Earlier in the year, taking up a lot of room in my already hopelessly crowded lounge room was a new toy from Consonance, in an astonishingly big and heavy box. It was the new Die Walküre Turntable. A very well received and reviewed addition to their already impressive lineup. Several people had asked me about it, so I decided to get one to play with. What a good way to get to listen to some LPs I bought in Op Shops whilst in the US. I decided to get it going, so I could relegate the large box to my monstrous empty box collection. The bits that came out of the box were most impressively made, with a real quality feel and all went together easily. The supplied protractor made the T 8 (9") arm set up simple. It has an external Power Supply and Speed Controller on an umbilical cord. Although the Turntable is set up to take up to 3 arms, I have usually found one is sufficient. Just get a good one to start with. But great future proofing. Fixing my own personal cartridge, a Clearaudio Goldmund, which I bought when I was 30. I am sadly quite a bit more than twice that now. I also have a Dynavector D19 on standby, and unpacking the only Phono Stage I use now, the extraordinarily musical Consonance R40, all plugged into the still unbelievable AM amplifiers and the Eos Reference that still surprise me every time I put them on. I just did a demonstration for a customer who had Wilson Watts. He bought 3 songs and said he would know by the end of them, but he already knew after half of the first track. Not bad for a speaker costing about 1/8th of the other, but I was not surprised as the comparison had been made before. I was impressed by the sound straight away. Amazingly detailed and precise, I was once again marveling at the bass and scale and huge sound generated by the diminutive Eos. Good enough to have me sitting there for 8 records. Something I have not done for a long time. It is easy to see why records are staging an incredible comeback. Many learned commentators (I use that term loosely) say it is only nostalgia and that the sound is and cannot be anywhere as good as digital recordings. However, this is not true. There is no one as blind as someone who refuses to see. I try not to suffer from prejudices and have learned to accept that if something sounds better, it is. There is no need to aggressively rubbish it and abuse everyone who thinks differently. Since then I selected a pile of records about 30cm high that had music I liked, to eliminate the ones that did not have a sound quality suitable for demonstrating audio equipment. It was a great listening experience, but I only eliminated 2. One was badly recorded and one had terrible music, but sounded great. I just bought a new 180gm release of Love over Gold, and I was quite impressed with the sonics. I compared it with a Digital version using the absolutely spectacular Vermeer 2 DAC, which anywhere else in the World costs $33,000 and is one of the very finest digital converters at any price. Against the Die Walküre, the sound was amazingly similar in transparency, dynamics and detail. The Digital was a bit more solid sounding and the record slightly lighter. I was unsure which one I preferred, which is remarkable for an under $4000 table/arm combination with a 35 year old cartridge. The digital does shine where there are tiny sounds in inky silence, where the background noise of the record masks some of the inner detail, but once music is playing the record sounds remarkable against the best of digital. If the digital converter was similarly priced to the turntable, the turntable wins by far most of the time. However when it comes to convenience where every song one could ever want is on a hard drive and can be found in seconds on your phone, and playlists and favorites are simply arranged and accessed, then the wardrobe full of LPs accessed by the “Where the hell is that record” method, and then the song is cued + or – a minute from the start, and a torch is needed to locate the lead in groove, but not one too bright, or you are dazzled by the reflection, then digital has it by a mile. But once seated with the LP spinning, I am memorized that such a stunningly beautiful object could perform so well, and be so cheap (relatively). The last Die Walküre I sold was after a comparison with a $25,000 Audio Note TT with a $10,000 Audio Note cartridge, and it was like listening from the next room, then opening the door. And as the proud new owner commented. Not a single person visiting had ever commented on the Audio Note, bur nearly everyone comments on the Die Walküre, and goes across to have a closer look. I also have an Audio Mecca turntable, which is an improved version of the Goldmund Studio, which costs several times the price of the Die Walküre, very few people have commented on that either. But when I listen to a record, it’s the Die Walküre. There is still life in an over 100 year old technology. Wow and Flutter Less than 0.03 Rumble Greater than 80dB down Speed accuracy Within 0.01% Motor power DV12V - Speed Controlled Weight. 18 Kg. Price $3890 with arm.

Pullman Mercure Hotel, Albert Park Melbourne. November 3rd - 5th, 2017 We will be exhibiting in the Albert Room, which is the largest Audio Room in the Show.

