Sonos have announced the start of their online music service “Rdio”, costing from $8.90 per month and offering 12 million tracks to begin with. You can get a week for free.
If you would like to add this service, go to the Music Menu, then click on More Music, then Rdio.
The Sonos blog on this topic is here.

Whether you use SACD or not, this is a brilliant CD player which incorporates a lot of Marantz’s high-tech specialist audio componentry. Your system can only sound as good as the source allows, so getting the best from your discs is essential.

See full details at the Product page here. Our End Of Year Clearance list can still be found here, but check with us re stock remaining.

I’ve lost count of the number of LP cleaning products that have appeared – and mostly disappeared again – over the six decades (yes!) since LP came along to replace 78rpm records. Most of them were a variation on the cloth and fluid idea, but some were more imaginative – like the sticky roller! The most recent was Revirginiser, a liquid that set like a soft rubbery skin on the playing surface then peeled off, hopefully leaving nothing behind.

We still have the Milty Duopad, which I rate as the best of the “wipe it off” variety of cleaner. The best over all job will always be done by one of those classy motorised and vacuuming record cleaning machines that cost a thousand dollars or more, and are a bit of a production to set up and operate. If only someone could come up with a device that does most of that but at a fraction of the price. Well, this looks like it!

The Spin-Clean Record Washer Mk2 is a minimalist, hand-powered cleaning machine. The full kit includes the basin, cleaning brushes, special fluid (a concentrate that goes sparingly into clean water) and drying cloths, for $135, and this will keep you going for hundreds of records. Stock is due to arrive in the coming week, and orders are being taken.
For more info see our Product page.

This range of speakers by Speakercraft have perhaps been overlooked by some people, but I like them a lot and feel that they deserve your attention, particularly as they are now on special at unbeatable prices.
They are a slimline design (only a bit over 100mm thick!), wall mountable (the bracket comes with them) or floor standing with optional foot. The styling is adaptable to modern minimalist settings and will please all those seeking to avoid the “boxy” look. The sound is neither too bright nor too laid back, they are efficient so can be used with most amplifiers, and come in a range of sizes. Full details are in our Products section, so just click the links for each model. Colours are black or silver, subject to stock availability. (Note: the pictures show them without grilles, but they come with silver or black fabric grilles)

Tantra 1 two way wall or bookshelf – were $498/pair, now $399
Tantra 3 three-way wall or floor standing – were $1398/pair now $899
Tantra 4 three way floor standers – were $1998/pair now $1199.
Tantra 5 three way floor standers – were $2500/pair now $1399.

All of these are excellent value – for me the taller ones are always tempting, as they have more drivers, and the reductions on the tall (but still slim!) Tantra 4 and 5 are sensational. These are genuine large-format sound as good as any other speaker normally costing $2500 or thereabouts, but with the benefit of being easier to fit in to your living room, music or TV room.

The weather is becoming more summer-like, and being outdoors is good, whether you’re entertaining people or just relaxing at home. Weatherproof outdoor speakers are a set-and-forget proposition: just leave them there all year round. Next time you want to have some background music for the BBQ event, or just a calm bit of gardening, or while reading and reclining, you have these imitation rocks that disappear into the landscape but provide music “on tap”.
The Patio Tunes PT100 Rock Speakers by Bahama Sounds come in two colours, imitating either Granite or Sandstone, and at the moment during our mad end of year sale you can get a pair for $99, were $299. Might as well get a couple of pairs, or go the whole hog and spread them right around the estate! These can be run off any stereo amplifier, a Sonos Connect:Amp, or a multi-channel amplifier.

I realise that we have covered this product previously, but the accolades for the Focal Bird system keep rolling in. Why do we persists in talking about it – because this system offers great sound at better than reasonable prices.

There are two markets that I believe are relevant to this product. The most obvious is that there are a great number of people who for a variety of reasons are not going to spend any more that $2K on an audio system. This could be due to budgetary restraints, space limitations, or simply lack of interest. Whatever the reason here is a product, costing as little as $1,199, which fits any of the above reasoning and still sounds great.

Secondly the big gripe today is that now that your new slimline TV sounds dreadful. These screens look sexy, but there is no space left to house quality speakers. The Focal Bird is certainly a solution to this issue.

This link to a recent review in Home Theatre Review covers this product extensively. It is critical where criticism is due (which is not in many areas.) The one thing that I had to keep reminding myself of was that while they found some minor faults – this is a review on a $1,199 system!!. Magazines like Home Theatre Review (Absolute Sound, Stereophile etc) would not usually bother with a product at this price point.

There are better systems out there – and they cost a lot more. Just because you don’t wish to spend over $2,000 on a system it no longer means that you need to put up with inferior performance.

Our Product page for Bird is here. Focal also have a very good video on this system – watch it here.

Our current edition of Headlines magazine is now available in electronic form on the website under Knowledge Base/Newsletters. The previous five editions from 2010 and 2011 are there as well, so if you missed any of those or have lost your paper copies you can still read the last half dozen of them online.
We periodically ask for confirmation that the mailed-out copy is still required, and sometimes people drop off the mailing list due to not returning the card, or a change of address. If you would like to get back onto the mailing list please let Meena or Sylvia know your current details. If you’d like to be on our monthly email newsletter list, same goes, or register via the website here.

Marantz CD6003 CD Player. Reduced from $899 to $499.

Once again the end of the year rolls around, and once again we are taking the opportunity to quit ex-demo, discontinued, superseded and excess stock that we have accumulated during the previous year at bargain prices.

This year we have also sweetened the pot with some on-going specials that we have from Marantz, Peachtree, Tantra, Music Hall etc.

All of this stock is new with new warranties. Some of it is ex-demo, some has been superseded and some are current new on-going specials (for example our Sennheiser specials).

 Marantz Specials:

Some of the offers on Marantz warrant special mention.

CD6003 CD Player. Very well constructed. Retails for $899, we have good stocks at $499

SA15S1 SACD Player. This is a superbly built SACD player – retailing at $2,999. We have very limited stock at $1,999.

PM11S1 Integrated amplifier. A great performer, and built the way all good quality electronics should be. Some consider this to be the finest integrated amplifier every built (this is not necessarily our opinion, but we are the first to agree that this is an exceptionally good amplifier, easily justifying the price.) Retails for $5,999, we have very limited stock for $3,999.

 Our other clearance specials include: 

Plus: 20% off the marked price of all Second-Hand equipment.

Sonos have extended their exciting Songl offer to January:

“The Songl Holiday Promotion is now extended to January 17, 2012.
Until January 17, customers who purchase a PLAY:3 or PLAY:5 will be eligible for a free 6-month Songl subscription. The subscription vouchers will be redeemable from the Sonos web site and are limited to one per Sonos household.”

What is Songl?

“Songl is fully integrated with Sonos Home Audio devices. With Sonos and Songl music in your home will never be the same again.

With Sonos and Songl you can:
• Listen to Unlimited music from a catalogue of millions of tracks and over 100,000 artists
• Create Playlists from the entire catalogue featuring music from Sony Music, Universal Music, and EMI Music and key independent labels
• Quickly browse or search for your favourite artist, album or track.
• Review and play the Australian charts from 1940 to 2011
• Stream at 128kpbs or Hi Quality 320kpbs”

Sonos is an award winning wireless (or ethernet cable connected) multi-room music distribution system. As of August 2011 they announced that they have sold one million rooms worth of gear! This is not surprising, since it is such a beguiling user experience, and more importantly, can be adapted to use with almost any existing music system. More overview of Sonos here.