DigitalAudioReview.net.au

Black is the new, um... black? For those silver-box aficionados, you'd best pray that other HiFi companies don't take a leaf out of Denon's book. In speaking with one of their show reps (come on, don't tell me I was the only person who got their card stamped for the chance to win something?!), it seems Denon is in the process of phasing out their silver/black option in AVR's, blu ray players and other HT lines - favouring an "all black" approach. The exception at the moment is a limited edition Blu-Ray player and their two channel separates.

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I was eager to get my hands on the Colorfly portable music player to see for myself. James Chen of Soundlabs gave me a brief tour of the Colorfly’s capabilities - and at the show price of $699 you do get a lot of bang for your buck: 24-bit/192khz playback capability (FLAC/WAV), a ‘go-anywhere’ DAC which utilises the highly regarded Cirrus 4398 chipset, eight or so hours' battery life and a headphone amp capable of driving difficult loads. Brilliant! If only it hadn’t been partnered with the Audels….

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One look at Audels new ‘art’ loudspeakers and I was convinced ‘Knut Hagberg’ or another boffin from IKEA was involved as the design lead on this new range. Unfortunately, I don’t think as much attention was paid to the actual sound - which underwhelmed with a stringent, biting presentation. Much better value to be had elsewhere at the show (think Spendor’s A5 or even the Magnepan MG1.7).

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The blue hemp drivers in Audionote's AN-E Spe Signature Alnico Speaker caught my eye - and not a hippie to be seen in the listening room. I was very impressed by the soundstage these big square boxes managed to throw - despite what seemed to be an unusual placement position in the corner with very sharp toe-in. Brian Kerry - distributor for Audionote - assured me this was how they were intended and the sonic results confirmed as much. In retrospect, I might not have been so enamoured if I'd realised the total system was priced at AU$276,200.....yikes.

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Who'd have thought in this environmentally friendly, carbon-tax crazed society there would be this much paper handed to me on arrival? I should have brought a bigger bag. Certainly the larger bag would at least have created a natural anti-crush barrier to protect me during the 'hallway' dalliances I had with various attendees when entering or exiting one of the crowded rooms.

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Do young folk exclusively listen to bass heavy music at ear-splitting levels - or was I coincidentally stereotyped by each exhibitor when I managed to strike gold and find myself sitting in an actual listening chair? For interest sake, I wished I'd carried an SPL meter and measured how many of the rooms were above 85db (the widely recognised 'safe' volume level). The grand irony to my mind is that my ears were working much better than a good portion of the more 'mature' crowd - no need to fast track my hearing loss please!