Innehållsförteckning för Issue 361 från Sound + Image

Welcome to our Awards issue! That celebration starts on page 17, so I won’t bang on about it too much here, except perhaps to note that I was pleased to find so many Australian products this year making it through the strongest competition of international manufacturers new and established, with all their various possible advantages of market conditions and global mass production and possible local support, and well, I won’t mention tariffs (a print magazine is hardly the place to comment on policy that changes by the hour). But despite that, or perhaps taking advantage of that to offer value locally, we have nine Australian winners, and several others which might fairly boast some useful Aussie content. Don’t it make you proud!* I suppose it is almost inevitable that our…

Epson Australia has debuted both its new office and Experience Centre in North Sydney, together with a brand-new high-end projector, the EH-QL3000, now its top home cinema projector at $24,999. It distinguishes itself over the $8999 EH-LS12000B primarily by bringing in some of Epson’s skills in the commercial sector at providing projectors able to deliver giant images in well-lit spaces, and to that end this is also the brightest model in the range, raising the LS12000’s 2700 lumens to here a blistering 6000 lumens: sufficient, says Epson, to turn any space, including well-lit living areas, into a cinema. The laser light source should be good for 20,000 hours viewing. At the event, which Epson Australia tagged ‘New Beginnings for a Brighter Future’, Epson also explained how a series of different…

Roll the drums! Raise the golden spotlights! Awards time is here at Sound+Image, with this special issue packed with the top performers from all our equipment reviews and tests over the last year from Sound+Image, Australian Hi-Fi, our special editions Audio Esoterica and Best Buys Audio & AV, both in our print editions and up on our Australian corner of whathifi.com/au. The Sound+Image Awards have been presented every year since 1989, so this is our 37th collection of winners, the stand-out products which have particularly thrilled us with their performance, their ability to punch above their weight, their great cleverness at swinging Atmos effects around a home cinema, or the spine-tingling experience of their musical delivery whether in classic stereo or something more modern and immersive. We have more than…

The name may confuse: Sony lists the VPL-XW6100ES as a ‘Bravia 8’ projector, presumably to leverage the company’s successful TVs, though also reminding punters that those TVs are today the biggest competitors to projectors like this! Assuming you’re preferring the projected cinematic look, the Sony offers something special: native 4K, with no clever but questionable pixel-flipping madness. There is not only a resolution gain (we’ve never seen pixelflipping deliver a true single line of pixels) but one of stability. Take slo-mo video of a DLP projection screen and view the results: there are colours and pixels flashing everywhere. Do the same with this Sony and it’s all constant: perhaps persistence of vision should blur it all together, but native 4K just feels to us to have an inherent stability that…

Positioned as the successor to the SR8015 and labelled a ‘Reference’ receiver, the Cinema 30 stands at the top of Marantz’s integrated AV line-up at $8000 (short of stepping up to the AV10 processor and AMP10 amplifier separates at $25,600). The unit supports 13-channel processing with 11 built-in amplifier channels and independent outputs for up to four subwoofers, making possible configurations like 7.4.4 (or the unusual 5.3.6 in which we auditioned the Cinema 30 with Bowers & Wilkins 800 Series speakers and three massive 15-inch Definitive Technology Descend subwoofers). Any spare channels can power second or even third zones, bi-amplification, and more. Rated at 140W per channel (measured with two channels driven, 8 ohms, and low distortion), this model delivers significantly more power per channel than lower models in the…

This pair of speakers has escaped from the loudspeaker section of our awards because they are different. Unlike a passive speaker, which requires external amplifiers, the 8c has built-in Class-D amplification (500W for bass, 250W each for midrange and treble). They support both analogue and digital inputs (via XLR and Ethernet) and allow streaming directly from Roon and Spotify without needing external devices. So they combine the functions of a streaming amplifier and speakers: being selfpowered, they require no additional hardware. The driver complement is dramatic, looking relatively conventional from the front (left box below), presenting a 25mm alloy-dome tweeter and a 203mm alloy-cone midrange driver. But round the back, above the input bay, there are two more 203mm alloy high-excursion Wavecor bass drivers. This powerful combination of drivers and…

Our next winning amplifier is what we call a ‘zone’ amplifier: popularised by Sonos, these combine streaming abilities with amplification in a neat box which can thereby provide a room of music: just add speakers. And what we like about this zone amplifier is that it’s a premium version of the concept, made by Norway’s Electrocompaniet, a company long renowned for powerful amplification, and more recently for high-end streamers which benefit from the ‘EC One’ control app, developed in-house. You get the same control system here, despite the little Rena streaming amp’s lower price and far more compact size, allowing easy direct control from Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect and Qobuz; the app brings internet radio and a ‘Library’ option, through which you can see and play files shared on your…

