The April monthly meeting saw the second
instalment of the idea put forward by Tony
Fisher late last year and first trialled at the
January meeting, when Tony and Bailey White
presented a collation of songs that had, for one
reason or another, played important parts in
their lives. It marked a significant innovation in
the structuring of the club's monthly meetings,
one that I supported strongly in my review in
the following MAN (see ? 606, February
2026). Last month it was the turn of David
Chambers and Matt Jelicich to give their spin
on the idea.
Dave tells me that he and Matt wanted the
night to be di erent from any gone before at a
monthly meeting: sustained audience
participation, giveaway lollies, a darkened and
more intimate space for listening, videos being
played as well as music, a quiz at the end, and
the night extending over a single session,
finishing at 9.30 pm. And indeed it was
di erent! Whereas Tony and Bailey's January
session was sequential, with Tony presenting
discourse (or was it 'discourteous'?) with
Henry Bolte, 38th premier of Victoria, was
priceless.
Matt captivated us with his description of
growing up in Auckland in the 1950s, and
enlivened that understanding by playing
snippets of what he heard on the radio at the
time. When I entered the Willis Room around
7:30 I was intrigued by what was hidden under
a tea towel in the middle of the stage, between
the two chairs. Matt, in a demonstration of
faultless timing and e ect, unveiled it to be the
ancient (but still working) valve radio his
parents owned in the 1950s and that he had
grown up listening too. He surprised us even
further by then revealing the very radio he had
as a teenager and an intriguing contraption
that not only played the radio but, by turning it
over, 45 rpm singles. Genius! If only all of our
presenters at monthly meetings could be so
clever, so thoughtful, so aware of the varied
needs of an audience to be educated and
entertained.
before the tea break and Bailey after it, Dave
and Matt took a di erent approach, playing
tag-team and alternating in their presentations
and choice of songs. They took Tony's
innovation of darkening the Willis Room for the
listening session one step further, having a
podium at the front with their chairs astride a
small table and on it a desk lamp, a bottle of
(alcohol-free) chardonnay to the side to
provide the necessary libations. Brilliant
stagemanship!
The presentations were masterful, not only in
the way Dave and Matt showed the
progression of their musical interests over the
past three, four, five, six, seven decades but
also in the way they captivated the audience.
Two lifetimes of musical interests were laid
bare, in the most honest and e ective and
entrancing way possible. Dave regaled us with
stories of a young life in Alexandra and Eildon
in north-eastern Victoria, his running a
restaurant there, and living with music all the
time. The names of a few old girlfriends
cropped up in conversation, something that
only added to the personal nature of the
presentation. His description of a brief
Although Dave and Matt dominated the show,
a number of other club members cannot remain
nameless in their contribution to its success.
Bailey was in the background, handling
e ortlessly the technology that stitched
everything together. It was quite an effort, as
Dave and Matt alternated in their presentations
and included snippets of selected tracks and,
in some cases, video clips to illustrate a
particular point. An analysis by a young female
singer, voice coach and YouTube sensation,
Lolli Wren (aka the Fairy Voice Mother), was
one such video. She undertook a thought
provoking analysis of the song 'Hocus Pocus'
by the 1970s Dutch prog-rock band Focus.
The lyrics go along the lines of:
"Joladadijoladadijoladadijoladadi
Joladadijoladadi-jo-o-ooh
Joladadijoladadijoladadijoladadi
Joladadijoladadi-jo-o-ooh
Oooooh-oooooh-oooooh-oooooh".
And I thought Little Richards'
"Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom" was
meaningless. But then he didn't yodel them...
On the other hand, Chris Norton did attempt a
yodel (at Dave's invitation), much to the
delight and amusement of all.
Chris Mogford was the second noteworthy
assistant. Playing a role akin to that of Dugald
McAndrew in Rockwiz, Moggie dished out the
lollies to those in the audience who answered
correctly the many questions and points of
trivia posed throughout the night by Dave and
Matt.
Hugh was the third essential ingredient.
His Maya amplifier and custom-modified
speakers sounded magnificent on the night,
handling with aplomb tracks sung (or yodelled)
variously from Dean Martin to Thijs van Leer,
the Beatles to Marty Robbins, Leonard Cohen
to Gene Autry, even Yma Sumac for added
effect too.
So, to conclude, it was a superb iteration of
the idea proposed by Tony Fisher late last year.
I wouldn't want to have this type of session
every monthly meeting, but the two versions
we've had this year have been so successful
that the format must now be considered an
essential component of our annual program.
For once, we got to hear the personal stories
behind the choice of music, a case where the
music really DOES come first and the
equipment second. We get to learn a little bit
more about what makes our fellow members
tick, what their musical interests are, and how
those interests have evolved over time. And
often we get to learn something about the
music itself. Bravo.
And now to actually finish, with a concluding
observation. Dave and Matt started at around
7:45. They were finished by 9:30 or so (maybe
9:45 if we include the end-of-session quiz), as
they had planned. We then broke for tea. No
one died of thirst during the single,
uninterrupted session of around 2 hours. No
bladders were ruptured and urine spread
across the floor. No one looked constantly at
their watches or the ceiling or their shoes or
the fly on the wall, waiting in boredom for the
whole thing to draw to a merciful end when we
could all go home.
