WarwickF

Rom and I heard the Wolf von Langa OB Field Coil speakers in Munich this year and liked them. We have the WVL SON and Chicago models shipping from Germany this week. If anyone is interested to hear them they will be on demo at the Sonic Purity Showroom in Moorabbin. There is some info on our website here https://sonicpurity.com.au/brands/wolf-von-langa/ Warwick

That price is per piece in Europe. So you need to multiply by 2 for a pair. I am working on our Australian price now. The website description says Kii BXT Stereopaar jetzt vorbestellen but this is a mistake.

Hi Guys Yes, we will be showing the KiiTHREE speakers with KiiCONTROL and KiiSTANDS at the show. We will be in Boardroom 1 on Level 2. There will also be a bunch of other goodies on display including Antipodes, EMT, Playback Designs, Kuzma, Lyra, Phasemation, SME, Thales and ZYX. We are bringing all this gear and would love it to find new homes in Sydney, so if you are in the mood to buy something, no reasonable offer will be refused. This is your opportunity to see and hear fantastic gear and do a super deal. See you there Warwick & Rom

Fremer has been using Lyra cartridges for some years so he has a a fair bit of experience with them. I have Etna SL in stock if you like to contact me through our website or PM me through SNA.

Michael Fremer has done a review of Atlas SL and Etna SL. You can find it here.

Pure Music Group will be holding a demonstration evening at the Sonic Purity Showroom in Moorabbin on March 9 at 7pm. On demo will be the exciting new KiiTHREE active loudspeakers together with the just released KiiCONTROL user interface. This fully integrated compact system delivers audiophile quality sound in a room friendly package. Each speaker has 6 x N-Core amplifiers directly powering each speaker driver, plus a DAC, ADC, DSP and manual adjustments. They come in a wide range of standard and custom finishes to suit any decor. You only need to add your digital and/or analogue source and you have a fully functioning system. The system is extremely cost effective as you will need to spend 2-3 times the price of the price of the KiiTHREE to achieve similar sound quality using separate components. Special prices will be available to visitors on the night. Read the latest rave review of the KiiTHREE here. Call or email us to let us know if you would like to attend and for directions of how to get there. Contact details are here. Coffee, Tea and nibbles will be provided.

The special price is while the current stock lasts. I only have a few pieces available at this price so best to grab it while you can.

Item: Nord One UP500DM Stereo Amplifier Location: Melbourne Price: $2,450, free shipping anywhere in Australia Item Condition: New, limited stock Payment Method: Cash, EFT, PayPal, Credit Card. Please Go to PureMusicGroup.com to purchase on line. Extra Info: Black and Silver in Stock. This price is less than if you buy from the Nord website in the UK at the current rate of exchange. Pictures:

PMG received stocks of the T+A DAC8 DSD just before the recent Audio & AV Show and we had them on special at the show. They sold out! We are ordering more and any SNA member who would like to order one can have it at the show special price until the end of this week, November 6. The Regular Price is $4,600 and the Show Special is $4,000 plus shipping. Contact Pure Music Group if you would like to take advantage of this offer.

Warwick and Rom would like to thank everyone who attended and made the event so enjoyable. We are scheduling another event for end of March so stay tuned. For those that are interested in buying an Antipodes Music Server, there is a price rise effective from March 1st. Prices have been stable for over 12 months now and the pressure of cost increases has forced an increase. Orders placed before the end of February will be at the old prices.

Cartridge Installation on Thales Easy and Simplicity The Easy and Simplicity have different cartridge mounting systems. The Easy is a fixed headshell and you align the cartridge with the supplied protractor on the turntable. The Simplicity has a removable headshell and the cartridge is aligned using a separate alignment jig with sighting crosshairs. You can purchase spare headshells to swap cartridges quickly. Thales vs Parallel Tracking Tonearms Thales tonearms are not strictly speaking parallel tracking tonearms. A parallel tracker maintains perfect tangency to the groove by travelling in a straight line across the record. Therefore there is no tracking error at all. The Thales is a pivoted tonearm that still prescribes an arc across the record. However a secondary rod corrects the angle of the headshell as it traverses the record to maintain tangency at less than 0.006 degrees in the case of the Simplicity and 0.4 degrees in the case of the Easy. Thales avoids the complexity and moving mass of a genuine parallel tracker. However it achieves very low distortion due to the low tracking error, far better than conventional pivoted tonearms.

Hi Shane Thanks for your well researched write up on the record cleaning machines. Just a few comments if I may. The KL Audio seems to lower the noise floor below what can be achieved with the wet/dry scrubbing machines. It is like a clearer window on the music. Downside is the cost because with the dollar going south it has become pretty expensive. The Nessie is a very good machine with similar build quality to the Hannl but at a lower price. It is also very quiet in operation. Both are made in Germany. Nessie has automatic application of the fluid and vacuum dry. Price is about half that of the KL Audio. The Kuzma RD Kit is sold without the Ultrasonic Tank so that the customer can source his own. There are many Ultrasonic Tanks available on eBay much cheaper than I can supply them for so it is cheapest for customers to get their own. The Kuzma can do 10 records at a time so it is best to batch clean your records. The Kuzma RD kit is about half the price the Nessie, even less to SNA members so please give me a call for exact pricing. All the above are on our website under the heading "Vinyl Care" Warwick

Hi Alistair, yes I saw the advance sample at the Munich Show. First dealer deliveries are scheduled to commence in November/December 2015 and I have ordered stock. The AF-3 will have vacuum hold down, air bearing and the same motor as AF-1 and AF-2. The chassis will be simpler to save cost and there will be no suspension like in the bigger turntables.There will be an optional isolation table available. The AF-3 will be capable of fitting 4 tonearms with a range of optional tonearm brackets. At the current rate of exchange I am estimating the price to be around $21,000 including GST and delivery within Australia. I think this is exceptional value for a turntable with Japanese build quality and the engineering features that it possesses, not to mention the pedigree of Micro Seiki lurking behind it. We are accepting pre-orders now and SNA members should call us for their member price if they are interested.

