News and opinions.

9.   (30.3.12)  I never cease to be amazed by the differences in sound quality of components. This time I am thinking of CD players. Many times have I heard people discussing CD players and how good the one they have is and what a bargain it was. They proudly tell me that they had borrowed such and such CD player that cost $10,000, or even $20,000 and compared it with their Yamaha or Rotel (or ilk) and there was virtually no difference at all. To which I tell them that it is most likely that there is a difference, but the rest of their system is not showing it. This is usually not well received. If the CD player is throwing a huge, precise, three dimensional soundstage and the amplifier will not portray these strengths, then you get the same bland, flat, "Line between the speakers" two dimensional soundstage given by their own pride and joy. The same also applies for the speaker. Several times I have leant them an amp, or pre amp and then they have been shattered by the difference between the players. A good customer of mine with a quite exceptional system recently said to me that surely there gets a point of diminishing returns, but I said, this had not been my experience. A sound that appears to be just about perfect, sounds flat and dull as soon as you hear something better.
Most people play their music on a common name brand CD player, more often than not a DVD player, which pretty well always make a lousy CD player. These devices allow the listener to identify the tune and follow the words, but most of the treasure that was the original performance is not there. For several years I used a Denon A 11 as my DVD player. This was a $4,500 unit and the flagship at the time. It was praised in the Hi Fi Press as a fantastic DVD player (which it was) and an exceptional CD/SACD Player. (Which it wasn't). Comparing it with a CD on the Consonance CD120, which was around $1100, was just chalk and cheese, to the extent that after a very short time, you just couldn't keep playing it. It was two dimensional, with loose woolly bass, mildly irritating vocals and a overall bloated sound, but against other players of its ilk, and cheaper players, it was great.
I have had many people sell their considerably more expensive Arcam, Cambridge and Rega player to get a CD120. But comparing it to the Consonance R2.2 was really surprising. The 120 suddenly sounded cold and flat, but still had that magical 3D soundstage. The difference was so much, that despite being twice the price, the R2.2 has outsold the CD120 at about 15:1. With the advent of Blu Ray and 3D, I bought myself two NuForce BDP 93 NXE players. These were the already fine Oppo, that was modified by NuForce, who replaced the audio boards with their own, much higher quality ones. A quick browse of Google will show numerous reviews comparing it as a CD player with other dedicated players costing many times more and saying how outstanding it is. So after giving it a solid week of burn in, I had a good listen. On HD Audio tracks, the resolution was impressive, but I found myself boring with it, and wondering what was on TV. The sound was very clean and clinical, but not involving. Switching the disk to the R2.2 was like the proverbial "Opening of the window" Maybe in some cases, the absolute resolution was not as good, but for the soundstage, positioning, separation and sheer musicality, the R2,2 was a Gulf apart. However as a DVD player and for 3D performance, it is sensational, so I am happy, as that is what I was after anyway.
So this was audio Nirvana? No. Comparing the R2.2 to the CD5 Droplet, the Flagship for Consonance, shows a huge jump in performance. It is almost like two R2.2s synchronised together. The sound is more solid, weighty, bigger, better separation, bigger soundstage, better vocals. If we are talking about value for money, than this is a great place to stop. One needs to be sensible. There is always going to be something better, but at what cost? And How much better can it get? Right? I have been involved in many, many comparisons with the Droplet against other players costing way more, it has never been beaten, even allowing for the fact that pretty well everything I sell is usually half the price or so than it is in the rest of the World. (I can do this for the same reason as the Internet sellers can undercut the Department stores. Zilch overheads.) But, the cost of going better does rise rapidly from this point.
Comparing the Droplet to the Audio Aero Classic, makes one almost embarrassed by the Droplet. The sound is so analogue, warm, big, lively. Lifelike. But, it's twice the price. Worth it? What is anything worth? Play the Capitole against the Classic and it is clearly and obviously better again, but by a narrower margin, but costs 2 grand more. At under 10 grand, it's performance is astonishing. But then they bought out the La Source, but I just could not afford one. Dammit, it's worth as much as a nice car. It's a CD player after all! For some time I was left to just wonder how good it was. But finally they released the baby La Source, now called the La Fontaine. I sell them at around $19,000 (GST included), which compares favourably with the US price, of $26,000 plus tax which is less than the European price. The La Fontaine was all over the Capitole. A bargain for the performance, but a very expensive bargain. As good as it gets? Then, being fiscally irresponsible, I bought a La Source. Since I got it, I have been using it in my lounge and it is sensational, but I had never compared it to the La Fontaine. I was almost frightened to. It costs a further $20,000 odd, dammit. What if they sound much the same? Just sit down and think how long you have to go to work to buy one of these. Sobering. Just how good is a CD anyway. Today, I lugged it in and sat it on top of the La Fontaine. (Heavy bastard). I played a track on the La Fontaine through the CAT JL2 into the Grand Monument References. How could it get better than that. Sensational. I got Yvonne to come and listen as her hearing is way better than mine. She marvelled at the sound. Then I switched the CD and plugged in the La Source and held my breath. Surely we had reached the end of the road? As soon as the track started, she laughed. The difference was so big. How does this keep happening? The soundstage moved further out, further back, the liquidity! Realising that this is now an $85,000 system is a bit of a crash back to reality, but when one looks at the fiscally ridiculous items out there, a relative bargain. The La Source in the US is $57,000 + tax, so comparatively, another bargain. Overseas reviews say that the way the La Fontaine and La Source play HD large format, high sample rate downloaded files sets a new absolute sound quality benchmark. I have not tried this yet. I would be interesting. I am not saying that everyone will get one, it depends on priorities and abilities. If I didn't sell these, I could never swing it. I recently had a long drive, in the outback, of a 1.2 million dollar R-R Phantom. I was let free to fang it as much as I wanted. Absolutely sensational and better than you could imagine a car like this to ever be, but if I sold by house and cars, and cashed in and sold everything I had, I would still be in "deposit" country. So sad. One needs more in life than a partially paid for car.
But the original question. How much better can it get?.........Lots.

