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AudioEnz 20th Anniversary Awards

By Michael Jones

December 2006

Celebrating twenty years

To celebrate the 20 years of AudioEnz, I decided that the publication should issue some awards.

After a lot of consideration, I came up with a list comprising two people who were highly influential in the history of AudioEnz, two people who took a company to international success and two products – one each from the worlds of hi-fi and home theatre.

Charles Thomson

Charles was there at the beginning, some twenty years ago. The very first writer (besides yours truly) to feature in AudioEnz, Charles was a rock in the early days of my magazine.

Charles wrote many excellent reviews in his time with AudioEnz. He was well respected both by the readers and the industry.

His work experience helped with his reviews. Not only was Charles a hi-fi consumer, but he had also worked on the other side of the counter, as the employee of a hi-fi store. This wider view gave Charles’ writing a perspective missing in many reviews.

Outside of his writing activities, Charles was there with encouragement and great advice – invaluable to a fledgling publisher with a new magazine.

Max Christoffersen

Of all of the people involved with AudioEnz over its twenty year history, Max has been the biggest contributor to the magazine’s continued success. Without Max, you would not be reading these words today.

Then a journalist for the Waikato Times, Max contacted me after picking up a copy of the magazine from Lakeland Stereo in 1988.

Max began by writing music reviews, then branched out into articles – including one that had him banned from a store after describing the piss-poor demonstration facilities inside, and My Back Pages, Max’s favourite article for AudioEnz.

Max’s public face throughout AudioEnz was largely as a home theatre writer. His enthusiasm for home theatre was matched by his ability enthuse readers. A projector fan from way back, Max championed projectors and home theatre equipment in general.

But it was Max’s work behind the scenes that made him so important to AudioEnz. Max was – and still is – a constant source of encouragement, ideas and enthusiasm for the magazine, and a great sounding board for AudioEnz.

Without Max’s involvement with the launch of AudioEnz online in 2000, this web site would not have got off the ground. Max is also responsible for pushing me into launching the AudioEnz forums – a forum so successful that many members of New Zealand’s hi-fi industry are compelled to read it.

Thanks for everything, Max.

Gary Morrison and Peter Thomson

Peter Thomson (left) and Gary Morrison

Today, the name Plinius is synonymous worldwide with “New Zealand hi-fi”. When AudioEnz started, Plinius was a small company in Palmerston North. Today it is an internationally respected hi-fi brand. The reason for this reputation is the work of Peter Thomson and Gary Morrison.

Peter founded Plinius in 1980, as import restrictions in place at that time disallowed the importation of much in the way of quality hi-fi. Peter’s desire to build the proverbial better mousetrap saw him build amplifier for friends and then as a business.

Plinius was still a small business when Peter joined forces with Gary Morrison in 1987. Gary, a gifted electronics designer, was producing amplifiers under the Craft Audio badge for several years.

Within a few years Gary and Peter had developed their SA range of amplifiers and later the first of a succession of very good integrated amplifiers. International success beckoned and was achieved, with many international rave reviews for Plinius amplifiers and good sales.

Gary’s main role in the company was electronic design. He came up with the electronic circuits and developed them into world class amplifiers. Peter’s role was in establishing and maintaining the international relationships that built Plinius into a force in high end hi-fi.

The quality and value of Plinius amplifiers can be shown in that three of AudioEnz’s hi-fi writers have chosen to spend their money on Plinius products.

Sadly, after company ownership changes, Peter left the company this year.

Rega P3

While canvassing ideas for these 20th Anniversary Awards, one product that kept being mentioned was this turntable from Rega. With a lifespan longer than this magazine, the Planar 3 was revised a few years ago and renamed the Rega P3.

There are two keys to the Rega P3 – simplicity and good engineering. When first released, the Planar 3 was up against turntable manufacturers forcing more and more features into their products, to the detriment of the point of it all: sound quality. In contrast, Rega concentrated on the basics of good engineering. The turntable looks simple, but the engineering of the turntable and the superb RB300 tonearm is perfect for the product. The result is a great sounding turntable that keeps sounding wonderful year after year.

Panasonic AE range of projectors

The very first issue of AudioEnz after we went online included a review of a $15,000 LCD projector that offered excellent performance for the money. Within two years, Panasonic had introduced their PT-AX100 LCD projector, bringing quality projection into the realm of ordinary people.

Since then, Panasonic have kept pushing the capabilities of LCD projection at lower price points. We’ve reviewed the 100, 300, 500, 700 and 900 – each of the increasingly sophisticated models brought out every year. AudioEnz reviewed each model and our writers were astounded by the performance and the price.

With the AE range, Panasonic created the volks-projector – high performance projectors at real world prices for real people.