For those seeking the highest echelons of hi-fi reproduction, a preamplifier and power amplifier combination offers advantages in purity and potentially utility. Get all the noisy switching and digital stuff in one box: keep the audio power circuits pristine. And while some years we find that new and wonderful preamplifiers are fairly thin on the ground, this year we found two exceptional examples of the breed. First, this McIntosh C2800 tube preamplifier, price $17,995. It’s a typically hefty (12.5kg) unit that stands an imposing 19.4cm tall; on top is a window through which you can see the C2800’s four McIntosh-branded 12AX7 valves. Some call McIntosh styling ‘retro’, but that would be wrong, because its styling cues have never really changed! McIntosh amps were handsome back then and they are still…

The Estelon Extreme Mk. II speakers command attention even before they produce a single note. Towering at over two metres and weighing 250kg each, their imposing presence is matched by a striking design of near sci-fi aesthetic created in a marble-based composite material. They have a modular construction, with the upper section housing the diamondmembrane tweeter, 17cm ceramic-membrane midrange and 25cm aluminium-sandwich mid-bass; this section can be adjusted (via remote!) to optimise depth and stereo imaging. The lower section houses two aluminiumsandwich 25cm woofers at 90 degrees to each another in a bass-reflex design. All five drivers are from Accuton by Thiel & Partner, with tweeter and midrange receiving notable upgrades over the Mk I, and the woofer cones custom-designed for the Extreme Mk II. Internally, the crossover network has…

Making almost an annual appearance to collect another Sound+Image Cinema ‘GOLD’ Award, Sydney’s Wavetrain Cinemas this year delivered this ‘Dune’ home cinema which graced the cover of Sound+Image back in August last year. Wavetrain was granted complete creative freedom, the only brief being: “Surprise me.” Yet the design process was complex, given room dimensions of only 4.5 × 5.2m, with irregular angles and low ceilings. The lines were cleverly softened with organic curves, including a circular ‘Dune’ motif (inspired by the film poster long before release) with addressable RGB LED strips to create dynamic lighting scenes. Audio quality was assured by Wavetrain’s integrated Elementi Audio ‘Air’ active speakers in a 9.4.4 configuration, their AMT tweeters providing a wide horizontal dispersion and a relaxed immersive sound environment, and achieving flat frequency…

» Army of Darkness: In the capstone to director Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead trilogy, Ash must retrieve the Necronomicon (the Book of the Dead) by trying, in vain, to speak a variation on Day’s famous command…“Klaatu Verada Nikto.” Why the variation? Raimi and company were also unsure how the words were pronounced! » Return of the Jedi: One of the aliens on board Jabba the Hutt’s sail barge is named Nikto, and two of the guards on his flying skiff are named Klaatu and Barada. » Willow: George Lucas must be quite a fan of Day… In his high fantasy epic Willow, the title character recites the words when attempting a transmutation spell. » The X-Files: Agent Fox Mulder has the words mounted on a wall in his office. (They…

Coining the very term ‘rockumentary’, This Is Spinal Tap’s timeless spoof followed a hapless British rock band on their doomed US jaunt promoting their album Smell The Glove. The key band members — David St Hubbins, Nigel Tufnel and Derek Smalls — were played by comedianperformer friends Michael McKean, Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer, their all-improvised lines assimilating into common rock parlance and beyond. Here are just 11 (well, naturally) of the film’s most far-reaching utterances… Bizarre gardening accident/ exploding drummers At the time of the film, Spinal Tap had lost two drummers who carked it by exploding, or combusting, on stage. These days the concept inevitably springs to mind when a drummer’s demise is announced. Stumpy Joe Pepys’ death by ‘bizarre gardening accident’ unfortunately did seem to foreshadow Toto…

“‘All Things Must Pass’ might be better, but those songs [on ‘Material World’] are incredible. You can hear from the LP what his aim was; he definitely had a message he wanted to get across.” So said Klaus Voormann, back in 2003. It’s ironic that Oasis named their critically-panned third album after the stand-out track on ‘Living In The Material World’, Be Here Now. The original is beautiful, understated and unabashedly spiritual — a stark contrast to its bloated counterpart. Harrison’s soulful vocal is set against mournful blissed-out Indian instrumentation and acoustic guitar, radiating a calm, beatific beauty that characterises so many of his later contributions to The Beatles. It’s easy to see why the Gallagher brothers might want to claim kinship. Released in 1973, ‘Living In The Material World’…

CD players / in-ear buds The day of the compact disc may be done, declining under the pincer movement of streaming on one side and the resurgence of vinyl on the other. Yet a flood of secondhand CDs makes this one of the cheapest ways to collect music, and CD replay delivers an assured standard of non-compressed music, magnificent with a good player through a fine system. ROTEL CD11 TRIBUTE W2022 / $749 / rotel.com.au Tuning begun by one sound guru and finished by another, released as a ‘tribute’, and now coming in a MkII version. It’s a fine way to prolong your CD listening experience. MARK LEVINSON NO. 5101 W2022 / $9999 / ambertech.com.au Impressive CD/SACD playback combines with fine DAC abilities for digital inputs and network streaming: a…