PS. We will be in Europe for 3 weeks, leaving Monday the 2nd of April, where I will stuggle in the Paris Marathon along with 40,000 other idiots. I will be in constant contact by email, so if anyone wants to ask anything. Clich here.

8.   (28.3.12)  After being without my CAT JL2 for 6 months, it finally arrived on Friday. I was anxious to get it set up, because they are notoriously slow to run in. An immediate problem. How to get it up onto the nice new board that I had especially made for it? because it had not been a good look before hanging over the back of the C5 Centre Speaker it sits on, being 69cm deep, This put the rear feet dangling in space, so a temporary solution of a roll of insulation tape under each side to act as feet became permanent. This is the problem with temporary solutions that work.
My next door neighbour was just leaving for a funeral when I went to see if he was feeling like some heavy lifting. Some people have no consideration. Anxious wait for him to get back. He was back for 5 minutes and then, OH NO! Gone to work. Frustration. I knew work gets in the way of things that you want to do. That is why I gave it up. Plus as I got older I found I wasn't interested in doing things that didn't interest me much.
Maybe I could lift it. I crouched over it feeling for the perfect centre of gravity and lifted its svelte 83kg about 6" off the carpet and thought better of it.
I talked the reluctant wife into having a go, giving her the lighter end. We were almost on the board when she couldn't do it, so my lovely new board got some minor gouging, then some gut busting to get it straight, and it was on. Joy. I set it running for four days on repeat. This also gave my new set of Grand Monuments some extra running in. I only had a casual listen during that time, but it seemed promising.
At about 11 last night, I decided to go and have a listen. I was using Jean Michelle Jarre's Greatest Hits as a run in disk, running the CAT straight out of the Audio Aero La Fontaine. As soon as I sat down it was just MY GOD, MY GOD! The soundstage was just wall to wall with a precision I had never heard anywhere. The detail, I could blaspheme all night, but what else can one say. I went to get Yvonne, who was just going to bed, as she had an early appointment in the morning. She stayed an hour and a half. I then played my normal demo disk that we have heard 10,000 times. I don't think either of us I had ever heard it before. Bits that had always been a bit flat, weren't. Bits that were a bit bright weren't. Bit's that sounded muddled, weren't. Bit's that had a constricted soundstage, were out through the walls. Thrilling stuff.
I have been unhappy with the sound in my big room for years. No matter how good the equipment, the sound was lost, so much cheaper and lesser equipment sounded better in the Lounge. Not anymore. This Amplifier and this CD player are just awesome. It is not surprising that the Audio Aero/CAT room as the Berlin Show has won Best Sound in Show Award for the last 3 years, and for 2 years at the CES in Las Vegas. One year they used the Audio Aero La Fontaine and the other 2 they used the La Source. I have yet to hook that up, but it is something else. Also not surprising that Stereophile, The Absolute Sound, Audio, Soundstage and Enjoy the Music.com all rate this amplifier as the best in the World. I am so pleased that I have one.  The amount of information on a CD is staggering. Most systems retrieve enough to be able to identify the song.
If only I could find a way to swing a set of Signature series JL3 Mono Blocks, which is 2 of these, but with outlandishly expensive transformers and caps. A good test for my centre speaker, to support 253 Kg. Sigh....