Earlier in the year, taking up a lot of room in my already hopelessly crowded lounge room was a new toy from Consonance, in an astonishingly big and heavy box. It was the new Die Walküre Turntable. A very well received and reviewed addition to their already impressive lineup. Several people had asked me about it, so I decided to get one to play with. What a good way to get to listen to some LPs I bought in Op Shops whilst in the US. I decided to get it going, so I could relegate the large box to my monstrous empty box collection. The bits that came out of the box were most impressively made, with a real quality feel and all went together easily. The supplied protractor made the T 8 (9") arm set up simple. It has an external Power Supply and Speed Controller on an umbilical cord. Although the Turntable is set up to take up to 3 arms, I have usually found one is sufficient. Just get a good one to start with. But great future proofing. Fixing my own personal cartridge, a Clearaudio Goldmund, which I bought when I was 30. I am sadly quite a bit more than twice that now. I also have a Dynavector D19 on standby, and unpacking the only Phono Stage I use now, the extraordinarily musical Consonance R40, all plugged into the still unbelievable AM amplifiers and the Eos Reference that still surprise me every time I put them on. I just did a demonstration for a customer who had Wilson Watts. He bought 3 songs and said he would know by the end of them, but he already knew after half of the first track. Not bad for a speaker costing about 1/8th of the other, but I was not surprised as the comparison had been made before. I was impressed by the sound straight away. Amazingly detailed and precise, I was once again marveling at the bass and scale and huge sound generated by the diminutive Eos. Good enough to have me sitting there for 8 records. Something I have not done for a long time. It is easy to see why records are staging an incredible comeback. Many learned commentators (I use that term loosely) say it is only nostalgia and that the sound is and cannot be anywhere as good as digital recordings. However, this is not true. There is no one as blind as someone who refuses to see. I try not to suffer from prejudices and have learned to accept that if something sounds better, it is. There is no need to aggressively rubbish it and abuse everyone who thinks differently. Since then I selected a pile of records about 30cm high that had music I liked, to eliminate the ones that did not have a sound quality suitable for demonstrating audio equipment. It was a great listening experience, but I only eliminated 2. One was badly recorded and one had terrible music, but sounded great. I just bought a new 180gm release of Love over Gold, and I was quite impressed with the sonics. I compared it with a Digital version using the absolutely spectacular Vermeer 2 DAC, which anywhere else in the World costs $33,000 and is one of the very finest digital converters at any price. Against the Die Walküre, the sound was amazingly similar in transparency, dynamics and detail. The Digital was a bit more solid sounding and the record slightly lighter. I was unsure which one I preferred, which is remarkable for an under $4000 table/arm combination with a 35 year old cartridge. The digital does shine where there are tiny sounds in inky silence, where the background noise of the record masks some of the inner detail, but once music is playing the record sounds remarkable against the best of digital. If the digital converter was similarly priced to the turntable, the turntable wins by far most of the time. However when it comes to convenience where every song one could ever want is on a hard drive and can be found in seconds on your phone, and playlists and favorites are simply arranged and accessed, then the wardrobe full of LPs accessed by the “Where the hell is that record” method, and then the song is cued + or – a minute from the start, and a torch is needed to locate the lead in groove, but not one too bright, or you are dazzled by the reflection, then digital has it by a mile. But once seated with the LP spinning, I am memorized that such a stunningly beautiful object could perform so well, and be so cheap (relatively). The last Die Walküre I sold was after a comparison with a $25,000 Audio Note TT with a $10,000 Audio Note cartridge, and it was like listening from the next room, then opening the door. And as the proud new owner commented. Not a single person visiting had ever commented on the Audio Note, bur nearly everyone comments on the Die Walküre, and goes across to have a closer look. I also have an Audio Mecca turntable, which is an improved version of the Goldmund Studio, which costs several times the price of the Die Walküre, very few people have commented on that either. But when I listen to a record, it’s the Die Walküre. There is still life in an over 100 year old technology.