If we start promptly and
club business is dealt with e iciently at the
beginning, a single, uninterrupted sitting of
under 2 hours allows the presenter(s) ample
time to communicate what they want to say
and then provides an opportunity for attendees
to retreat out the back and chat over a cup of
tea, discuss what had just transpired, and
catch up with the presenter or with old friends.
These are the social and comradely elements of
the club, ones that in my view are just as
essential as the showcasing of specific items of
equipment.
Paul Boon
| March 2026 |
|
Hi-Fi Exchange |
Our February meeting saw an excellent turnout, with many members eager to hear Doug's
Magneplanar speakers. Unfortunately, the speakers developed an issue with buzzing and
crackling and will require repair. We hope Ray will be able to assist Doug in restoring the
Maggies, and we look forward to featuring them at a future General Meeting later this year.
In place of Doug's system, Ray from HiFi Exchange presented a Dynaudio kit speaker. This was a
three-way design featuring dual midrange drivers in a D'Appolito MTM configuration,
complemented by a 10 inch woofer. The cabinets, built by John from Aranmar Acoustics, were
exceptionally solid and acoustically inert.
Ray also supplied supporting equipment, including a Consonance CD player, Audio Illusions
Modulus preamplifier, and a Marantz power amplifier.
The evening's music selection consisted of member-supplied CDs, with a focus on jazz and
classical genres as suggested by Ray. Many members contributed, thank you to everyone who
brought along their favourite selections.
Thank you Ray for providing the alternate system at short notice, we look forward to hearing the
Maggies.
Damian Ware
MAC President
| February 2026 |
|
Australian Jazz Museum |
Our February meeting featured an excellent presentation by Steve Mazurkiewicz from the
Australian Jazz Museum. Steve spoke about the digitisation and preservation of historic Australian
Jazz recordings.
Steve demonstrated the restoration process using a recording dating back to 1919. Showing how
modern techniques can remove artefacts such as clicks, pops, hiss, and background noise. The
comparison between the original recording and the restored version was remarkable and clearly
illustrated the value of this important preservation work. Thank you Steve for the excellent and
informative presentation.
Steve Mazurkiewicz, signed up as a new member and we warmly welcome him to the club. Please
take the opportunity to introduce yourself and make him feel welcome.
We would also like to extend our thanks to Alan Hull for kindly providing an audio system at very
short notice to support the presentation. Alan's exceptional battery powered amplifier and Dali
speakers provided great sound for the evening.
Damian Ware
MAC President
| January 2026 |
|
A Songline for a Life |
The inaugural monthly meeting for 2026 treated
MAC members to a new (and wonderful) type
of presentation in the Willis Room. For the first
time in living memory, two members presented
a personal selection of the music that was
important to them. In recent years we have had
some member-request nights and in pre-covid
times we enjoyed the occasional monthly
meeting dedicated to genres chosen by
convenors or committee. But never before
have we indulged an entire evening where two
members could expand on why particular
pieces of music were special to them. This is a
magnificent development, and no doubt that it
will add greatly to the diversity of
presentations throughout 2026. It is possible
too that this might be the first meeting review
authored by two reviewers.
The presentation was delivered, first by Tony and then Bailey. Each delivered a
'verbal caption' before each selection, and
words and music came together as a
description of long musical journeys across the
lives of two of our members. A Songline for a
Life, if you will. Tony began with the telling
point that, for a change, music rather than
equipment - or the sound produced by the
equipment - would be the defining feature of
the evening. Below are the pieces played
during the evening.
Tony's playlist was:
- 1. Spoken introduction. Theatrical director Peter Sellars (not the actor), accepting the 2014 Polar Music Prize in Sweden, for the innovative way he uses music in theatre and opera.
- 2. For Free. A Joni Mitchell song, sung by David Crosby and Sarah Jarosz.
- 3. Goodbye Porkpie Hat. By Charles Mingus, sung by Mark Murphy with the disturbing lyrics written by Joni Mitchell.
- 4. Golden Slumbers / Carry That Weight / The End. Written by Paul McCartney, sung by Phil Collins. From an album called 'In My Life' compiled and produced by George Martin.
- 5. The Thing's We've Handed Down. By singer/songwriter Marc Cohn.
- 6. At the Ballet. From the Broadway show 'A Chorus Line'. Sung by Barbra Streisand, Daisy Ridley and Anne Hathaway.
- 7. Ain't in Kansas Anymore. Sung by Miranda Lambert.
- 8. Oh Babe. A live recording of Cannonball Adderley.
- 9. A Heart in New York. Sung by Art Garfunkel.
- 10. Nights in White Satin. A famous song by the Moody Blues, but in this case sung by Bettye LaVette.
- 11. We Can Be Kind. Song and lyrics by Kathryn Mackensen, in this case performed by Nancy Lamott.
