Hi-Fi

An ultimate loudspeaker system released at the CES, the Suprema system costs $750,000 US and consists of two main 1.9m tall lute shaped speaker columns, two 1.5m tall elliptical subwoofers and an analogue electronic crossover in a lacquered wooden casing.

Described by Sonus faber as its most ambitious project ever, the Suprema system will be available to order worldwide from today. 

The system will be on display in the McIntosh/Sonus faber House of Sound in New York at 357 W 17th St and can be delivered worldwide.

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This incomparable turntable has been assembled with a total of 479 individual, hand-constructed parts.

Up to four tone arms can be added in its construction; the Invictus can be fitted with approximately every tone arm thereby enabling a never before existent flexibility and at the same time fulfilling the highest demands in musicality, rendition and aesthetics.

The base for the Invictus consists of an elaborately shaped lower section optimized in terms of stiffness and low vibration according to the latest knowledge in mechanics and application of finite element methods. A perfectly shaped cover panel is placed over this with the actual Invictus chassis resting on top of it.

These turntables are hewn from their raw materials in the German factory. Nothing is bought in or left to chance. Once you feel and hear an Invictus in person do you understand the pinnacle of engineering upon which it sits.

Built to order in Germany.

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Best in the world ... a limited league. Hearing Roger Waters "Amused to death" on this machine was quite simply the best LP listening experience of my highly saturated with vinyl life. it was at the last Munich Hi Fi Show in a room with a magnificent integrated valve amplifier and a pair of huge loudspeakers that I found this turntable as the source. Now Munich Hi End show is full of amazing ampz and speakers and much of the battle there for the attention of the visitors is the source. This Roger Waters album has been a steadfast demo in our business since we opened in 1990 and to say I know it intimately is an understatement. The experience of hearing it being played from the Invictus Junior will stay with me for the rest of my mortal.

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We are incredibly proud to be having the only pair of Sonus faber Aida on display in Australia in a dedicated space.

Carlton Audio Visual's dedicated Sonus faber residence Sonus faber Aida official site. 

Stereophile on the Sonus faber Aida II 

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Quintessential physical beauty in a loudspeaker ... not for the faint hearted. For most of us this would represent a large portion of our income that if we were sensible would be spent on property , or a new car, or maybe a kitchen renovation. Sadly none of those would make one as happy as the music generated by a system with a pair of Il Cremonese Ex3me loudspeakers.

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The Il Cremonese speakers have the scale and presence of the highest of the high-end loudspeakers. Coupled with a magical musicality.

They are beautiful ... simply and astonishingly.

"The Absolute Sound" announces the Il Cremonese

"Hi Fi News" on the Il Cremonese

"Stereophile" on the Il Cremonese

Get back the total value of your existing pair of speakers (any brand) when you trade them in and purchase a pair of new Sonus faber speakers.

Hurry up! The extraordinary #tradeintotradeup promotion lasts until 1st December 2023.

Time to embrace the Sonus Faber unparalleled performance has finally come.

For a limited time only, you have the great opportunity to Trade In your speakers toward the purchase of a new pair from Sonus faber. As part of our constant effort to enrich people’s lives with exceptional sound quality, we are making an unprecedented offer which is valid for some of our collections: Lumina, Sonetto, Olympica Nova, Heritage, Homage and Reference. 

Please be aware that the new Sonus faber speakers must be 2.5 times the value of the speakers traded in. Please see dealer program document for details.

Hurry up! The extraordinary #tradeintotradeup promotion lasts until December 1st in Australia. 

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These units have been years in the making. Stepping up from the Ref 160Ms that we have in our reference system powering a set of Sonus Faber Aida 2s. These are not yet in Australia but I got to hear them in Munich in May.

Some amplifiers of this calibre sound simply of muscle and grunt. In a very different sense, these sound effortless, quiet, calming and beautiful. Like the difference between a powerlifter and a Ballerina. 