How important is the Source Quality? People often ask me what is the most important component in a Hi-Fi system. I have had a lot of people, on hearing a really good sound, say that the speakers are great, and if it is bad then it must be one or the other of the Electronic Components. Several times I have had people say how much they like the amp and the speakers, but they don’t like the CD player, or whatever is playing as the source. I think they must be very special to pick out the individual components. The fact is, that the sound is going to be as good as the weakest link in the chain. If a speaker and amplifier are capable of projecting a huge 3-dimensional soundstage and the Source cannot, then you don’t get one. The same is of course similar for any of the components. The word Source is more complicated nowadays. Originally it meant a Turntable and maybe a Tape Player of some sort. Then it pretty well meant a CD Player. Now it can be a myriad of things from any of the above to a complex range of Streamers, Data Storage Units and Music Centres. During the Turntable days, the unit consisted of many parts that had to get their job done correctly. The grooves on the record varied between a thousandth and a millionth of an inch. So, a 1 or 2 thousand of an inch slackness or vibration affected the sound severely, so although it was very easy to make a Turntable that gave sound, but getting the stunning quality that was hiding in the grooves out into your room was a difficult, expensive and often frustrating experience. With CDs the initial advertising was “Perfect Sound Forever” where all players sounded the same. Perfect, but this was quickly proven to be false. Originally, they blamed the early disks for the problem, but it became obvious that it was more than that. I remember being so eager to hear the first unit that came out, a top loading Marantz, but when I did. I was shocked and disappointed and it was a long time before I found a player and a DAC that I could live with. Most CD players then, and in fact now virtually allowed you to identify the song. There was some imaging from side to side, but it was a line between the speakers. Very little or no depth, or height, or sound above the speakers. The main reason why I sold so many Consonance CD players was their holographic sound stage with quite startling clarity and musicality with all the instruments clearly separated from each other, If you listened to where all the sounds were coming from and then looked at a photo of the performance. Every instrument was in the right spot. But it was the musicality that was the clincher. You could sit and listen in rapture for hours where with other brands you quickly lost interest, or your ears got sore. Often people borrowed a player and compared it at their home with their player and found little difference. So, they thought the whole thing was a hoax. If you read reviews and comments on line, you will see people are still falling for the same trap. When they told me, I leant them an amplifier and suddenly the differences were chalk and cheese. This was usually distressing, as the pain of buying one item became a lot more pain buying two. Often, they listened carefully back and forwards to tell which of the components made the biggest difference using one of theirs. It was always the same. The improvements were marginal unless both components could allow the other’s strengths to shine. When the Streaming and Mass Storage era came along, it was the same thing. A lot of people used their computers and its integral sound card. Sound cards are meant for playing through computer speakers and Gaming. The DAC chip was probably worth a couple of Dollars. Then they upgraded to an outboard DAC for a couple of hundred dollars and waxed lyrical about the quality. If you have never heard better before, then it sounds great. My customers when upgrading from their CD player wanted the convenience of having up to thousands of CDs on a Hard Drive and convenient control from their phone or pad, but they did not want to compromise the sound quality they had been experiencing for so long. The Consonance Streamers were a little finicky as they had to be configured every time, which was simple, but mildly annoying. This was because they were capable of being a Streamer, a DAC and an Internet Radio. They were not capable of streaming from the Net. This didn’t worry almost everyone who tried them, because they were versatile and had quite extraordinary sound quality. Another irritation was the apps used on the phone or Pad to control them. On Apple products, it used to lose the player when the screen on the phone locked sometimes. Less as later versions of the app came out. This sometimes required restarting the phone. The Google app did not do this, and it remembered where you were last time. However, the new Reference 8 Pro does not need an app and works off the phone browser. It sees the player straight away. Everything is controlled by simple menus, and Playlists and Bookmarks are easy to set up and Internet Radio Stations are easy to find and Bookmark and the same with Streaming Services. The trick is, if you want to stream, find a server that streams full size files, or HD as mp3 is poor quality. Some is surprisingly good, but most is AM radio quality. Many people say it is impossible to tell the difference. They are the people with equipment like the ones were have been discussing earlier. If the equipment won’t show the difference, you don’t hear it. It will also play any file that has been recorded and a lot that have not yet been used (32bit/384kHz ) and DSD, 5.6MHz. It will also record up to 24/192. So simple, and awesome. Although, even at my price they are a $3390, but will easily outperform much more expensive units. Or there is the tiny Consonance X5. Connects to a USB I input DAC. Connect a USB DAC to it and control it from a phone or pad as per R-8 Pro using a Browser. It also bookmarks Streaming sites or internet Radio. But any of the Streamer units give a similar 3-Dimentional and musical sound and the portable player the Suzanne, plugged into a good System and sitting in its Dock so it can have a HD attached as well as its Micro SD Card, and can be controlled by a phone or Tablet really must be heard to be believed. It will also play any digital format so far recorded in. Can you get better? Yes, but at a price. The new $24,000 (My price. It should be $29,000) Vermeer 2 is gobsmackingly good, but I will talk about that another day. Happy listening.