And Bailey's:
- 1. Help Is On Its Way. The Little River Band.
- 2. Fernando. ABBA.
- 3. The Dead Heart. Midnight Oil.
- 4. Suspicious Minds. Elvis Presley.
- 5. Breathing. Kate Bush.
- 6. When the War is Over. Cold Chisel.
- 7. Jealous Guy. Roxy Music.
- 8. The Logical Song. Supertramp.
The equipment was a Denon PMA350Z power
amp (1980), DCM Time Windows transmission
line, floor-mount speakers (1979), and a WiiM
DAC streamer (2025), the first two contributed
by Ian Bouch, and the streamer owned by the
club. Critically, and again a worthwhile
innovation for a monthly meeting, the floor and
stage lights were dimmed with only a small
lamp on the lectern and at the rear of
auditorium. By this artifice we were obliged to
concentrate on the music and not on the
sound.
For once the tracks played did not draw heavily
on the old audiophile standards, things we've
heard ad nauseam during far too many other
presentations. If I (PIB) have to endure one
more playing during a monthly presentation of
Leonard Cohen's You Want It Darker or
Hallelujah, or Chris Jones' No Sanctuary or
Nick Cave's Red Right Hand, or anything o
Pink Floyd's 'Dark Side of the Moon', or Dire
Straits' 'Brothers in Arms', or the Eagles' 'Hotel
California', or anything by Diana Krall or Norah
Jones, I'll go even madder than I am currently.
For PIB, we were instead treated to a mix of
music we'd mostly never heard before (Tony's
selection) or trusty old favourites (Bailey's).
For HRD, much of the music - the Art
Garfunkel, Joni Mitchell, Little River Band, Elvis
Presley, Midnight Oil, Cold Chisel, Supertramp
- brought back wonderful memories and I
enjoyed them even more than when I first
heard them all those decades back. [Note from
PIB: see also the article in Headphonesty: '20
most over-used audiophile test albums that
need to retire in 2026', available at
https://www.headphonesty.com/2026/01/most-overused-audiophile-test-albums-need-retire/
As we are an audiophile club, this review must
address the vexed matter of sound quality. For
my own view (HRD), where sound quality has
always been a pivotal issue, I found the sound
only average, both in amp and speakers,
reflecting technical developments in the last 45
years. But oddly this did not detract from the
presentation at all raising important issues of
perception and reality. Your other reviewer
(PIB) thought quite di erently: I've loved the
DCM Time Windows from the moment I first
heard them (e.g. see my positive review of
them in issue 570 of the MAN, February 2023),
when they were used during the 2023
members' request night. I love the spatial
sense they create, even in a room as
acoustically as hideous as the Willis Room.
More and more, I feel that it is spatial 'reality'
that's most important in a speaker, not its
frequency response, its transient response or
even its lack of colouration. The sense of
'being there' that some speakers can conjure
out of thin air, even if only momentarily, is
magical to me. And I thought the DCMs' bass
was wonderful (again unusual in the wayward
Willis Room, and given the small size of the
bass-midrange drivers), the midrange
insightful, and the treble more than adequate.
Not bad, considering the speakers are, to be
kind, of only average build quality and their
drivers (Philips or Vifa) are far from state-of
the-art. To add this, HRD feels that a good
system creates a sense of engagement, and
this leads to emotional enjoyment of the music.
This system achieved this despite the technical
shortcomings. As regards the di erence in
conclusions between your two reviewers:
Viva la di erence!
The January presentation was trail-blazing in
many ways. It was set in low lighting, with only
a lectern dimly lit, and this added enormously
to the atmosphere, helping us concentrate on
the music rather than on the gear. The music,
mostly from the 1960s to the late 2000s,
aligned intimately with the lives of the two
presenters, giving an evocative mix of the
music, the lyrics, the history and significantly
the biographic information from the presenters.
They added their personal, subjective and
fascinating appraisal to each piece. This is a
very di erent presentation for the MAC and,
judging from the strong engagement of the
members we both saw at the end of the night,
we think it represents a seismic change for our
club and the members' enjoyment of the
monthly meetings.
We believe also that this presentation style has
opened a new, fruitful source for our
presenters and, significantly, draws directly
from the resources of our own members rather
than from invited retailers or distributors. It
adds versatility, as we have found over the
years that many outside presenters, and
particularly vendors, often go AWOL a week
before the event, throwing the club into a flat
spin. In the past we have focussed on the
equipment, with members concentrating on the
source, or the amplifier, or the speakers; this
audiophilia is obviously a major element of our
club, but in truth the club's real core is the
personalities and interactions and comradeship
of our members. In fact the socialising
preceding and following each monthly
demonstration where members sit and chat and
eagerly share experiences. This is for many of
us the most enjoyable aspects of our club
membership. The remarkable success of our
home meetings provides confirmation. The
January presentation demonstrated also that
we are all exceptionally interested in the music
journeys of our colleagues. Since we are no
longer young, these individual journeys are
often very, very interesting and highlight a
wide diversity of musical tastes and
experiences.
Hugh Dean & Paul Boon