In a dedicated or darkened room, projectors deliver bigscreen images of which even the largest TVs can only dream. From portable models of relatively low resolution to native 4K resolution, here are our current award-winners. EPSON EH-TW6250 W2023 / $2099 / epson.com.au Epson’s little projector comes with Android TV smarts inside and some key benefits of 4K, delivering great images at an attractive price. XGIMA HORIZON ULTRA W2024 / $3499 / xgimi.com.au This beautiful 4K long-throw projector delivers equally alluring images, Android streaming and a built-in harman/kardon sound system. EPSON EH-LS12000B W2023 / $8999 / epson.com.au The latest (and real UHD) version of Epson’s 4K Pro UHD technology, with laser light source and versatility that yields an effortlessly smooth and cinematic bigscreen performance. BENQ TK700STi W2022 / $2599 / benq.com.au…

Key W = Sound+Image Award Product of the Year  HC = Sound+Image Award Highly Commended E = EISA Award winner Amplifiers Amplifiers are all about the power to drive your speakers, and different amplifiers use different technologies to do that. Also you can’t just compare power ratings, because these are quoted in a myriad different ways (often overly favourably). And now amps are smart, with digital inputs and often streaming, there’s much to consider. Here are our award-winning picks. ROTEL A8 W2025 / $649 / interdyn.com.au A compelling contender as a classic 30W amplifier: no streaming, no digital, but a level of performance impressive given its price point. DENON PMA-900HNE W2023 / $1799 / denon.com.au Denon has taken its hi-fi amplifier expertise and added HEOS streaming/multiroom to the front, surprisingly for…

Amplifiers / Soundbars Sometimes, if you already have a preamplifier, or indeed a DAC which can operate as a preamplifier, then you need only add a standalone power amplifier — mono, stereo, or even multichannel — to drive your speakers to their best. MARCH AUDIO P801 W2025 / $3500 each / marchaudio.com Simple black boxes, but delivering 1400W each into 2 ohms, with high-quality optimised Eigentakt amplification; a steal at the price. HALCRO ECLIPSE STEREO W2024 / $69,990 / halcro.com The stereo Halcro Eclipse is an object lesson in the importance of state-of-the-art amplification in an audio chain, yet also an audio work of art in itself. This is Australian hi-fi design at its best. HALCRO ECLIPSE MONO x 2 W2020 / $91,000 pair / halcro.com The stereo version of…

Key W = Sound+Image Award Product of the Year  HC = Sound+Image Award Highly Commended E = EISA Award winner Loudspeakers The ultimate sound requires the ultimate speakers — and here are those that have impressed us above all others to win our Sound+Image awards. Standmounters are not only for small spaces: they often achieve a tighter cleaner sound that some prefer to floorstanders, whatever the room. Budget for proper speaker stands if you can. For wireless speakers, see p90. TRIANGLE BOREA BR03 W2022 / $900 / audiomarketing.com.au Designed in France, Triangle’s BR03 speakers prove impressive contenders with usefully high sensitivity to coax additional power from partnering amplifiers. Their tone is sweet and pure, with bass extension impressive for the cabinet size. POLK RESERVE R200 W2022 / $1299 / polkaudio.com The…

Encel Audio has been building an attractive range of affordable classic hi-fi with a modern twist: the Melbourne company says it aims for “exceptional sound and fun aesthetics”. That certainly continues with a new second bookshelf speaker, the ‘Raw Gelati’, impressively priced at $479 a pair, joining the original Gelati standmount speakers ($629), the Brains amplifier ($899), and the Harald V2 Bluetooth receiver ($149). The new standmounts, though cheaper, are not smaller: they are the same size as the original Gelati: 30cm high, 22cm deep. Their lower price has been made possible by Encel using a different mid/bass driver and some simpler materials, notably releasing them in a single colour — liquorice black — rather than the choice of multiple colourful baffles available for the original Gelati. But the ‘fun’…

It’s relatively small, lightweight, and in our review we even called it ugly, yet the headline shout-outs for this ViewSonic projector include some impressive numbers and claims. Chief among these is a high 5200 lumens count, significantly above even the larger smart projectors that may offer up to 3000 lumens. This higher count supports longer throw distances and up to 300-inch screens, or in any given installation it can help overcome ambient light conditions to still deliver a bright viewing experience at any time of day. This lumen count is made possible partly through the RGB laser technology used by ViewSonic, which also does away with the need for a colour wheel, and partly through the use of a larger digital micromirror device (DMD) than is usual in projectors at…

