Len Wallis Audio Blog » Aktimate

New releases and some news.

Len — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 11:52:45 +0000

Marantzs' AirPlay enabled NA7004 streamer.

Like a number of other companies Marantz used to charge an additional fee to sign up for AirPlay with their enabled products. This was always going to be a short term solution, and now this has come to an end. AirPlay is now free on all Marantz products which incorporate this feature.
The local distributor for Marantz has a good video on their site if you would like to learn more about AirPlay.

AktiMate Mico - award winning, and at $385pr excellent value.

We have just been informed that the AktiMate Micro, the small active speakers/iPod dock which recently was voted as the 2012 Desktop Audio ‘Product of the Year’ is now available in white (joining their existing Red and Black stable-mates.)
AktiMate has a very impressive heritage, not many iPod docks could boast electronics by Creek and speakers by Epos. They also have a habit of winning awards. The AktiMate Mini was highly commended by Sound and Image in both the 2011 and 2010 awards, and also received the same nomination by Live Magazine in London in 2010. The Maxi was awarded the Best Desktop Speaker by What Hi-fi in the UK, also in 2010. The Mini was awarded the ‘Best iPod Speaker by Smarthouse Magazine in 2008, and was the runner up in the same magazine in 2009. The list goes on.
What many people do not realise is that AktiMate is an Australian design. The Micro sells for $385 – very good value.

NAD Viso 1 - NAD's challenge 'Find a better smart music streaming dock.'

Another iPod dock of merit is the NAD Viso 1 which has now arrived in store. I had the opportunity to hear this some months ago in the US, and was most impressed. There is a rush to get wireless iPod docks onto the market, and the Viso 1 is one of the better offerings. Unlike some of the competition which is embracing AirPlay, the Viso 1 is a Bluetooth enabled, allowing it to work with a far greater array of devices.

Focals' stunning Little Bird shelf system.

Finally – while on the subject of wireless devices there is a tremendous amount of press coming from overseas regarding Focals’ Bird system. This is in reality a simple inexpensive shelf system comprising of speakers (which is what Focal is famous for), amplifier, a built-in (and ingenious) subwoofer and a tuner. It has both digital and analogue inputs, and streams wirelessly from you computer or iDevice.
There are three variations and the least expensive sells for $1,199, so I was surprised to see a review in this industries bible, The Absolute Sound (they usually confine themselves to products we can only dream about.) Even more surprising was their comment ‘To hear the Bird system is to experience a certain amount of audiophile-grade shock and awe’.
While the Focal Bird system may not be a hi-end audiophile product (despite the lavish praise offered by The Absolute Sound) it really does set a very high bar for anyone looking for a small, compact, affordable system.

Compact Active Speakers – Multi Purpose

Geoff Forgie — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 05:45:41 +0000

These are not just computer speakers, and are certainly a cut above what most people immediately think of when you mention multi-media speakers. So what are they? A pair of well built, great sounding two-way speakers with their own inbuilt amplifier, plus inputs for analogue stereo, iPod/iPhone dock, or direct USB connection from a computer! They are a new model from Aktimate called the Micro, and come in three high-gloss finishes: Black, White and Red. At just $385 a pair, they are amazingly good value.

The possibilities for making these into a compact system with direct connection of sources, or even using a media streamer from Marantz or NAD, are endless. For more details go to our Product Page.

New releases – Week 8.

Len — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 23:59:41 +0000

It has been a busy couple of weeks at Len Wallis Audio with a number of new products hitting our shelves.

Olive:
Probably the most exciting news is that we are now stocking the Olive range of Music Servers. This brand has been around for a number of years now, but they have just announced two significant changes in Australia.
The first is that the Opus4 Music Server has been reduced in price from $3,799 to $2,999, with a free iTouch thrown in (there is a free apple ap for the Olive.)
The second is that they have announced the impending release of a higher quality server, the Opus 4HD. This unit features a Burr-Brown 1792A 24 bit/192kHz DAC. It even comes pre-loaded with a dozen high-resolution Chesky recordings.
The HD version is due for release late April/early May, but we now have the standard unit on our shelves.

Musical Fidelity:
Certainly one of the most prolific audio designers in the world Antony Michaelson of Musical Fidelity unleashes model after model of successful products. We have just received the AMS-CD – the matching CD player for the fabulous 35 watt Class ‘A’ AMS-35 integrated amplifier. According to their website this is “the finest digital product we have ever made. We have spared no expense or design effort to achieve the maximum possible performance.”
The AMS-CD sells for $14,995.

Yamaha:
Again Yamaha Digital Sound Projectors are not new, but we now have on display their recently released YST-4100. Admittedly this is not set up in an ideal location in our store, but the impact is still excellent.
This remarkable box contains 42 speakers, and 42 digital amplifiers. It is designed for use where using five or seven speakers in a conventional Home Theatre configuration is just not possible, or desirable. Designed to sit below your TV it not only vastly improves the audio performance of your TV, but it also gives a remarkable sense of surround sound.
The YST-4100 sells for $2,499 (which is something of a bargain), and includes a stand alone sub-woofer (and an FM tuner.)

Dusson:
I am confident that not many of you know of this brand – yet. One of the industries most revered names is Mark Levinson, and one of his best sounding amplifiers is Red Rose. Red Rose is manufactured under license in China, and this manufacturer has now released his own brand – Dusson. I had the opportunity to listen to this range a few years ago, but the deal with the intended distributor at that time fell through.
These are beautifully engineered, and more importantly, the performance is excellent – way beyond what you would expect at the relative price points. The hero product is the T6 stereo amp, rated at 100 watts/channel and selling for $1,995. There are not many amps on the market that will hold a candle to this unit at this price.

AktiMate:
There are more iPod docks on the market than you could count – but few can match the quality and flexibility of the AktiMate Maxi. Created in Australia, but using components from British Hi-Fi companies Epos and Creek this product has been a hit in many parts of the world.
This ‘dock’ is much more than a conventional dock. It includes an FM tuner, it will connect to your network (via Wi-Fi or Ethernet) and can stream from your computer. It also has three auxiliary inputs if you wish to connect further sources – CD etc.

Richter:
Richter is well known to many of you – we have been selling this Australian owned and designed product since the mid-eighties. They have had a policy of upgrading current models since this time, and have just released the Mk IV Wizard, Dragon and Merlin.
This range has been a long time coming, which resulted in Richter effectively being off the market for a number of months. Unwilling to release the new range until they were completely satisfied with the performance, Richter found themselves with a large gap between the time that they ran out of the Mk111 models and the release of the new version.
We were privileged to have some input into the design of this series, so awaited their release with bated breath. We were not disappointed.

A Hi-Fi System For Today

Geoff Forgie — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 08:48:39 +0000

Imagine a system that can play wirelessly from your hard drive, has an iPod dock, and also digital radio, Internet Radio and FM. It consists of just two Aktimate bookshelf speakers (the amplifier and dock are inbuilt) and a Sangean WFT-1D tuner/streamer.

For $1250 you get a system that sounds great, is relatively compact can be placed in any room and has access to your hard drive music (provided you have a wireless router), and access to all the new DAB+ radio channels plus radio from around the world.

There’s a small remote that comes with the Aktimates and controls volume plus all the iPod functions. The Sangean has its own remote too.

It’s simple and very effective.