Australian HiFi

G’day, ‘Aussie Hi-Fi’ readers! Following Greg’s farewell Editor’s Lead-In in the issue previous, you now have my debut one here. I arrive to Australia (Melbourne, to be more geo-precise) and this new editorship role fully aware that I have big boots to fill, but if I’m to spend even half the duration of my predecessor’s frightfully long stint in this particular chair, I figure I’ve most of the time until my own retirement to try to do it in. So no rush, eh? Greg — still a committed contributor to this publication and editorial servant to you all, mind — is sharing his retirement year with the Apple iPod, which has now been put to bed after 21 years, having frankly redefined mass listening habits in its formative years and paved the…

BOWERS & WILKINS PX8 It was inevitable that Apple sticking its neck out to launch a preposterously priced pair of wireless noise-cancelling headphones would open the floodgates for higher-end models, and indeed here comes news of one such pair. Bowers & Wilkins has announced that later this year it will launch a flagship, “no-holds-barred” wireless ANC model, the Px8, which is expected to cost around $849 (RRP). The Px8 will be the company’s “most advanced headphone to date”, which is a bold statement considering its fantastic output of both wireless and wired pairs over the past decade or so. Until that time, however, the most accomplished pair of active noise-cancelling wireless headphones in Bowers’ line-up will be the preserve of the all-new Px7 S2, which are available for $599 (RRP) and which…

The XR Series is a complete new range for Cyrus, one that’s designed to complement this famous British manufacturer’s existing 6 Series and 8 Series components. And note that when I say ‘British manufacturer’ I need to emphasise that Cyrus is one of the very few British brands that is still manufacturing its products in Britain. Most of the others have shifted their production to the EU, Taiwan, China or Korea. THE EQUIPMENT The Cyrus i7-XR is built on exactly the same chassis that Cyrus uses to build its CDi-XR CD player, CDt-XR transport, Pre-XR preamp, another higher-powered integrated amplifier (i9-XR) and an external power supply unit — PSU-XR — that can be used to upgrade the power supply of any model in the XR Series. Which means, of course, that if…

Readers interested in a full technical appraisal of the performance of the Cyrus i7-XR Integrated Amplifier should continue on and read the LABORATORY REPORT published on the following pages. Readers should note that the results mentioned in the report, tabulated in performance charts and/or displayed using graphs and/or photographs should be construed as applying only to the specific sample tested. The reason Cyrus specifies power output into 6 ohms rather than the industry-standard (and US, EU and Australian standard) 8-ohm load is evident from the tabulated chart showing the measurements that Newport Test Labs made of the i7-XR’s power output with both channels driven, which you can see was 46 watts per channel (16.6dBw) at all three frequencies tested (20Hz, 1kHz and 20kHz). Being able to claim an output above 50…

Lots of brands have a lot of wireless noise-cancelling over-ear headphones at lots of different prices to sell you, but one brand has, until now, been conspicuous by its absence. Technics has been enjoying plenty of success with its wireless in-ear headphones lately — the ‘truly wireless’ EAH-AZ60 and EAH-AZ40 are both highly competitive performers in the highly competitive space at their respective price points. And now the company’s headphones range is bolstered by these EAH-A800. The A800 certainly look the part more than their mouthful of a name sounds it. A glance at the spec-sheet tells you they have what it takes to compete, too, and of course, they carry one of the more evocative brand logos in all of Electronics Land. But given the ferocity of the opposition they…

Aussie company Nura is back with a new product, bringing its unique brand of personalised audio to yet another pair of true wireless earbuds. As its name suggests, this model is a ‘pro’ version of the NuraTrue, carrying a raft of improvements over the ‘standard’ buds and, with it, a premium price tag. The NuraTrue Pro retails for quite a bit more than the original NuraTrue, weighing in at $499 compared to its predecessor’s $299an increase of about 66%. As a point of reference, the class leaders in the field, Sony’s WF-1000XM4, launched at $449 (although as is often the case with earbuds, this price has dropped dramatically in the year since their release), while the Apple AirPods Pro retailed for $399 at launch. With its price firmly above the best…