Few companies refresh their home cinema receivers annually — the market is small, and firmware updates usually keep models relevant. At Sound+Image we focus on the latest gear, but here’s a seven-channel receiver we never got around to testing when it launched in 2021/2022. Given Yamaha’s Aventage’s track record, we were eager to rediscover whether the Aventage RX-A4A remains a benchmark. Turns out it was more than that: a slight price drop to $2299 since launch makes the A4A an outright bargain. Receivers do so very much that it’s easy to get caught up in the feature count rather than the basics: the A4A offers seven Class-AB amplifier channels, rated at 165W (one channel driven, 10% THD) or 110W (two channels, 0.06% THD). While not the most powerful in the…

The winners here are ‘wired’ headphones for the home, these DT 770 Pro ‘X’ LEs being closed models, described as “suitable for professional recording and monitoring applications in the studio as well as use on the move in everyday life.” So for those prepared to deal with cables you might consider them all-rounders, though there’s no Bluetooth here, nor noise-cancelling to provide a silent bed for your tunes when facing noisier conditions and commutes. That means no controls on the headphones, nor even buttons on a hanging lanyard. The DT 770 Pro X is strictly plug and play. Of course, by not including all that extra tech, the DT 770 Pro X puts all your money into sound quality, and also comfort. The main sonic upgrade over the standard version…

Again, category dimorphism: the $2199 DX9 Pro is a headphone amplifier as well as a DAC (and it didn’t help that one of our team kept saying a ‘DX9’ is a classic Yamaha FM keyboard from the 1990s). Here we’re awarding the topping with the first of our three DAC awards, but as evident from the trio of sockets to the right of the fascia on the impressive solid aluminium body (nothwithstanding its transparent top panel), the DX9 Pro provides headphone outputs as 6.35mm, balanced 4.4mm TRRRS Pentaconn, and balanced 4-pin XLR socket. There is no provision for the older 2.5mm TRRS balanced, so you would need the relevant adaptor for those, but a 3.5mm-to-6.35mm adaptor for the unbalanced socket is provided in the box. For all practical purposes the…

We confess we were without a truly entry-level amplifier in these awards — a classic hi-fi starter amp for first-timers wanting to focus on sound rather than flashy stuff and Bluetooth streaming. But then our colleagues at What Hi-Fi? UK turned us on to Rotel’s A8, which ticked all the boxes. The list price is just $649, yet the A8 has a nicely modest appearance and a functional design; it is even robustly constructed, with well-engineered controls and meticulously finished casework that reflect Rotel’s commitment to quality craftsmanship. Internally, the amplifier features a well-designed power supply and carefully-arranged circuitry populated with some high-quality components, ensuring reliability and longevity. In an era where amplifiers load up on wireless connectivity, the Rotel A8 takes a different path. It forgoes digital inputs, streaming,…

Denon has been designated a ‘performance’ brand by its owner Masimo, but of course, this has always been a performance brand, with a 115-year legacy of audio design, and boasting the legendary high-tech ‘Audio Works’ facility in Shirakawa, Japan. Which is where this $6999’s worth of Denon flagship stereo integrated amplifier was put together. Visually it looks much like the company’s PMA-A110 (for the 110th birthday in 2020); indeed it looks superficially like a lot of Denon amplifiers, but here the analogue inputs are brass-machined and gold-plated, and upon removing the lid you’re presented with what can only be described as softcore hi-fi porn, led by heatsinks and copper, while it delivers 80W of power per channel from highcurrent low-distortion UHC-MOS transistors, doubling to 160W into four ohms. You might…

From the moment the Equinox was powered on, it was evident that this preamplifier is in a league of its own. The soundstage it created was both expansive and immersive, and whether it was the resonant depths of a double bass or the shimmering highs of a cymbal crash, the Equinox rendered each note with pristine clarity and precision. This should not be too much of a surprise, since the Equinox came to us fresh from the development lab of South Australia’s Halcro, famous for “the world’s best amplifier”, and in its modern period of rebirth already holding Sound+Image Awards for its Eclipse Mono (~$100k a pair) and Eclipse Stereo ($66,990) power amps. Matching the stereo amp’s price of $66,990, the Equinox is, of course, the perfect partner for either,…

SOUND+IMAGE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD ALUMNI 2007 John Fahey Brian Lee Len Wallis 2008 Michael Henriksen Josef Riediger David Small Greg Borrowman 2009 Alex Encel Scott Krix Geoff Matthews 2010 Philippe Luder Derek Pugh 2011 Paul Graham Colin Whatmough 2012 Ken Ishiwata 2013 Stephen Lee 2014 John Cornell 2015 Jacki Pugh 2016 Don MacKenzie Brad Serhan 2017 John Martin 2018 Mark Döhmann 2019 Gordon Hoskins 2020 Paul Clarke 2022 Philip Sawyer 2023 Dr. Martin Gosnell 2024 Kiat Low Diane Preece As we often mention, our award for Lifetime Achievement by no means indicates that it’s all over for the recipient! This year’s winner, for example, is currently Managing Director at BenQ Australia, overseeing the Taiwanese brand’s continuous stream of innovative imaging products: projectors, monitors, lighting, signage. “Colour accuracy is at the…