7.   (12.3.12)  Further to my my enthusiastic report on the Optoma HD83 below. I now have the updated pricing. The unit retails for $4,299. Up until 1/5/12. (PS. Due to popularity, I can do one of these beauties for $3,590, which comes with 2 pairs of glasses. (Click to Download Brochure)
We sat down as a whole family today to watch Dolphins & Whales: Tribes of the Ocean Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray: which was very impressive and also Puss in Boots 3D. This was just jaw droopingly phenomenal. The picture quality and 3D was just stunning. The sound in my Big Room was pretty mind boggling, even for me. I thought 3D was a gimmick. Not any more.

The little brother, OP-HD33RFGK, that also boasts full 1080P full HD, and stunning 3D and 2 pairs of glasses included (Click to download Brochure) retails for $3,097. During this Special. I can do one for $2,590.

6.   (3.3.12) I am having my first ever sale on the entire Audio Aero range. This never before Sale on Audio Aero products is to celebrate the arrival of the La Source, and La Fontaine series, which lifts digital playback performance to a whole new level. Prices valid for orders placed before 1/5/12. 20% deposit on order, but delivery can be delayed by agrement until Christmas 2012.  Prices on Fortnightly Special Page.

5.   (3.3.12) I recently decided that my trusty old projector was not helping me in being an Optoma dealer. After all, projectors are like computers. Pretty well worthless as soon as you buy them. No one wants to have a look at a 2 or 3 model old projector as things have moved pretty quickly with the technology. Prices have dropped remarkably when compared to performance. It is an expensive decision to buy a top of the line projector for $5000 to $15,000. If you buy something really cutting edge, as I did some years ago, buying a $12,000 state of the art unit. I did about 150 hours on it and sold it for $3000. This works out to an economical $60 per hour. Since then I have stayed with the best of the reasonable priced units.
I was interested in a Optoma HD83 Full HD 3D Home Theatre Projector. I read all the reviews on the web and was a bit concerned as they all stated that it was not the best in class in the area of contrast shadings in very dark rooms, but it excelled in lighter rooms. Most people do not have a completely dark room, painted black, with a black roof to take advantage of the amazing contrast ratios available. If you have a white roof and light coloured walls (like I do) then this appeared to be a good choice. So they need a projector just like this one. All the reviews stated that the 3D performance was exceptional. So I ordered it.
The 3D glasses were not available, so I just got the projector. At 1080P, the performance on my 120" screen was very impressive and clearly better than anything I have had before. TV performance was also great. Whilst I was waiting I bought several 3D disks. My glasses arrived yesterday and last night we sat down to want "The Universe" A doco made for Imax. The picture quality was just stunning. The 3D performance was hard to believe in a domestic settings. Flying through the Asteroid Belt, the rocks actually went past your head, and sometimes, disturbingly, passed through you. The depth behind the screen was like looking outside, and the sun rotating slowly in the centre of the room was most impressive. A dolphin that swam out of the screen and came to within a couple of feet of where we were sitting, then spun around and swam into the distance. You almost felt the wash from his tail. I kept looking at the picture quality trying to imagine how it could be better, rarely successfully. Since the glasses operate on a radio frequency coming from the projector, you can go anywhere in the room and still get perfect 3d. I stood either side of the screen, only a couple of feet from the wall and it was like looking obliquely through a large window. Things still stuck out of the screen in front of you, with no distortion from any angle. Amazing.
I just had a good customer here and gave him a demo. Good to see he was as impressed as I was. I thought 3D was a bit of a gimmic. Not any more. It is a gimmic like "talkies" and "colour" were. When its done as well as this.
I am planning to have a bit of a Special on these. I will put a price up as soon as I get the pricing sorted out.