Do cables make a difference? This is a debate that has raged for many years, and it is a perplexing one. When I started the “Never ending Journey” of seeking the best sound possible, no one had really considered such a thing. When it was first suggested, it was widely debunked in most Hi Fi Magazines. Stereo Review in the USA, which was the largest circulating Hi Fi Magazine in the World at the time, were very scathing for many years at the very suggestion. Hi Fi is an oxymoron in regards to a large percentage of Audio Magazines worldwide. They are really Consumer Audio Magazines who would not know Hi Fi if it fell on them. A lot of shops put up a big Hi Fi sign out the front, mainly because a Low Fi or at best, Mid Fi sign has not got quite the same panache. Hi Fi of course, stands for High Fidelity, or the faithful reproduction of the original sound, something few systems approximate, but I digress. When the debate first started, Monster Cable released the first “Audiophile” Cable. I bought some and did a careful listening test on my reasonable impressive system which was worth at the time, about a year’s pay at the average salary level. I compared it to the preferred cable of the day, which was a reasonably heavy figure 8 automotive cable. I could not hear any difference at all. I then increased the figure 8 wire to a 30m length, but still could not really pick much difference, so I considered it as mere bunk. But then I started making my own speakers and I tried some different cables again and was shocked at the obvious and dramatic differences. I then realised that there were in fact two camps. Those that had systems of high resolution where tiny differences were apparent, and those that had low resolution and relatively subtle differences just did not make it through. A classic case of this was a customer who borrowed a Consonance Droplet CD player, to compare with his top of the line Rotel. He was running them into a $3000 Rotel pre amp into an Electra Amp and a pair of B&W speakers. He rang me the next day to say that although the Droplet was slightly warmer, there was little difference. I told him it was his pre amp, to which he protested, telling me of its reputation and great reviews. I lent him the cheapest Consonance Pre and he tried again. This time the difference was stunning. The Consonance wanted to throw a huge 3-dimensional soundstage with all the instruments separated from each other, so that you could easily pick the individual voices in a choir, but the Rotel was going to have none of that. 2D and everything in together was what it did, and that is what you were going to get. So, when people say that they compared something expensive with their relatively cheap version and there was no difference, what they are often saying is that my system cannot resolve the differences between the two. Although, I have had surprises. A bloke from Shepparton rang and said he had a Richter Centre Speaker and a Yamaha amp. Would a Datalink Centre cable make an improvement? I said I doubted it, but he came and got one. A week later he was back and bought a set of speaker cables and his mate bought a complete set. He said the cable had transformed the sound and nearly everything he had not liked before was gone. Another rang and asked if a Silverlink would help the sound from his Foxtel Box to his amp. I also doubted it and advised him to take the pair that he had off his CD player and try them. He was over the next day to get another pair because it was just a stunning difference. I have learned to never be surprised! Years ago, I was able to borrow several very expensive cables from various stores and compare them. There were considerable differences, and I ended up with some what I regarded as expensive Audioquest and some Analysis Plus Cables from the US. Speaking to a couple of manufacturers at the CES in Las Vegas, I realised that there was terrific mark up in cables and that sometimes there were hundreds of dollars a meter difference between models, when the actual cost of making them was a couple of dollars a meter. This was proven to me when I bought some cables from a manufacturer who was offering big discounts to fellow Exhibitors. I bought some of his middle of the road cable, because the top model was $400 a meter length more expensive. I quite liked the cable, so went back to get some more. I was dashed to hear he had sold out and he only had the expensive one, and since I wanted 2 pairs, I was not going to pay another $800. I was shocked when he handed me two pairs of the “expensive” cable for the same price. I protested that I didn’t want him to make a loss, but he assured me that there was only a couple of dollars in it and he was still doing fine. There was a prominent local Audio Shop a while ago selling a pair of Speaker cables for $1000 for a 3-meter pair. They sold heaps. What they did was use standard house electrical cable. They peeled off the white external insulation, twisted