Maxx Audio Visual is 1 year old!

Time flies. In a blink of the eye (urm, a bit exaggerated. Maybe few blinks) a year has passed. Maxx Audio Visual is now a year old. Yes, it is still in its infancy stage. We are still relatively small compare to those established hi-fi shops in Kuala Lumpur and PJ.

We would like to say a big thank you to all our customers particularly those in lowyat.net for their continuous supports being rendered to us. It's been a great year.

For the first time, we are at KLIAV 2010 as an exhibitor and not visitor. I have been to KLIAV Show every year. For 2010, we took Boardroom 1 at Level 4 to showcase SVS from USA. Mr Ron Stimpson, President of SVS was there to lend his support for the show. Audire India agents were there too. Thank you to those who came to our room.

This year, we will be at level 8 to showcase Exposure, Triangle, Kimber Kable as well as SVS and Rythmik. More details on this show will be updated from time to time.

As a token of our appreciation, we will be having special promotion from now until 15th March 2011. Do feel free to drop by our showroom or e-mail us at sales@htkaki.com

Warmest regards,

Max

Triangle Altea Ex review

Gallic grace

By SUJESH PAVITHRAN

Here’s some French fare to tempt those in the market for a pair of fuss-free floorstanders.
TRIANGLE ALTEA Ex
WHAT THEY ARE: Floodstanding speakers
LUST FACTOR: Verve and bass heft. Easy to drive and partner. Graceful looks.
REALITY CHECK: Dry-ish treble and little else.
PRICE: RM8,499
DISTRIBUTOR: MAXX AUDIO VISUAL (06-762 0811/017-677 8820/ website: www.htkaki.com)

IT takes a considerable paradigm shift to assess a pair of dynamic loudspeakers when you’re so used to ribbons or electrostatics. Still, I’ve heard a small number of cabinet-bound speakers that fired my imagination, although they all had one thing in common – swoon-inducing price tags.
Back in the real world, there are admittedly some fine dynamic speakers to be had for a modest budget. Denying their abilities would be an insult to the decades of hard and innovative work that has gone into this field. So, if you didn’t already start your hi-fi journey seduced by the magic of panels, you’re very likely to find an affordable pair of boxes to keep you happy for years.

French flair: The Triangle Altea Ex floorstanders ... amazingly excellent value.

 

One brand that’s an easy fit for most budgets, living rooms and systems is France’s highly acclaimed Triangle, cruelly under-represented here in the past. Now that the anomaly has been rectified, I took the opportunity to arrange for a review – the first Triangle to be brought through my doors was the Altea Ex floorstander, the second-largest model in its entry-level Espirit range.

Cognac or wine?
The Altea Ex is a two-and-a-half-way, bass-reflex design, with the port located in front. The tweeter section is rear ported.

The manner in which the Altea’s cabinet is decoupled from the floor is unique, at least for the price – a four-point plinth is provided to stand the speaker firm, and the massive screws can be adjusted from atop the platform to level the cabinet. Also, out in front below the port, a giant spike protrudes, to be screwed down against the floor or any support. I’m told this is Triangle’s proprietary vibration-control device for the cabinet.
The recessed tweeter, with its elongated conical wave-guide/dust-cap and flared port, is another Triangle feature; also provided are two mid-bass drivers of the 6.5-inch variety, one of them seemingly a radiator.
Triangle quotes a frequency range of 45Hz to 20kHz, with a sensitivity of 91dB and minimum impedance of 4.4 Ohms (nominal 8 Ohms). Power handling is 100 watts, and two pairs of binding posts are provided if you want to bi-wire the Altea.

Each cabinet measures 1000 x 200 x 355mm (h/w/d) on its own, while the plinth adds 60mm to the height, 170mm to the width and 25mm to the depth. The 20kg weight per speaker presents a manageable mass to move around for one person. Two finish options are available – cognac and black.

Good conduct
The distributor was thoughtful enough to help me with the initial set-up, after which I set about to do some fine-tuning and discovered the Altea to be less fussy about placement than many. Of course, there’s always an optimal position for the fastidious listener, but some rough guesses should get you close to the sweet spot in no time.

