Being able to sell an Australian product which is as good as – or preferably better than – the imported equivalents while being cheaper as well, is something a lot of industries would like to do. Orpheus have a range of excellent speakers that we have seen develop over a number of years into what is now an extremely competitive alternative to the imports.

The floor standing Apollo uses traditional ingredients such as silk dome tweeters and paper cone woofers to achieve a sound that has upper detail, excellent bass extension and a degree of efficiency (90.5dB) which makes it easy to drive despite the 4 ohm impedance. Being priced at $1999 a pair puts them at a super-competitive pricepoint vis-à-vis some of the biggest names in the business.

Orpheus have also achieved near perfect voice-matching in the centre channel (Chimera – $999) and flat-cabinet rear effects (Echidna – $999/pair) which can be surface mounted or put in-wall. As an extra benefit, the Chimera centre is able to be used as an LCR, that is to say it can be used for all three front speakers if you want a more compact solution than offered by the Apollos.

It has been common knowledge for many years that improving the internal wiring of loudspeakers improves the sound, but the truth is that there are still a lot of speakers being made with pretty average wiring inside the box, even if they sport gold-plated binding posts.

One of the benefits of dealing with a local company like Orpheus is that they are able to manufacture short production runs. The suggestion was made to incorporate QED Silver Anniversary speaker wire in the speakers they build for us, and we quickly jumped at the opportunity. Orpheus have always made good speakers, and they have always met with enthusiastic approval from our customers, so we expect that the new Orpheus Apollo range, wired exclusively for Len Wallis Audio (at no extra charge), are going to be an amazing speaker at an amazingly good price. All of the Apollo models we sell will be wired with QED Silver Anniversary, and the boxes will be marked accordingly.

You’ll be overjoyed to know also that this upgrade will not cost you any extra – it is just one of our ways of adding value when you buy from us. Quod erat demonstrandum.

The one due to create the most interest is the special we have on the Sennheiser HD650 Headphones. These are a fabulous headphone, with a retail of $899. We have purchased a quantity which we are selling for $499.

The other reduction of significance is the JVC DLA-HD550 projector. JVC projectors are something of an enigma, regarded by most people in the know as the best projectors in their relative price points, but still undiscovered by most retailers. The HD550 is an excellent unit, and something of a bargain at its normal price of $6,495. We are now offering these at $4,995. Drop in and have a look, we are confident that you will be more than impressed.

One of our very favourite amplifiers, the Musical Fidelity AMS35i Pure Class A integrated amplifier has been reduced from $13,995 to $11,995. Still a considerable investment for an amplifier, but worth every cent. Musical Fidelity have also reduced the price of their X-Cans V8P Class A Valve headphone amplifier to $799. This is a great match for the Sennheiser HD650 headphones mentioned above.

One of our most popular loudspeakers, the Orpheus Aurora 3.3, is being discontinued, and there will be an extended period before the replacement arrives. In the meantime the old models are being cleared at $2,399, down from $2,999 a pair.

Finally, it is that time of year when the TV manufacturers roll out their new models, and we have some existing stock to clear. Stock is very limited:
Panasonic TH-P42S10a 42” plasma. $999
Panasonic TH-P46G10a 46” plasma. $1,499
Sony KDL-46Z5500 46” LCD. $1,999
Sony KDL-46W5500 46” LCD. $1,699
Sony KDL-40Z4500 40” LCD. $1,499.