4.  (5.2.12) I was very distressed just before the last Hi Fi Show to be informed that the quite extraordinary Focal mid range that I used in all my 3 way drivers, and Centre Speakers, was being discontinued. It was not being replaced. this was part of Focal's ongoing policy to stop people using its drivers in their speakers. This left me with a big problem. Where was I going to find a mid range driver that matches the performance of that unit? After trying several possibilities I came down to a choice where the performance loss was sort of acceptable. It was quite noticeable to me, but was the best I was going to get. On a whim, I tried the driver I am now using, and can get. It is still made by Focal, but not intended for this type of use. It is their extreme top end "Utopia" driver and a very sophisticated design with the same "W" Cone construction as my previous driver, but using a Neodymium magnet, several times more powerful than before. The only drawback is it's price. But "No Compromise" means just that. The performance is virtually identical to what we had, so nothing is lost.
Since I need to only demonstrate exactly what I am going to sell, and not "Sounds the same as this, but it's different" There is a one off sale of my Grand Epitome Reference Tower in Gloss Bubinga, and my Epitome and Bass Units in Jarrah, on my Fortnightly Specials Page for someone wanting a true bargain on a speaker which can, does and has proved themselves to easily outperform highly respected speakers costing up to 20 times as much. There is a reason why, as one man working from home, I have sold over 3,600 pairs of speakers in 15 Countries, all by word of mouth.

3.  (20.1.12)   It was a concern to me that as the Audio Aero agent for Australia, I had a Capitole Signature and a Prestige DAC and a fabulous La Fontaine CD/SACD/Music Centre, but I did not have a La Source. This is the flagship and one of the finest CD players available at any price, but I had never heard one, despite selling two. Twice a large heavy box arrived, and then left. Frustrating. Several times I agonised over it, but dammit, you could buy a great car for the money. They are $44,000 + tax in the USA, where they are cheaper than other places. This is quite a lot more than the cheapie La Fontaine, at only $26,000 + tax in the US. Just how much information is there on a CD? As a Music Centre, the La Source (and the La Fontain) use proprietary software to stream any type of file from a computer asynchronously to the DAC where they are processed at up to 32 bits/384 kHz. This allows HD downloads to be played at Master Tape quality, not the Lo Fi synchronous, cheap DAC or Sound Card that most people use for less than CD quality (Or CD quality over an el cheepo player).
Anyway. Before Christmas I ordered one. I figured that if you don't have one, you don't sell one. 10 years ago I did not have any Prestige Monoblocks when they made them, as I figured, who would buy $22,000 amplifiers? I finally ordered a pair and sold 6 pair of them. I had had a Capitole amp and sold several, but could not justify having one with the Prestige, so I sold it and for the next 2 years did not sell one. Then I figured if I wanted to have a chance of selling any, I should get one. I sold 10 in the next 9 month because once people heard it, they could not get it out of their mind. If someone asks you if you want to get a $10,000 amp, the immediate answer is the same as the one President Clinton gave when asked the first embarrassing question about Monica. But say "Listen to this" A whole new board game.
It arrived last night. Straight out of the box (and a very impressive box at that) with an hour's warm up, we sat down to have a listen, plugged straight into the Cyber 88A with the Full Music tubes into a pair of Reference Epitome Towers I am running in prior to delivery. I can say that the amount of information on a CD is astonishing. Most players extract enough information to identify the tune. Fewer bring out some of the spaciousness and musicality. As amazing a player the CD5 Droplet is, trouncing many fine players at many times its price and a great seller on its performance alone, it is amazing how much was missed. The detail, background nuances, micro detail and 3D soundstage that the Droplet resolves that other players miss make it a top seller, But I was shocked at how this not run in La Source could turn an empty, almost dead sounding space into an orchestra of delicate instruments and narrow soundstages into huge, full ones. It is a bit sobering. I am really looking forward to getting my CAT so the best amplifier can get together with the best player. Even if I don't sell many, or any. I have it and it's a whole new experience.