Why not, the journey is half the fun. Keeping the cost under control will be a challenge.

Hi Sam There is scope for improvement if you want to spend the money but I think it will be an expensive exercise. The standard amplification supplied comprises the Stageline amp for the bass and two 10 watt "Pure Class A" amplifiers for the treble. N-Core for the bass would be a good choice and if you want to improve on the MiniDSP I think DEQX would be worth investigating. Good luck with the journey. I would love to hear the result when you are finished. Warwick

From the comments I received I think the "grumpies" enjoyed themselves despite the poker faces. I was asked if PMG accepts Seniors Card and had to admit yes, seeing as I have one myself

The van is packed and ready to go for tonight. I look forward to renewing some old acquaintances and meeting some new friends. I hope everyone enjoys themselves.

Hi Jeff Answers below in red. Hi Warwick - just wondering if you have had any feedback from any of your clients regarding the "sonic" improvement from upgrade #25 or #26? No, I have not had any comments from anyone. Have you had anything mention to you about the sibilance and nasally attributes of these updates? No. Indeed did you notice this? (assuming of course you are running a demo MPD/S-5 unit)? No. As i understand this latest upgrade - #27 does not have any sonic improvement. So the changes i am noticing must have come from either #25 or #26. Also are you able to advise if one is able to "go back" to a previous update? I guess you could if you have saved a copy of the previous update. For example would it be ok to revert back to upgrade #24 even though i have recently upgraded to #27? Given the way this utility works and that each upgrade completely overwrites the existing firmware i would suspect this would not be an issue as was also demonstrated by me going from #24 directly to #27.

I can confirm what Mark T says about his speakers. They were the last pair of active Tensor Gammas I was able to get my hands on. This is truly a bargain for anyone wishing to by a top class active loudspeaker. If the purchaser needs assistance with shipping I can use my contacts to help. Good luck with the sale. Warwick

The track I played for you was by United Blues Experience, The Cologne Concert. I met the group at the Munich Show this year and bought their record. It is a great live recording. The lead singer has a very gravely voice and the female harmonica player is unbelievable. For us the show was extremely rewarding with many complementary remarks made by visitors to our room. We were very happy with the room acoustics given the limitations of a hotel room. We had pretty flat response down to 80 Hz and then it went a bit muddy, but as we got more bums on seats the bass improved. Human bass traps were the go. We were specially pleased to receive positive comments from a group of Melbourne Audio Club members who had done the rounds and chose our room to spend their last hour at the show. Their comments on the show in general and our sound in particular was very intelligent, well considered and informed. We had earlier been given a CD by them which we were delighted to play for a number of show goers. One of the great things about a show is we get to hear music that we do not have ourselves and this is a learning experience. I have found it is rare that a visitor gives us a dud recording to play. SNA members were also frequently in our room including customers and non customers and everyone was enthusiastic about the show and the venue. We are looking forward to catching up with many of you in the months after the show. Warwick

OMG Des, you are going back a bit there. Bernard Roller (also RIP), I miss the long audio chats with him. He had the Whatmough "Ondine" speakers. I don't know where they are now but he loved those speakers.

Yes, the Hamer Hall is newly renovated and looks very nice indeed. It has lost the acrylic dishes hanging from the ceiling and now has long tubular lights. The acoustics are better although with the support act, Rick Price, solo singer with guitar, the sibilance was pretty bad. Also the balance between guitar and vocals was not the best. The guitar was overpowering the vocals which reduced the intelligibility. At one point the performer asked the sound engineer to increase the sound of the guitar which made it worse. Not sure what that was all about but they need to work on the voice intelligibility and sibilance issues I think.

I just saw "America" at Hamer Hall. Anyone else go to this? They have been performing for 42 years and still going strong. Great sound and a relief not to have my ears blasted off at a concert. They bring their own sound mixing guy and he got it right. Well done.

PMG passes on the Manufacturer's Warranty except where there is a conflict between Australian Consumer Law and the Manufacturer's Warranty, in which case Australian Consumer Law overrides. PMG supports any customer who has a warranty problem during the warranty period. There have been occasions where this has been done when done when products were technically out of warranty and we have found our suppliers to be more than co-operative when the circumstances of a failure have been explained. With modern day equipment this mostly entails the swapping of a circuit board which is no big deal. I don't think Bill has any fault with his unit. He just has an issue with the method of warranty registration. I will make sure his unit is registered so that he can receive the warranty and service support.

Hi Bill This is the first I have heard of your issue. Please feel free to correspond with me and I will do my best to get it sorted out for you. All the best. Warwick