The review pair of Alteas hadn’t been run in, so I hooked up my iPod/dock to the system for a few days – even at initial listen, I heard something about the speakers that made me want to explore further.
Driving the Alteas was the Odyssey Tempest 2/Khartago Extreme SE pre-power combination, with the Ayon CD-1s as digital source. Wiring was MIT CVT Terminator 1 and 2, while the electronic gear was hooked to an upgraded AVIA balanced power transformer. Also used as sources were a VPI Classic turntable mounted with a Benz Gullwing cartridge and Rega P7 turntable with Rega Apheta cartridge.
It would be unfair to make comparisons between dynamic and panel designs at similar price levels, but in their favour, the Alteas presented me with significantly fewer hassles in positioning. They were much easier to drive, too.

Initially, I thought the treble sounded a bit dry, and this was an impression that never completely left me right through my sessions with the speakers. Yet, in the mid and upper frequencies, the Alteas were honest, with timbres that were almost right mostly, save for the occasional brightness with strings and a less-than-convincing grip of piano reproduction.

Interestingly, acoustic bass tracks presented more challenges than electric ones – for the latter, on the Larry Carlton album Kid Gloves, the rhythmic work of bassist Abraham Laboriel and drummer John Ferraro possessed a weight, snap and precision I’ve seldom heard reproduced so effectively in smaller speakers.
Similarly, with other recordings of a non-acoustic variety, the Alteas got the nuances of guitars and drums just about right, although I would never have mistaken them for anything other than a dynamic design. The heft in the lower frequencies was most reassuring, and should serve rock and jazz fans well.

Playing some tracks with vocals also showed the Alteas to have their fundamentals in the right place, as they projected the singer effectively from the mix, while setting a reasonably well-spread stage. I was advised to settle for just the minimal toe-in, and while this allowed a wider stage, I felt the extremities were somewhat softened, with less air on the top than I would have usually liked.

What, however, was gripping about the Alteas was how the whole exceeded the sum of the parts – overall, the presentation was snappy, authoritative and gripping. Plus, the speakers went loud without going all over the place; time and again, I was tempted to play at levels I seldom do, and the conduct of the Alteas, especially in the lower frequencies, was impressive.

Easy, not fussy
Given the attributes of the Triangle Altea Ex, I’m willing to look past minor niggles – that the speakers are easy to drive and not fussy about placement take much of the headache out of the equation, allowing the listener to focus on musical enjoyment.

These are well-made and brilliantly presented loudspeakers – just how the French can deliver this level of performance and finish without asking the punter to break the bank has always amazed me.
Those who want to look beyond the British or Italian sound should start here.

http://sites.thestar.com.my/audio/story.asp?file=/2011/2/14/afreviews/8024085&sec=afreviews


Specifications:

Number of channels	2.5
Loudspeaker type	Bass Reflex
Sensitivity	91 dB/W/m
Frequency range	45 Hz – 20 KHz (+/- 3 dB)
Power handling	100 W
Nominal impedance	8 Ω
Cabinet dimensions	1000 x 200 x 355 mm
Dimensions with plinth	1060 x 370 x 380 mm
Weight	20 kg
Finish	Cognac

Kimber Kable PK-10 Gold power cord

PK-10 Gold with Wattgate connectors

Features

• Specially optimized copper
• Chroma free conductor dielectric
• Wattgate Audio Grade Connectors - 330i & 350i IEC

Price: RM1,490

http://www.kimber.com/products/powerkords/pk10gold/

SVS SB12-NSD sealed box subwoofer

SB12-NSD subwoofer

* SVS 12" NSD woofer with AL cone
* New 400 Watt DSP amp, "Green" power supply
* CAD design, CNC cut enclosure
* Front-firing sealed design, recessed driver
* Compliant floor mounts, removable
* Assembled and tested exclusively for SVS
* Heavy-duty detachable 8 foot power cord
* Hand-laid charcoal black laminate finish
* Perforated mesh grill with steel pin retainers
* Compact design
* Size: 14” D x 14" W x 14 " H w/o grill
* Weight: 41 pounds (18.5kg)

