There is no right or wrong sound everything is purely subjective.

While I do not have a technical bent I was able to follow Steven's talk on room acoustics as he presented it in as near to layman's terms as was possible and this I found most helpful. Not that many of us would be allowed to implement many of his suggestions, still the knowledge is good.

The subsequent discussion on the e-group was terrific so let's hope there is more where that came from. Ah, my six o'clock glass of red is ready. Time to listen to some music. Cheers and bottoms up.

Martin

April 2013 Arthur Rappos and his Elektrafying Hi Fi

Web Ed.

March 2013 Lorantz Audio A History of Loudspeaker Improvements, with Michail Barabasz

In the time available Michail covered loudspeaker fundamentals ranging from room to how to approach loudspeaker design and the tools required. He commenced his presentation with his role as loudspeaker designer at Plessey Rola, where he gained much of his experience in loudspeaker design. Plessey Rola manufactured tape recorders, wire, magnets and loudspeaker components in house, providing a great foundation for his ongoing career. He cited software which designers use today not available before computers.

He then elaborated on what Lorantz manufacture today, and what has changed since the Rola days. The big changes have been, computer aided design and computer based measurement and DSP processing tools. He also elaborated on the importance of measurements to achieve best results. He also detailed loudspeaker tests performed today which high light loudspeaker limitations. Experimental improvements have given way to computer based simulation and optimisation.

Next the effect of the room on perceived sound was discussed and the need to EQ the room for best stereo reproduction. He cited free measurement software at Room EQ Wizard to achieve this end and suggested "Acoustical Measurement Standards for Stereo listening Rooms" as a suitable goal.

Room EQ Wizard is available at www.hometheatershack.com/roomeq and Acoustical Measurement Standards for Stereo listening Rooms is available at www.hedbackdesignedacoustics.com

Next he discussed sources and causes of distortion in loudspeakers arising from the motor, suspension, inductance and loudspeaker diaphragm eigen modes. For those interested in advancing their knowledge he suggested visiting KLIPPEL web site www.klippel.de/klippel.html

He presented finite element modelling animation which clearly displayed how high stress at diaphragm eigen modes were the cause of obtrusive distortion peaks in the upper frequency range where our hearing is most sensitive. He also briefly discussed which cone materials are best for a given application.

He then presented a list of modifications he had made to one of his sub-woofer to significantly reduce the distortion. This was confirmed by measurements before and after modifications. His talk was supported with 139 slides gathered from Plessey Rola days, research work, 40 years of experience in design and manufacturing and exhaustive test results made in his career.

Nick Karyanis

February 2013 Synergy Audio Visual

Mention the name Sonus Faber and the words "handcrafted sound" comes to mind. A name that lies behind a passion for music and loudspeakers which are considered as "musical instruments", Sonus Faber draws its inspiration from the manufacturing criteria of the Lute makers art. Craftsmanship and build quality closer to a fine musical instrument than a piece of hi fi.

This craftsmanship continues with a new line of speakers called Venere. Initially unveiled at the Hong Kong Hi Fi Show in August of 2012, this new entry level model continues the classic Lute shaped cabinet. We listened to the Venere 2.5, a two and a half way floorstanding speaker housing two 180mm drivers with a 29mm fabric dome tweeter. With a tempered glass top and base, and a high gloss black or white finish to the body, give the speakers a more contemporary look.

The electronics partnering these speakers was Cambridge Audio's new 851C disc spinner and the matching 851A amplifier, from the company's prestigious Azur component line-up. More DAC than CD Player, the 851C features a USB 2 input that can accept media files up to 24 bit/192 Khz and a selectable digital pre-amp via the remote control. The matching 120wpc integrated amplifier, features Cambridge's proprietary Class XD technology.

The meeting continued with a second system comprising of Audio Research electronics and Sonus Faber Cremona M speakers. Delivering 200wpc and 800 watts dynamically into 4 ohms, the new integrated amplifier from Audio Research employs a unique type of "solid state hybrid" design. Combining a linear analogue power supply with a discrete analogue switching MOSFET output stage for a highly efficient power output, and low power consumption from the mains. The DSi200 is the first product in the new "Definition Series" from Audio Research.

Continuing the Sonus Faber theme for the night, the Cremona M's are another floor standing model comprising of a 3 way vented box. This Lute shaped design combines a sandwich construction using hand selected wood layers of solid maple, finished off with a medium gloss lacquer that enhances the texture and colour of the wood. The three way comprises of a 150mm midrange, a 25mm ring radiator tweeter, and two 180mm Aluminium/Magnesium drivers take care of the bass.

With a number of new components to listen too, from two of the worlds Hi End audio companies, this was a night not to be missed.

Web Ed.

January 2013 Swap Meet

Another Buy, Swap and Sell night went well. Pizza and drinks were enjoyed by all.

Web Ed.