06/02/2010 New releases – Week 6.

Tagged under Audio Physic, Hi-Fi, Marantz, Musical Fidelity
Posted by Len | 4 Comments

We have now had a couple of months to evaluate the Musical Fidelity M6 integrated amplifier, and like most things Musical Fidelity we have fallen in love with it. So the release of the matching M6 CD player was a welcome addition. This is a serious CD player, and at close to $5,000 I guess this is to be expected. However it is also more than a CD player. The Digital to Audio Converter (DAC) is true 24bit/192k device, which can be accessed independently to the CD transport, meaning you can play very high resolution files recorded on your hard-drive through this unit. This is also a great device for anyone using a Wadia 170i iPod dock.

Another new disc player that is now on our shelves is the UD8004 Universal Blu-ray from Marantz. I am sure that we all know (or at least suspect) that Blu-ray and DVD players do not make great CD players, and if you want the best out of both worlds you need to have both. The UD8004 changes all of this. Not only is this an absolute first class Blu-ray player, but the same can be said for its CD and SACD capabilities as well. This is an obvious choice for anyone looking for the best of both worlds, but who is not keen on the idea of owning two hi-end boxes.

Also from Marantz we have just received their ‘KI Pearl’ amplifier and CD player. These two products have been built, under the watchful eye of industry guru Ken Ishiwata, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Ken’s involvement with Marantz.
These are beautifully engineered pieces, with performance to match. I love to see this kind of product come onto the market, product built to last a lifetime with great performance.
The Marantz KI Pearl amplifier and CD player sell for $4,999 each.

Yet another recent edition to our range is the Sitara loudspeakers from Audio Physic. My admiration for this brand of speaker is well known, and the Sitara is a welcome addition. This is a replacement for the very successful Spark –and as we would hope is an improvement on its predecessor – which in itself is no mean feat.
The Sitara is a 2.5 way, 3 driver design in a cabinet that leans backwards at seven degrees to provide time alignment of the drivers. The cabinets are beautifully crafted, and they are available with either traditional timber veneers (five versions), or in high-gloss white or black (we have the white on display.)
 Like all Audio Physic speakers these provide a very balanced sound, and one that is very easy to listen to. No area of the music demands your attention, the result being a speaker that will provide many hours of enjoyable listening.
I think that the conclusion from Canada’s ‘Son and Image Magazine’ sums these speakers up very well:
 ”Competence, assurance and ease are the three words that kept coming back to me during the time I spent listening casually or intently to music through the Sitaras. With these speakers I always felt confident that any track I chose would be a musical experience unmarred by exaggeration or distortion anywhere in the frequency band. I started the listening session convinced that sooner or later the 5.9 inch drivers would call attention to themselves by a resonance in the highs, but I gave up my search, because in addition to the leitmotif of “No loss of fine detail” it should be added “No addition of artificial detail.” If you are looking for speakers that combine holographic imaging, excellent tonal balance, dynamics, emotion, all presented in top-notch cabinetwork, then have a good look and listen to the Sitara.”

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