it and put a nice sheathing on it and nice Banana Plugs. About $60 worth, and a nice profit. I then spent several years sourcing different type of wires and making up speaker cables to try. Some were exotic and some every day varieties. Then I found a combination that outperformed the very best I had heard. I started selling this as the Osborn Datalink Speaker Cable. I was confident enough to offer a Lifetime money back guarantee, if anyone could find a better cable at any price. I have sold over 3500 pairs and have yet to have to give any money back, and I have had people compare them to cables costing fifty times as much. It is a very neutral cable with extended, natural highs and a solid and extended base and it does not seem to add or subtract anything from the audio signal. After this I started searching for the perfect interconnect. I found silver cables gave a very nice transparency, but often had poor bass, and often sucked out the midrange leaving vocals brittle and harsh. Copper cables were usually more neutral, but were usually more veiled and constricted than the best silver. Then I found a place who could make me a very thin pure silver wire, that was extruded in continuous lengths and it was done cold. Most silver cable is extruded hot which apparently damages the crystal structure, resulting in the thinness and harshness I had been hearing. This new interconnect was just wonderful. It had wonderful top end extension and clarity, but a glorious midrange and powerful and articulate bass. This is the Osborn Silverlink. I have also sold around 3500 pairs of these with the same Lifetime Guarantee. So far, I have had only one pair returned, but he did tell me that the ones he had suited his system slightly better, but he was embarrassed to tell me just how expensive they were, so I was not offended or disappointed. No component suits all systems. I have often had arguments with very smart people, who were Engineers with PHDs in Metallurgy and Nuclear Physics, who tell me that if two cables measure the same, then they will sound the same. My opinion, after listening to a lot of cables, is that if a difference cannot be measured, we are measuring the wrong thing. There are many things in audio that just do not make sense. I have learned over the years to be philosophical. If it cannot possibly make something sound better, but it does, then use it. But I always go back a while later and remove it, to make sure that what I heard, or that I thought I heard before, is still there. Many people buy something that is raved about on the internet, put it in and assume it is better, and leave it there, oblivious that it is detracting from the sound and is responsible for why they no longer enjoy their sound as much. A really perplexing cable is the Power Cable bringing electricity from the wall. When the power has come hundreds, if not thousands of kilometres to the house from the Power Station, stepping down voltages several times in huge transformers along the way, why should the last meter from the wall to the amp or audio source make a difference? Surely the best power cable would be a length of house wiring to keep it all the same. Although house wiring doesn’t sound bad, it isn’t the best. So why do quality power cables make a considerable difference? I have no idea. They are certainly not just facilitating the flow of electrons from the wall, as one may imagine. If you plug a 10m Extension Cord into the wall and the quality lead into the end of that, the difference is still there. Why on Earth? All I can say is that something is happening in that lead that improves, or at least affects the sound. I just accept that it happens, and don’t delve into Quantum and Particle Physics that I have absolutely no idea of, and even people who do, could probably not explain. People often ask about what exotic cable they should use from the wall to the Power Board. I tell them that the normal lead that comes with the Board will be fine. I have experimented with lots of Power Cables and have found that cost is not related to the way they sound. Some very expensive and quite huge leads did not sound as good as the giveaway lead that came with the component. I was using some US$1500 each Power Cables, but when I compared them to the Consonance Ella Babies which I sell for $210, the Consonance one was clearly better, so the expensive ones are now used on Home Theatre and less critical components. The only Power Cable I have found that are obviously better are the AM ones. These are huge and at $1650 each a bit knee trembling, but if you want an obvious improve in an awesome system, that is what you pay, and a recent comparison against power Cables costing 3 times as much, that were just crushed by them, shows that even at that, they are a bargain. The adage applies. Listen to things before you buy them. Go back and listen with and without them later, and if the difference is still there, accept them.