By the time they recorded this, their final album, in 1971, The Move had been reduced to a three-man band comprised of chief songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Roy Wood, drummer Bev Bevan and relative newcomer Jeff Lynne, formerly of fellow Birmingham psych-poppers The Idle Race. An early Electric Light Orchestra album in all but name (the trio were contractually obliged to deliver another Move album to their record label Harvest while simultaneously recording the first official ELO release), it’s the sound of two eccentric pop geniuses (and one ace drummer) with a penchant for whimsy and pastiche running riot in the studio. Awash with inventive overdubs, this is post-psychedelic pop-rock reflected through a cracked glass: an appealingly peculiar and occasionally sinister soundscape dominated by Wood’s elephantine bass, which sounds like an enormous elastic…

Streamers / DACs Key W = Sound+Image Award Product of the Year HC = Sound+Image Award Highly Commended E = EISA Award winner WELCOME Our buying guide is based on the Sound+Image Awards presented each year. It includes key winners from our new 2025 Awards, and also, as an EISA member, a smattering of the recent EISA winners, making this the ultimate guide to the best audio & AV products available on the market today. See the key above to understand which products won what and when… Streaming now appears in all manner of products, but these awardwinning products are sources made just for streaming. And not just for Spotify; these streamers handle high resolution files from the internet or your network for the highest of performance. CAMBRIDGE MXN10 W2023 / $899 /…

In-ear ’phones offer convenience of size, and the best of them can deliver beautiful music, though also crucial are ease of use and battery life, especially with true wireless buds. Bear in mind that their enclosed position makes them more dangerous to your hearing than over-ears or speakers when used at high volumes. Here are our current award-winners. LG TONE FREE T90S W2025 / $299 / lg.com.au Well-priced buds with Meridian tuning and Dolby Atmos give LG a rare win over the usual contenders in for true wireless earbuds. SENNHEISER IE 300 W2022 / $479.95 / sennheiser-hearing.com The IE 300s prove Sennheiser’s ability to deliver an impressively natural sound balance even from buds so small and neatly flush-fitting. Pricey, but often on special. BOWERS & WILKINS Pi8 W2025 / $599…

Key W = Sound+Image Award Product of the Year  HC = Sound+Image Award Highly Commended E = EISA Award winner Systems & wireless speakers All-in-one solutions: here are our award picks of portable Bluetooth speakers, home lifestyle wireless systems, also active speakers with a highly hi-fi sound along with active and/or wireless convenience. These are thoroughly modern music systems, often loaded with tech for streaming and/or multiroom operation under app control from phone and tablet. JBL FLIP 6 E2022-3 / $169.95 / jbl.com.au It’s hard to go past JBL for top portable Bluetooth performance: the Flip 6 has impressive sound for the size, waterproofing too. Not hi-fi, of course, but good on the go. JBL XTREME 3 W2022 / $399.95 / jbl.com.au The outdoor nature of the Xtreme 3 is assured,…

Separating the switching pre-amplifier from the power amplification allows both sections to perform to their best without interfering with each other. It’s entirely possible to mix brands, but our recommendations here are limited to branded pairs, which are a fair promise of electrical compatibility as well as an aesthetic match. Every pair here is an award winner. ADVANCE PARIS X-P700 / X-A220 EVO x 2 W2024 / $2299 (pre) + $2999 x 2 (power) / www.synergyaudio.com High performance and delightful aesthetics at remarkably attractive prices for this three-box amplifier system from the French brand, new to Australia. With healthy inputs and plenty of power, this pre-power combination gets the threebox formula absolutely right. BEL CANTO E1X DAC/CONTROL AMP & E1X STEREO AMPLIFIER W2022 / $11,800 + $10,800 / www.absolutehiend.com Bel…

Google and Samsung have collaborated on a new audio format to rival Dolby Atmos. Called Eclipsa Audio, it is set to debut in Samsung’s 2025 TVs and soundbars, and potentially more widely in Google TV and Android TV interfaces for any number of other devices. Google promises future support within the Chrome browser and potentially within Google Cast/Chromecast streaming. The format makes use of IAMF (Immersive Audio Model and Formats) as previously developed by Google, Samsung and others within the Alliance for Open Media (AOM), and Eclipsa is being released as an open-source alternative to Dolby’s immersive audio format, just as HDR10+ video is an open-source rival to Dolby Vision. The IAMF specification has indications that this is not, like Atmos, a format with no real limit to channel count;…

