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AudioEnz news

June 2004

Castle releases surround sound package

UK speaker manufacturer Castle Acoustics have released the Castle Compact, a surround sound speaker package. The package consists of four satellite speakers, one centre and the Cube subwoofer.

The satellite and centre speakers use two new drive units - a 19mm fabric dome tweeter and 100mm woven glass fibre woofers - in a sealed enclosure. s the name suggests, the Compact Cube is a cube of around 350mm diameter. It has a 250mm paper cone woofer, driven by a 150 watt amplifier.

For your nearest Castle dealer

DaredTube enters New Zealand

Chinese tube amp manufacturer DaredTube (pronounce da-red) is available in New Zealand direct through Feedback Audio. Established in 1995 DaredTube produce a number of push-pull and SET valve amplifiers.

Models include the VP845 integrated SET with 845 tubes rated at 22wpc for $2999. The VP60 integrated 40wpc amplifier uses EL34 output tubes and is $1899. The VP 300B monoblocks with separate power supply produce 6wpc and are $1299. The SL2000 tube preamp (pictured) with separate power supply sells for $799, while the VP 20 tube monoblocks with separate power supply produce 18wpc for $1399.

For your nearest DaredTube dealer

Image Loudspeakers’ top model

It’s a Revelation. That’s the name of Image Loudspeaker’s new top loudspeaker. The Image Revelation is intended for medium to large rooms, boasts a high efficiency of 91dB/watt and is said to be very easy to drive.

A true three-way loudspeaker, the Revelation matches Morel’s new Supreme tweeter (“aptly named,” says Chris Ball of Image Loudspeakers) with a SEAS 170mm coated cone midrange driver.

The Revelation uses two fast acting 8” bass drivers to match the speed of the midrange, plus have the necessary cone area to reach deep down into the bass. This rear ported speakers comes complete with foam port plugs for room optimising - if the bass is too prominent in your room then a port plug should tame the bass.

The Image Revelation features hand-crafted real wood veneer cabinets and has a price of $5000.

For your nearest Image Loudspeakers dealer

Sublime sounds from  Exposure, Conrad Johnson etc

Sublime Audio, a company set up by Justin Lewins in Auckland, is the New Zealand distributor for US valve amp manufacturer Conrad Johnson, UK electronics producer Exposure, Sunfire and McCormack Audio from the USA. Sublime Audio can be contacted on 09-5288095 or via email at jlewins@paradise.net.nz

Mission M3 speakers

UK loudspeaker manufacturer Mission have released a new series of affordable loudspeakers, dubbed the M3 series. The M3 series consists of three bookshelf speakers and three floorstanders.

The bookshelf speakers, featuring Mission’s transverse geometry (the tweeter placed below the woofer) and curved front baffle, range in price from $379 to $649. The floorstanding speakers start with the M33 at $799, the double-woofer M34 at $1199 and the M35, a true three-way speaker at $1699.

Two centre channels, a surround speaker and subwoofer round out the M3 series.

Epson release two projectors

Following on from their recent successful models, Epson have released two new projectors, the EMP-TW200 and the EMP-TW500. Both models are HDTV-compatible native widescreen format LCD projectors with three 19:9 LCD panels. Both the EPSON EMP-TW200 and EMP-TW500 are equipped with the EPSON Cinema Colour software, which allows fine-tuning of chroma, hue and colour. The EMP-TW200 has brightness of up to 1300 ANSI lumens and – more importantly for quality viewing – a contrast ratio of 1000:1, with the EMP-TW500 boasting an increased contrast ratio of 1200:1

For your nearest Epson projector dealer

Unico’s small amplifier

Italian manufacturer Unico have released a smaller version of their integrated hybrid amplifier. Called the Unico P or Piccolo, the amplifier includes a single ECC88 tube in the input stage. A remote control enables remote changes to volume level. Rated at 50 wpc, the Unico P retails for $2499.

For your nearest Unico dealer

Unico upgrades their CD player

The Unico CD, a valve CD player, has recently been upgraded. The new version has both digital in and out, upsampling and various filter cards for the output stage. The Unico CD includes D-to-A conversion chipsets from Crystal and a microprocessor from Philips which takes care of disc reading and information display functions. All the necessary information is shown on a large 8192-pixel screen capable of both text and picture display. The screen is back-lit and has fully automatic brightness adjustment which adapts to the ambient lighting to provide ease of reading at all light levels. The Unico CD retails for $3699.

For your nearest Unico dealer

Sherwood’s 903 home theatre system

Slim and stylish, the Sherwood 903 components make for attractive home theatre electronics. The V-903 DVD player features progressive scan video and component video output. The R-903 receiver features digital amplification and is rated at 100 watts into 6 ohms.

For your nearest Sherwood dealer

The return of Thorens

It’s been a few years, but the famous European turntable manufacturer is available again in New Zealand. As the Thorens distributor points out, sales of new vinyl exceeded that of the much ballyhooed SACD and DVD-A formats last year.

The Thorens range begins with the TD190, complete with an Ortofon OM10 cartridge for $875. Of particular interest to the vinyl enthusiast will be the TD800 series. Three models, from $2499 to $3200, have already received excellent reviews from US hi-fi magazines. Top models are the TD2010 ($3500) and TD2030 ($4500), which include a motor totally decoupled from the plinth.

Quad-rasonics!

Another welcome return to New Zealand is UK brand Quad. Quad have had a tumultuous couple of years, and are now back in the care of Denco Audio for New Zealand distribution. The full range is available, from the 11L bookshelf speaker at $1100 to the 988 electrostatic speaker at $12,500.

The 99 CD player ($2895) is particularly interesting. It includes six digital inputs and a variable analog output, so can act as a digital preamplifier. The 99 power amplifier ($1799) outputs 80wpc. The 909 power amp ($2999) incorporates Quad’s current dumping technology.

Klipsch Reference adds lifestyle

Klipsch have added a couple of lifestyle speakers to their Reference lineup. The RSX-4 and RSX-5 are designed to produce a dynamic sound from a small, unobtrusive speaker for home entertainment use. A 25mm (1 inch) titanium dome tweeter in Klipsch’s new round MicroTractrix horn is matched with a 100mm/4 inch woofer (RSX-4) or 130mm/5.25 inch woofer (RSX-5). There’s also a RCX-4, designed as a centre channel speaker. Prices are $799/pr for the RSX-4, $999/pr for the RSX-5 and $599 for the RCX-4.

For your nearest Klipsch dealer