Osborn Loudspeakers's cover photo

Timeline Photos

We are all set up for the Hi Fi Show at the Intercontinental Hotel at Rialto, in Room 341, starting Friday the 21st of October 2016 - 2pm to 8pm and then 10pm to 6pm on the Saturday and Sunday. I decided to take less stuff this time. It is a fine line between being over crowded, and not having what people want to look at. (or can better afford). For the last two Shows I nearly didn't take Grand Monuments, because they take up a lot of room, are heavy (175kg each), and crowd the room, especially with so many other pairs of amply sized speakers, but I did, and we sold a pair both times. Plus both of those times we has 3 complete systems weighing a total of 1 1/2 tonne. This time we have one bigger system, (Reference Epitome Towers) driven by the World beating AM 833 M Mono amplifiers, and a smaller system with a choice of speakers (Eclipse) and a pair of Bookshelves (Eos Reference), driven by the quite awesome Consonance 880i Integrated amplifier and the Consonance Reference 8 - 20 Streamer DAC. This totals a more respectable 1/2 tonne. Please feel free (sadly it's not free) to drop in, and you can also see what the rest of industry is doing as well.

Does something sound better because it is famous, glowingly reviewed, or extremely expensive? It is interesting to see how everyone sees and hears something different in reproduced sound. I reflect back on my 35 years in the pursuit of a goal, and that I had no idea of what that goal was during a lot of that time. Expensive systems that I lusted over and dreamed about 30 years ago, have shocked me when I have heard them again some 25 years later. They don’t sound good at all. I guess to a certain extent it is like having a drive of a car that was the icon when we were young. Mind numbing performance at that time is easily matched now by family cars. Huge thundering V8s are now left standing by economical diesels of all things. I have been really surprised so many times over the years that when I have done side by side comparisons with speakers costing from 10 times to 40 times the price of mine and they didn’t even go close. This was never shown more obviously than when the Sultan of Brunei did not like his US$200,000 speakers and after searching the World and auditioning speakers up to $750,000. They bought the best they had heard, a pair of my Reference Epitomes for $6500 at the time. This sort of thing has happened so many more times since then. I remember at a CES in Las Vegas one year, David Manley from VTL and then Manley Products was running around bringing the captains of the industry to our room, telling them that they had to hear these Aussie speakers, and that he had never heard anything like it. He asked me if I was a genius, but I assured him it was something else. In fact, I have never done a comparison that I did not win. This happened again at the last Stereonet Hi Fi Show at the Mercure Hotel last month. The Show was about an hour and a half from the end on the final day, when two blokes came in and stayed until it was time to pack up. He had been pursuing a standard of performance for many years, but he had come to the conclusion that it was not attainable. He had been right around the Show, coming into my room last, but had not heard anything that he was remotely impressed with, compared to his system, which consisted of a very well-known English brand. He had a pair of extraordinarily highly regarded speakers that cost $90,000. An amplifier that was reviewed as just sublime and easily worth its $150,000 price. It was fed by a more reasonable $10,000 preamp. His CD Transport and DAC were older models, obtained second hand, but still at an eye watering price. New, the DAC was $55,000 and the Transport about $18,000. His Turntable was new and was only $15,000 with a Pre pre to match the low output $10,000 cartridge. All this equipment was designed to go with each other, so one would expect a fairly awesome sound, and it did sound pretty good, but without the spine tingling realism and musicality I am more used to. After he came out to our house a few days later, after I had managed to reassemble everything, he had another listen which left him pretty convinced. A couple of days later I loaded my van to the gunnels and took the couple of hour drive to his home. We lugged my $22,000 Grand Monument Reference Speakers in and placed them against his $90,000 speakers. Immediately, there was a stunning difference. The sound was much bigger, more separation, more ambience, more richness, more scale and a lot more dynamics and extension, but most importantly, musicality. The speakers stayed. The last thing we played using his amplifiers, was the first two tracks of Pink Floyd, The Wall CD. It sounded really good. Then we replaced the amps, keeping his pre amp, with the AM (Audio Music) 833M. $14,850 compared to $150,000. The difference was just stunning. The Wall went from sounding good, to thrilling, and it was an emotional experience. This resulted in my next trip down bringing the big brother AM 8333S ($21,550) and the AM RT-3 Pre Amp which I seriously doubt would be approached in performance by anything at any price. ($8,590) Again the differences were so dramatic, that they stayed. This was the same system shown in my Masthead at the top of this page. We plugged in the Consonance Reference 8-20 Streamer DAC ($2,960) so we could play his Flac files on his HD. Comparing the files with the CD from which they were ripped from, playing on his $78,000 combination, the Consonance was clearly better. We then compared his