(Priced each)

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This is a Turntable that sits pride of place in the reference system here at Carlton Audio Visual. To put this first into context, our reference system consists of the Sonus Faber Flagship Aida 2 Speakers, Audio Research 160M Monoblocks & Ref 6 Pre-amp with a matching CD9SE CD player and PH9 phono stage.

Even though we have an extensive range of turntables, we still didn't have the right one for this system. 

It wasn't until Rab went to Munich High-End Hi-Fi show and sat down and listened to the Acoustic Signature's range, that he found THE ONE. He said the Invictus (@ c. $275,000 AUD) was the best turntable he had ever heard BUT this, the Ascona, holds many of the technical details of the Invictus and would also sit perfectly on our ready to go Basso Continuo rack (Invictus was a liiiittle large). 

Most importantly, the Ascona brings to life an analogue recording like nothing we've ever had in store. The 3D image of the music is papable. When we play Adele's 21, I feel like I can take a step and touch the microphone that she's singing into. 

We made sure to have the TA-9000 Tonearm mounted to this beauty.The TA-9000 is in itself an engineering marvel and I'm not the only person to believe that it is simply the very best tonearm money can buy. They make each of these with a Selective Laser Melting Process Machine millimeter by millimeter so that the inner tube is connected to the outer tubing with a precise tree-branch structure that COMPLETELY does away with resonance effects.

We've finished off the set up with a Van den Hul Crimson Stradivarius cartridge. 

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Vinyl record playback has been an integral part of Audio Research since our founding in 1970. Think back to the great phono stages built into the defining preamplifiers of their day, among them the SP3, SP6, SP8, SP10, and SP11. Even after the introduction of the compact disc in 1982, phono sections remained a revered part of our preamplifiers. The first Audio Research phono preamplifier in a separate chassis was introduced in 1992. Learn More

This is an ambitious high end single brand system that throws down the gauntlet from Japan to the rest of the World. Needless to say Yamaha have the resources to pull something like this off. Although the elements of the 5000 are firmly based on the iconic NS1000 loudspeakers and the turntable pre and power amplifiers of the time, this system is thoroughly representative of third decade 21st century materials and design. The Absolute Sound on the Yamaha 5000 system

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Engineered and manufactured in Germany in the corner of Germany where high-end car manufacturers go to have their spare parts made. With this sort of expertise and engineering capability in the area, it's no wonder that Acoustic Signature produce the finest Turntables in the world.

The Montana Neo boasts 3 separate motors uniquely contolled in real time by Acoustic Signature's Digital Motor Controller, a high mass (13kg) platter with 24 silencers embeded into it and an integrated control panel on the chassis.

This is Michael Fremer of the Absolute Sound magazine talking about his own Hi Fi system that includes the Acoustic Signature Montana from 15 minutes and 25 seconds into the video:

 

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Now on demonstration this is the much awaited successor to the Ref 150 and incorporates the revisions that made the Ref 160 mono blocks the "best amplifier in the world".

This Stereo version uses the same four layer circuit boards that dramatically decreased the signal length in the 160M monoblocks. It has been described as like buying a pair of 160Ms but just buying one and getting the second for an extra twenty percent ...

With eight KT150 valves inside ... and not just any KT150 but a group of specially made and selected and matched ... this has the option of Ultralinear or Triode modes of operation.

Ultralinear gives double the power apparently while triode offers the simplest circuit mode possible with lower power and sweeter sound.

And the first review from "Stereophile": Stereophile January 2020 on the Reference 160S

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The N30SA is the top of the range in terms of digital source componentry. A dual chassis design separates the very sensitive audio outputs from the noisier CPU boards and power supplies making it incredibly quiet. The blackest black of noise floors presents detail, emotion and resolution in extraordinary quantities.

Like the N20, the N30SA has at the Coax output the oven baked crystal clock reducing jitter on the output but it also has the capability of adding a master clock to take this unit to new levels of realism.

