Oz Speakers Hit High Note
Sydney Morning Herald
Monday December 7, 1987
IN THE high-fidelity world, 1987 has turned out to be the Year of the Australian Loudspeaker. It's funny how quickly things change. Just over a year ago no self-respecting hi-fi enthusiast would be caught dead with a local product in his listening room. Yet in just 12 months, two local products have swept away decades of prejudice.
At the top end, John Dunleavy's $7,000-plus Duntech speakers are hailed as among the finest in the world, and are doing a roaring export trade. They have recently been joined by a $1,000 bookshelf-sized model.
At the bottom end, in the below-$500 class, Ralph Waters' stunningly good Richter Speakers - a year ago almost unsaleable - are now so popular that some shops have waiting lists for certain models.
And now a third Australian make - Brad Serhan's Orpheus Loudspeakers -enters the market. This column predicts they'll be every bit as big as the other two, although they're really in a class of their own.
There are two Orpheus models, one priced at $1,300 and the other at $1,650. Both are poised to steal sales from KEF, B&W, Mission, Monitor Audio, Rogers and other British speakers in the $1,500-$2,500 bracket. Believe me, they are every bit as good.
Serhan used to sell those impeccably-bred imports - along with a lot of junkier equipment - for a living at one of Sydney's sound emporiums. But even as he extolled their virtues to the customers, his love affair with the imports was fading.
"They were very accurate, but it just seemed to me there was a veil over the sound," he says, in the tiny Lilyfield house that currently serves as Orpheus's factory, sound laboratory, crash pad and R&D centre. "I was sure I could do better."
Many have thought that, but few have succeeded. Young Serhan, however, has The Touch: he's an electronics wizard, thrice-blessed with golden ears, magic fingers and a friendly bank manager.
Three years ago, armed with a sizeable overdraft, he got serious. Working night and day, and mostly alone, he set about the long, slow process of perfecting his design.
This year's success story of Richter and Duntech spurred him on - and it's a nice touch that some of his greatest help and encouragement came from Richter's effervescent Ralph Waters.
So now the Orpheus speakers are on the market - and very handsome they look, too, in their Queensland walnut finish (black is available by special order). But how do they sound?
Brilliant. Dynamic. Superb. In Lilyfield the other day we listened to the$1,300 model, the Apollos - like many of the imports a two-way design (that is, the sound is simply divided between a tweeter for the high frequencies and a combined mid-range and bass driver).
We listened to a lot of piano music, because the piano is the hardest of all instruments to reproduce naturally. Every note came through crisp and clear, with that special jangly "bite" that is so elusive for lesser speakers. Drums, bass and guitar spread out effortlessly across a room. These Apollos have presence and a tangible sound-stage, too.
People who seek even more bass might prefer the larger $1,650 Dolomites, with their 15 centimetre drivers and a crossover point that extends further down.
With a sensitivity reading of around 89db, the speakers are very efficient and can be driven with low-power amps. For best results they should be firmly mounted on stands - Orpheus offers its own black metal ones for an extra $250 or so.
For anyone seeking a true hi-fi speaker system capable of flooding a room with lively, natural sound, the Orpheus speakers are an excellent investment. They can be heard at Audio Genesis, Balmain; The Hi-Fi Shop, Hurstville; Leisure Sound, Cremorne; Len Wallis Audio, Lane Cove; Music By Design, Bondi Junction; and Pirimai Hi-Fi, Burwood.
This is Nakamichi Week at Len Wallis Audio - but you don't have to own one of the legendary Nakamichi tape decks or CD players to benefit.
Experts from Nakamichi Australia will be in the store on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to demonstrate the company's new products. On Saturday there'll be a tape-deck clinic at which you can have the frequency response, distortion, wow and flutter, and speed of any tape-deck checked free of charge. And if you have a Nakamichi deck, its tape heads and transport system will be cleaned.
© 1987 Sydney Morning Herald
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