CD combination with the $3,400 Consonance Droplet CD player, which was again clearly better. Next we went analogue and tried his turntable on the Consonance Reference 40 Phono stage ($1,295), with which he was already really happy. Then we put on the Consonance Die Walküre Turntable. ($3,690 with arm). Previously I had carelessly, and very annoyingly ripped the stylus off my cartridge. I posted the cartridge body back to Dynavector for repair, but it went missing in the post, so it was an expensive exercise in clumsiness. Since I did not have a cartridge, I removed the 30 year old Clearaudio cartridge from my old turntable that I had not used more than twice in the last 15 years. It was with some trepidation that I lowered the needle onto the last played record. The difference was immediate and dramatic. The removal of the veil across the soundstage, the separation, the transparency, the clarity, the purity, the musicality. It was overwhelming. I left him several pairs of the AM Power Cables that I consider exceptional, but looked on as expensive at $1,650 each to compare with his. He assured me that mine were cheapies compared to his and that if he switched to the AM, it would save him a fortune. He has since ordered a bunch of AM cables as he said it was the same old thing. Like opening a window, with the veil further removed and the detail and transparency and musicality clearly better. So all in all. It was a good day for me. But there is a moral. I could go one, but this is getting long enough. There is a reason why as a one-man enterprise, I have sold 3500 pairs of speakers in 16 Countries, all by word of mouth. Audio Music is similar to me. Just one bloke who gets his brother to help him when he is really busy, but his products are second to none, but so much more affordable. I never planned to sell electronics, but I chose brands which were just exceptional, to the point of World Beaters, but reasonably priced, without the just crazy prices which abound in this industry. Many of those prices are mainly extraordinary mark ups. This can be seen by the AM833S (Silver) costing over £30,000 in Europe, and $21,550 here. There are a few great audio products out there, and no doubt a few more that I have not heard. But a lot of them are great Hi Fi Systems. They have clarity, transparency, dynamics and great separation, but most of them lack musicality. Many people prefer it that way. I don’t, and fortunately a lot of other people don’t have to either. Otherwise I would have had to keep working somewhere where I was a lot less happy that I am doing what I do now. If you are used to listening to real instruments, in a proper setting, unamplified, then you know what that is. It is a sweetness in the sound, the emotion in the music, the richness in the tone of both instruments and voice. If you feel at the end of the performance that you have had an emotional experience and feel emotional. That is musicality. That is what I love, and what I have continued to strive for and design, for over 30 years. The best advice I can give to anyone, is never buy anything that you cannot return, that you have not carefully auditioned and unless just impossible, in your own system. Don’t fall for the idea that if it costs more, then its better. It often definitely is not. When I first started I was impressed by big sounds, and loud. High efficiency and lots of power. I ended up with a pair of Kenwood LO8 200 W Mono Blocks, which were widely considered the ant’s pants and a Pair of Klipsch Cornerhorns. These speakers had an efficiency of 106db/watt and an absolutely huge sound. They also had surprising delicacy and clarity and incredibly low distortion, and were favored by Opera fans for those reasons. Playing the 1812 Overture on a 200w amp actually upset the breathing rhythm and literally took your breath away when the cannons fired. But I noticed that as I improved my electronics, the speakers failed to show the improvements. I was experimenting with my early speaker designs at this stage and I noticed that the Klipsch gave a huge wall of sound, but there was very little imaging, and the sound came from everywhere. At this stage some people started to notice that cables and interconnects sounded different. This was ridiculed by many of the major Hi Fi Magazines and all Australian Publications. These same people also touted the line that all competently designed amplifiers sounded the same, so there was no need to buy expensive ones as there was little to no difference. By this stage I had perfected the Mk 1 Epitome and was stunned at the imaging and soundstage that they projected. It was also painfully obvious when comparing cables and any other component that there was a World of difference between them. I was shocked at one stage when I only had a pair of the Mini Monitors, which were a smaller 2 way and the forerunner of the Titan, later to become the Eos, and my Klipschorns. The Mini Monitors were stunningly better than the Klipsch. So I sold them and have never looked back. It stunned me then, that something that I sold at the time for under a thousand dollars could so easily outperform one of the best speakers available and costing more than a year’s salary. This is something that I still wonder about 30 years later. Since then I have done over 60 Shows, 16 of them overseas. I have heard so many systems that if I sold my house, I would have a nice deposit. One would think that at the price, size and complexity of these systems, that the performance would be spectacular, but it rarely was, in fact often it was quite unimpressive.