Industry analyst FutureSource Consulting has identified high-end and ultra-premium audio as enjoying significant growth even as other sectors flatten or decline. “The industry is making a decisive shift towards ultra-premium audio experiences, with brands increasingly focused on craftsmanship, exclusivity, and the pursuit of sonic perfection,” says Guy Hammett, senior market analyst at Futuresource. “With new players entering the market and innovation accelerating, luxury audio is set to become even more dynamic. We’ll see brands continuing to push the boundaries of high-fidelity sound, easing the market into an exciting new phase and capturing imaginations of discerning consumers worldwide.” FutureSource predicts global highend growth of 6% by volume and 8% by value, creating a US$4.3bn highend audio market annually by 2028.…

The pictures here don’t show the size difference, but BenQ’s W5800 is 53cm wide compared with the ViewSonic’s 29cm; it weighs 10.5kg to the ViewSonic’s 2.7kg. It’s a more serious cinematic projector. We first saw it in action at the 2024 Australian Hi-Fi Show, where it was the visual star in one of the Show’s top attractions, Wavetrain Cinemas’ movie demonstrations. Getting it into our test space only confirmed its ability to deliver truly cinematic images. One of BenQ’s big sells for this W5800 is that it has sufficient lumens and other capabilities to provide an “easy upgrade to a 200-inch 4K home theatre” if you have the room to accommodate it — the projection distance for 200 inches ranges from 6.7 metres to 10.8 metres. We’d recommend use in…

Recent refinements to Marantz’s design language here yield a stylish AV receiver looking more like a friendly stereo amp: it is 5cm lower than Yamaha’s receiver opposite, while the black front panel’s new radiating pattern elevates it above mere boxes of black. While at $2500 it sits at the lowest end of this awards category, it manages to hold true to Marantz’s sonic legacy, as well as its newer aspirations towards ‘luxury’ status. As with the Yamaha opposite you have seven amplifier channels powering a full 7.1 setup, a 5.1.2 Atmos arrangement, or keeping two channels for bi-amping front speakers or running a second zone. Dual subwoofer outputs ensure bass duties are well handled. The Cinema 60 isn’t the smallest in Marantz’s line-up — a slimline Cinema 70s also offers…

Austrian Audio was set up by the talented team which left AKG after that brand was bought and relocated by Harman/Samsung. After setting out on their own, the Austrian team focused on pro audio — and six years on, they are well-established. Now they’re back with a consumer model. And what a model. Of course at $3999 a pair for cabled headphones,you might expect something special. Their fine construction is sophisticated and unusual, with the yokes creating a circular support for each earcup that tilts naturally to fit. Two-pin mini banana jack connectors make the connections. Through sturdy grilles on the outer headshells through you can just see the silverringed innards and a red Austrian Audio logo under the grille. They use new Hi-X driver technology, specifically the HI-X49 DLC…

Anew shape, new internals, new drivers: Bowers & Wilkins left no stone unturned in its pursuit to fix criticisms of its earlier buds and produce this new flagship, accompanied by a flagship price of $599. Such prices are by no means unprecedented in the market, but it leaves them needing to prove themselves against lower competing buds from Apple and Sony. They succeed. They present beautifully: smooth matte premium plastics in four colour options, with matching compact wireless charging cases, a pod which also doubles up as a wireless audio re-transmitter. The new buds have battery life of six-and-a-half hours from a single charge, while the case provides a further 13.5 hours, making 20 hours in total. Each earbud has a new 12mm carboncone driver using the same material as…

It has been a tumultuous decade for Onkyo, but it seems now to have settled nicely under the auspices of the Premium Audio Company in a joint venture with Sharp, and coming into Australia now through Westan Electronics. Given the brand’s historic prowess, we were keen to sample the new wares arrived from the revived brand, and this stereo streaming amplifier proved a very good place to start, showing that Onkyo still stands for high performance with high value. Priced at $1799, it boasts an extensive feature set, including a moving-magnet phono input, three RCA inputs, two optical and one coaxial digital inputs, an Ethernet port, and USB slots both front and back. There’s also network streaming and notably HDMI connectivity for TV integration — not just an audio input…

Hegel’s amplifiers can look small in pictures, because they’re unusually high, Scandi-clean, and with feet closer to the middle of the chassis than is usual. But in fact they’re the full 43cm width, and here 17cm high, so pretty huge, really: the H600 weighs more than 22kg, a solid amplifier (another from Norway) topping our integrated amplifier winners at $19,995. As you may have guessed from the weight, there is no Class D amplification here — but nor is there Class A, nor Class A/B. Hegel’s power is exclusive and developed in-house: it’s called DualAmp Technology, first boosting the signal to the required voltage, and only then supplying the current capability required to drive the low impedance of the connected loudspeakers. The point here is that each of the DualAmps…