For more info : SVS SB12-NSD

Review : SB12-NSD Review by Russell Williams of AVForums.com


Price : RM2,999 (Charcoal black finish) and RM3,199 (Gloss piano black)
Warranty : 3 years on amp plate and driver

Kimber Kable Tonik interconnect

Tonik with Ultratike connectors

KIMBER KABLE TONIK
Like the first tone of a scale, the Tonik interconnect provides the foundation of truly accurate performance and value. Through the use of Kimber Kable's legendary tri-braid field geometry, VariStrand™, Ultrapure copper conductors and our special recipe PE dielectric, the Tonik allows music to flow with power, smoothness and harmonic richness. Tonik single-ended uses our Ultratike™ RCA type connector. 


Tonik 1m terminated with Ultratike RCA type connectors.

(Cp) parallel capacitance:	52.0 pF @ 20 kHz
(Ls) series inductance:	0.772 µH @ 20 kHz
(Rdc) dc loop resistance:	0.055 Ω
(Xt) total reactance:	0.098 Ω @ 20 kHz
Frequency response              ± 0.5 dB dc - 2.8 MHz

 Price: RM 300/pair

http://www.kimber.com/products/interconnects/analog/tonik/

XLO HT Series HTSW 3m Subwoofer cable

XLO HT Series Subwoofer Cable

Factory fitted with one XLO gold-plated RCA Connector at each end.

• Dedicated cable for connecting Singled-Ended powered subwoofers
• 4N (99.994% pure) OFHC copper conductors
• Ultra-low capacitance LDPE dielectric insulation
• Bi-metallic shielding for maximum protection against EMI and RFI
• Pressure extruded, high stability protective outer jacket
• Terminated with XLO's precision machined, 24K gold-plated RCA connectors

Price : RM170

Rythmik Audio F15 subwoofer

Rythmik Audio F15 subwoofer

Introducing Rythmik Audio F15 sealed box subwoofer from USA.

The subwoofer for audiophiles

For audiophiles looking for uncompromising accuracy, our F15 subwoofer is the ultimate choice. It features Direct Servo technology to ensure accuracy and definition. As an audiophile you appreciate that bass is the foundation of a satisfying music or home theatre experience. You also appreciate that there is more to a home theatre subwoofer than shaking the room, and that music can be far more satisfying with a subwoofer that can play deep.

What makes Rythmik Audio subwoofers suitable for audiophiles? It's not that they can plumb the depths with authority. There are already many subwoofers on the market which can do that. The difference is that they reproduce bass with a level of realism that is normally only associated with much more expensive high end full range loudspeakers.

Retail Price: RM 5,000 (wef 22 July 2013) black oak finish

Specifications
Driver	15" high excursion with custom sensing coil
Driver materials	Black anodized aluminum with rubber surround
	Cast aluminum basket
	Aluminum flux modulation shorting rings
Amplifier	370w RMS class A/B patented servo controlled
Dimensions	19"(W) x 19 " (H )x 20 "(D) - (21-1/2" D with grille)
Shipping Weight	102 lbs
Frequency Response	14 - 90 Hz (-2 dB @ 14 Hz)
Crossover slope	Selectable 12 or 24 dB / octave (PEQ and XLR versions)
Crossover range (Low pass)	25 - 100 Hz
Rumble Filter (High pass )	20 Hz 18 dB / octave
Phase response	90 degrees phase shift at 20 Hz
Phase adjustment	0 - 180 degrees continuously variable
Bass damping factor settings	high (Q=0.5), med (Q=0.7), and low (Q=1.1)
Finishes	Available in black matte vinyl or black oak vinyl
Warranty	1 year

Happy Chinese New Year

Wishing all of our readers who will be celebrating this auspicious Chinese New Year a fun-filled year, joys, more quality time, best of health and not forgetting wealth (If not, you guys will not have a perfect reason to upgrade your hi-fi or A/V system ;-) )

For others, we wish you a wonderful long holiday.