Photos from Osborn Loudspeakers's post

Our two rooms at the Hi Fi Show, One room affordable, the other not so much. Friday went well. The Hotel rooms are suffering from a bit of bass boom, but apparently the other rooms are all having the same issues. Moving the big speakers really close to the back wall has reduced it to a manageable level, contrary to the normal situation, but everyone seems really impressed as usual, so even when not at peak performance, its still pretty awesome.

Timeline Photos

We will be exhibiting at the Stereonet International Hi Fi Show in Rooms 1312 and 1314. From July 1st - 3rd, at the Pullman Mercure Hotel, Albert Park. Melbourne, 65 Queens Road, Albert Park. One room will have cheaper to medium speakers. Eos, Interlude, Eclipse and Eclipse Tower Reference. All will be powered by a Consonance Cyber 100 Integrated Amplifier and a Consonance Reference 8-20 Streamer/DAC, and a Consonance Droplet CD5 to play CDs. This will give system options with each speaker giving an all up total price of approximately; Eos -$9,000 Interlude - $9,700 Eclipse - $11,500 Eclipse Tower Reference - $16,700 There will be cheaper amps and Streamer DACs there, but I will be sticking to the one system for continuity, ease of changing and because they are my biggest sellers. The Second room will have my two top speakers. The Grand Monument References, powered by the Awesome AM 833M Monoblocks and the AM RT-3 preamp and a Consonance Figaro Streamer/DAC, but we will be using an Audio Aero La Fontaine CD Player as the DAC and to play CDs. The second system will be the Epitome Towers powered by the AM 805 Monoblocks and the AM RT-2 preamp, and a Consonance Reference 8-20 Streamer/DAC. This will give two systems with an all up price of; Grand Monument References System - $60,000 (Not counting CD player as it is no longer available) Epitome Tower Reference System - $23,500 We look forward to seeing you all there.

Timeline Photos

On the 15th of June, I had a pleasant and interesting night with the Melbourne Audio Club, where we are Life Members and were inducted into their Hall of Fame in November 2014. It is the oldest Audio Club in the World having been in operation for over 44 years, which is something to be proud of. The Club often has DIY (Do it yourself) projects and these are demonstrated at their monthly meetings in the Willis Room at the Nunawading Town Hall. This project was an open Baffle Speaker design designed and rather well built by the Club President. To give the speaker its best chance, affordable, but exemplary electronics were required, so where else would they turn, but to us to supply the quite extraordinary Consonance 880i 100w/ch valve amp. The CD player belonged to the President, which he originally bought from us. The sound was surprisingly good in the large room, with about 70 people present. There were naturally shortfalls in the speakers performance in absolute terms, but the soundstage, detail and vocal integrity ranged from good, to amazing. I have heard other (not mine) systems in that room, costing up to $40,000 that were nowhere near as impressive. It just goes to show that if parts of your system might not be "State of the Art" The sound can still be surprising if the front end and amplifier are exceptional. I say well done to the President for his commendable attempt at speaker making.

Help Greg make a difference

Once again my once a year charity fundraiser is approaching. Despite usually going in several half Marathons and shorter distances a year, and usually 2 Marathons and the 2 major stair climbs at the Eureka Tower and the MCG, I only raise money for this one. Run Melbourne in 2009 was my first ever organized run, when I was still a youngster of only 60, and this year will be my 6th. Everybody has lost someone to Cancer and a lot of us will succumb to it. I am thankful that at 65 I can still manage about 1100k a year, but we never know. I lost my uncle and brother to this insidious disease. Thank you for helping. 21.1k is the least I can do for this vital cause. Any donation to help the Anti-Cancer Council will be very gratefully received. Any of us may need their help one day. https://runmelbourne2016.everydayhero.com/au/greg