The design ethos of South Australia’s VAF Research revolves around achieving absolute accuracy in sound reproduction, and the i93 MKV’s build quality reflects this mission, with an inert, well-braced cabinet that eliminates unwanted resonance and vibrations. The speakers are constructed with MDF panels up to 54mm thick, designed by a third-generation furniture maker from the Adelaide Hills, with stunning veneer and painted finishes available. Each cabinet houses a sophisticated driver array consisting of five individual units, each carefully positioned to minimise phase distortion and optimise time alignment: VAF’s engineers have offset the drivers horizontally, ensuring that the sound waves reach the listener in perfect unison. The goal is to maintain a linear phase response, meaning that no frequency band arrives ahead or behind another — critical for preserving the integrity…

Recognition with a Sound+Image GOLD Award for Cinema Design or Custom Installation is not only a gong for a year, it’s a near-permanent recognition of project quality, so that over the years we’ve built up a list of Sound+Image Gold Award alumni, all winners of thrilling cinemas and smart homes that have graced our pages over the years. Some have won multiple times — notably Len Wallis Audio, and Wavetrain Cinemas featured opposite. On the right is the complete GOLD Award alumni list, as of the 2025 Awards. Abacus Acoustic abacusacoustic.com.au Andersons AVI andersonsavi.com.au Audio Solutions audiosolutions.net.au HiFi Hunter hifihunter.com.au Len Wallis Audio lenwallisaudio.com Rogue Home Cinema roguehomecinema.com.au Signature Cinemas signaturecinemas.com.au Studio Connections/ Visual Fidelity studioconnections.com.au WestCoast Hi-Fi Midland westcoasthifi.com.au SEE THEIR WINNING INSTALLATIONS >>…

ASUNNY AFTERNOON IN WASHINGTON DC. Children play, lovers picnic, and excited dogs run across the wide stretches of grass that surround the monuments of America’s capital city. But something is amiss in the midday afternoon. It starts as a low, distant hum, a sound that grows louder as a blinding oval of light becomes visible and glides along the clear blue sky. As even the noon sun is paled by its brilliance, the disc descends, and its form is defined as a metal saucer. The children and passersby are hypnotised, transfixed. They watch with mouths agape as the saucer descends on that most American of all landmarks — the capital mall. Finally it lands and its light fades, replaced with only the cool exterior of a device more foreign, more…

Joan Armatrading made waves with her orchestral-backed rock-soul single Love And Affection in October 1976. It catapulted the reserved and enigmatic St Kitts-born, writer to stardom, where she’s Birmingham-raised singer-songremained for five decades. Being awarded two British honours for her services to music — an MBE in 2001 and a CBE in 2020 — places her firmly in songwriting royalty, and her honest observer’s approach to life and love remains on her most recent record album How Did This Happen And What Does This Now Mean, on which she also performs some sizzling guitar playing. Tell us about How Did This Happen… Who’s on it? Everything you heard is just me. I’ve been doing that for years. I see reviews saying: “The band were great.” Yeah, the ‘band’ is me.…

Julian Cope has arguably had one of the strangest, most varied careers in rock’n’roll (and academia, as an expert in ancient history), and while his experimental output in recent years has been challenging at best, ‘Friar Tuck’ finds the pendulum swinging back to not only listenable but really a lot of fun. In the song titles alone there’s a gleeful sense of mischief, sarcastic wordplay and silly but vivid imagery: Too Freud To Rock’n’Roll, Too Jung To Die; You Gotta Keep Your Halfwits About You; Four Jehovahs In A Volvo Estate (think Kraftwerk taking to the M6 rather than the autobahn), for starters. That he’s rediscovered the art of melody, albeit with a loveably brash home-studio wonkiness to keep the quirk factor up, just adds to the appeal. ‘Friar Tuck…

Whatever Bolan himself reckoned, 1973’s ‘Tanx’, now reissued alongside the absolutely essential ‘Bolan Boogie’ compilation as very desirable picture discs, although not quite as commercially successful as what went before, has a lot going for it, with plenty of the winning formula still in evidence. Mad Donna and Shock Rock are built around the repurposed Chess riffs Bolan could probably have fashioned with his Les Paul during a nap. Okay, lyrically he continued to knock out the usually loveable gobbledegook probably cobbled together in the back of the limo, but musically he was stretching out, at least a bit. He got in some saxophone, Mellotron and a more prominent piano, and Electric Slim And The Factory Hen and Left Hand Luke & The Beggar Boys show a definite leaning towards…