2.  (20.1.12)   Thinking about how good the Cyber 10 Sig. was with the Full Music A3A tubes, I thought about the Cyber 880A.  This has alwaysd been a favorite of mine and is a sonic bargain. I ordered 8 of the Full music tubes.  It is just magical. With 30 w/ch, it has the power to play pretty well anything. Although it adds another $800 to an already fine amplifier  . It does take the price from $2580 to $3380, but it is almost a better bargain, such is the performance. It does give an easy upgrade path for the future if finances are short, you can go with the standard tubes until things stabilise fiscally.

1.  (20.1.12)   Despite stocking more models of Consonance than anyone else in the World, I am always on the lookout for something outstanding. Since starting with Consonance, I have always been a big fan of their integrated valve amps. The M100+ was a revelation when I first heard it, and it instantly became my demonstration amplifier for the whole speaker range. It sounded so amazing and was SO cheap. I had several people buy Monuments and an M100+ to tide them over until they could afford better, because it was just so much better than the amps they had, even though they cost 5 and more times what the M100+ did. Customers had the option. If they wanted amazing performance, that would play anything, at amazingly loud levels, then it was the M100+. I sold over a hundred without any pushing or advertising. If they wanted something even more stunningly musical, that was fantastic with vocals, jazz, instrumentals and classical music, but not at ear splitting volumes, then it was the M100S+. This used 300B tubes running in pure class A triode mode for 22 w/ch, compared to the M100+ using EL34s running in push pull Class AB for 40 w/ch, but big powerful watts they were.
Then they released the Cyber 100, 15th anniversary model to show what they had learnt in 15 years of making amplifiers. I tried one and it was clearly better than the M100+. Smoother, richer, fuller, better voices and detail. Plus it was fully remote control and self biasing. It had the power and dynamics of the M100+, but sounded better than it and the M100S+.
Sales of the M100 series stopped dead when I got the Cyber 100 - 15th Anniversary model and they started selling like hot cakes. It was interesting to see the faces of people who brought their latest pride and joy amplifier to audition speakers. These included Cambridge, Arcam, Krell, Electra, Redgum, Sonique, McIntosh, Melody, Musical Fidelity, Music Labs, ME, Vincent, Linn and many others. At the completion I would ask if they would like to hear the two grand odd integrated. They always said yes. This was followed by bug eyed expressions, looks of open mouth disbelief and often some blaspheming. About 85% went away with an amp and usually a CD player as well as the speakers. Many people spent ages going back and forwards between their amp and mine, their CD player and mine, trying to find which one made the biggest difference. This was followed by great unhappiness before accepting reality and leaving with an amp and a CD player to rush home and get their past loves onto eBay. Many people took the amp and did not compare the CD players, because they did not want to know at this stage. But they were usually back soon because they went home and found everything sounded 2 dimensional, and not holographic 3D like it did here, so they returned for the CD player. I have seen comments several times on Forums from people who had bought their amps to meetings here, and had it blown into the weeds that my speakers are designed with tube amps and sound better with them. This is not true. Most of them were designed with solid state amps. It is not the match with the speakers that sound better, it is the amps that do. This would apply on virtually any other speakers used in the same circumstances.
Stoked at how this giant killer amplifier was selling, I asked Alium Audio in the UK how they were doing with the 15th Anniversary, as I could not see it on their web site http://www.aliumaudio.com/12419.html
They replied that they would never sell anything except the Cyber10 Signature with A3A tubes, because it was fabulous. Despite the fact that I love the Cyber 880A , I had not considered this amp due to its 11 watt output. But intrigued, I ordered one. To make it interesting I ordered it with the Full Music A3A tubes which cost $100 each more than the standard Electro Harmonics, but are about the best there is. When it arrived I ran it for a few days and had a listen. It was magical. The soundstage, presence, purity and pretty well everything else were noticeably better than the 15th Anniversary model. Anything that was not overly demanding, or didn't have to be played really loud was magically musical. (I have yet to do the comparison with the standard tubes). So we are back where we had previously been with the two M100 models. If you want to play real music, as well as you can at the price point, then it is the Cyber 10 Sig. If you want a fantastic
amp that can play anything, anytime, then it is the Cyber 100 15th.