Internal 8TB storage comes standard with this unit but it also has the option of adding another SSD or hardrive in the same manner as the other models of Aurender.

A sublime unit for people who require the best of a digital front end. 

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The TA-9000 Neo is quite simply the best Tonearm availble at the moment that money can buy. It is closely based on the award winning and similarly astounding TA-9000 Mk2 but has upgraded the bearing even more. 

The inner tube of the TA-9000 is completely decoupled from any transferance of resonances between its outer and inner tubing. Acoustic Signature use lasers to 3D print Aluminium into a precise network of branches to millimetre by millimetre build this exceptional Tonearm.

It represents the pinnacle in both lightness and stiffness - the Holy Grail of tonearm design. 

This Tonearm comes in Black, Silver and Gold. For a 12" TA-9000 Tonearm - $36,999

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The Evolution of the Ref 160Ms, the Ref 160M MkII have an upgraded audio topology with fewer and better components in the signal path. This means even less chance of corruption of the signal for a cleaner, more pure, more musical sound.

The difference is quite marked between the old and the new. The MkII version sounds more Audio Research than the previous model. Audio Reseach is all about purity of sound and getting to the real music of the recording without corruptions. That's why they are an all tube company now because they feel that tubes do this best. That's why the MkIIs are more Audio Research because they exhibit more clarity, more purity than the older version.

Like all Audio Research, these are handmade in Minnesotta, USA. From design to polish, it's all done in house with the utmost care and attention to detail. All in the pursuit of the ultimate musical experience. 

Priced each.

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When Audio Research was founded in 1970, analog vinyl playback was the de facto music source of the time. Audio Research has either incorporated or built stand-alone phono stages since the very beginning and has continuously provided phono preamplification, even during the height of digital music.

The Reference Phono 3SE is the next great advancement in analog playback and represents a new benchmark. The knowledge gained in the creation of Audio Research’s award-winning Reference 160-series amplifiers has transitioned to both Reference preamplifiers. The Reference Phono 3SE continues the upgrades introduced in the Reference 6SE line-stage, including a number of new, ultra-high-quality parts judiciously incorporated into its design and ushering in a new level of sonic accuracy and musicality.

Due to the extremely low-level nature of the signals involved in a phono stage, the component and wiring upgrades incorporated in the Reference Phono 3SE combine to create a startling advancement in performance. The improvements heard immediately include enhanced resolution at all levels, greater purity and focus, improved transient speed and snap, and better dynamic shading. The sum of these improvements is exceptional, further breaking down the barrier between reproduced sound and the immediacy of a live event.

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The Reference 6SE replaces the Reference 6 and offers the highest performance ever available in a single-chassis preamplifier. Benefitting from the development that went into the Reference 160-series amplifiers, and the latest Reference 750SEL, the 6SE incorporates a myriad of new parts that have been judiciously incorporated into its design. The final 6SE would not have been possible without these revolutionary amplifiers.

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Van den Hul presents their brand new The Grail SX phono preamplifier, with numerous innovations over its predecessors.

Over five decades ago, we invented our phono cartridge stylus, the van den Hul 1S. During these decades, we produced phono cartridges as well. These cartridges are seen as one the best in their class and famous worldwide. But if you become the class-leading manufacturer of phono cartridges, why do you no invent t your own phono preamplifier?

This is what happened in 2009 when we launched the original Grail. During the years we came up with the Grail SB (balanced in and outputs) and the SE (balanced and a dual mono board).

And now there’s a new and even better kid in town! Meet the successor of the Grail SE and our newest flagship phono amplifier, the Van den Hul Grail SX.

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IsoTek’s EVO3 Genesis is the state of the art power sine wave generation system. Two 300W class A/B power amplifiers in combination with an extremely low distortion synchronous sine wave generator totally build a brand new full mains sine wave, giving a total output of 600W.

Housed in a machined aluminium case with full resonance control isolation system (ISIS) Genesis is a statement product that totally redefines what is possible with the cleaning of the mains supply.

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