DACs can provide an upgrade for any digital source, and these days many come with a volume control so they can double as a digital-only preamp, directly driving power amps and speakers. Look for compatibility with the file types you own, along with the right set of connections that you’ll need for your current – and possible future – components. CAMBRIDGE AUDIO DACMAGIC 200M W2022 / $1099 / cambridgeaudio.com A half-size rocket of a performer, able to be used as a DAC, a headphone amp, or even as a preamp for a whole digital system thanks to being switchable to variable output. MUSICAL FIDELITY MX-DAC W2023 / $1525 / audiomarketing.com.au Five inputs, high-quality conversion, and excellent visual feedback as well, and currently on special offer. If you want still higher…

Headphones Every model listed here has won a Sound+Image award – but consider also what functions you need, as well as the prices. Open-backed models can have a thrilling airy sound that closed models can’t match, while cables often beat Bluetooth for best sound. But for commuting or long distance, wireless noise-cancellers bring an isolation worth paying for. WIRED MODELS SENNHEISER HD 560S W2021 / $320 / sennheiser-hearing.com These open-backed home headphones demonstrate what Sennheiser does best — natural and highvalue shining sound, a reminder of the performance headstart granted by cable rather than Bluetooth. BEYERDYNAMIC DT770 PRO X 'LE' W2025 / $349 / beyerdynamic.com.au A wellpriced upgrade of a closed-back wired headphone for the home, or even from a portable device, with gthe company’s Stellar.45 driver delivering clouds of…

Subwoofers While many people think of subwoofers only in a home cinema context where they deliver the deepest thrills of movie soundtracks, they can be equally useful in a stereo music system, deepening the response of floorstanders as well as standmounts, and taking the load off the main speakers which can then perform to their best with the rest of the spectrum. RICHTER THOR 10.6 W2019 / $1799 / richter.com.au Aussie company Richter has succeeded where most have not in building a small and versatile subwoofer that doesn’t sound small at all. Versatile too, with tuneable bass ports and three-mode DSP. SVS 3000 MICRO W2023 / $1899 / svsound.com.au Able to get deep despite limited itself to a 10-inch cabinet, the SVS 3000 Micro is a rare small sub that…

While it’s common to have preamplifier and power amps from the same brand, there’s no reason it has to be that way. Here are two 2025 preamp winners that made our awards entirely on their own merits… MCINTOSH C2800 W2025 / $17,995 / synergyaudio.com From phono stages to headphone performance and high configurability, this McIntosh preamplifier brings it all – and delivers. HALCRO EQUINOX W2025 $69,990 halcro.com This is world-class control: zero background noise at any time, not to mention an absolute lack of audible distortion.…

Times were when we wouldn’t recommend soundbars at all — they were a compromise for those who couldn’t fit in real speakers. But the best of the breed surprise and delight us with movie (and less commonly musical) performance. YAMAHA SR-C30A W2023 / $399 / au.yamaha.com A stronger performance than the price might suggest, and a sub included too, thanks to Yamaha’s long experience with soundbars. YAMAHA SR-B40A W2024 / $649 / au.yamaha.com Yamaha makes some daft claims for this bar+sub combo, but at heart it’s a solid 2.1-channel bar with Atmos compatibility but no actual surround. POLK MAGNIFI MINI AX W2023 / $799 / au.polkaudio.com This strange lozenge of a soundbar works excellently with a tall subwoofer to achieve a big rounded sound for movies and even music. YAMAHA…

Loudspeakers Floorstanders often don’t take up any more space than standmount speakers on their stands, yet the extra cabinet volume and drivers can deliver more energy to the room, and more depth. At the higher prices you’re not only getting state-of-the-art sound and technology, but also objects of true beauty, often bringing artisan craftsmanship to your home. RICHTER HARLEQUIN S6 W2021 / $1999 / www.richter.com.au The Series 6 Aussiedesigned Harlequins deliver Richter’s signature size and quality of sound with precision and accuracy from a stylish and usefully compact floorstander; outstanding value. RICHTER WIZARD S6PLUS W2024 / $2899 / www.richter.com.au The latest and definitely greatest version of Richter’s legendary Wizard — now cleaner, tighter and more extended bass, enhanced midrange accuracy, and sweeter yet more lively highs. Stunners. MARCH AUDIO UKKONEN…

Key W = Sound+Image Award Product of the Year  HC = Sound+Image Award Highly Commended E = EISA Award winner Turntables Every model listed here has won a Sound+Image award, indicating top value at its price – but consider also what functions you need, such as a built-in phono stage, perhaps. Plan well, and the black stuff will bewitch you with its charms… AUDIO-TECHNICA SOUND BURGER W2023 / $429 / audiotechnica.com.au A revamp of the 1982 original, now in black, white and yellow: the Sound Burger is a lightweight portable battery-powered turntable, yet is no toy, playing vinyl well and respectfully! But a full deck might be nice for home. AUDIO-TECHNICA AT-LP70X W2025 / $499 / audiotechnica.com.au Of course you can spend more to get more, but the delight here is…