Hi-Fi Centre Vancouver's Premier Audio Video Dealer
Stereo Systems Recommended by Experts
Rotel RCD-1072, Rotel RA-1062
$2799
An exceptional performer, the RA-1062 combines the best of Rotel ’s traditional audiophile-oriented engineering, simplified operation, and a remarkably intuitive front panel design. With sufficient power (60 watts RMS per channel) and high damping factor, the RA-1062 provides accurate, room-filling volume with almost all loudspeakers. The Rotel system remote adds armchair convenience.
The
RCD-1072 proves conclusively that cost-conscious high performance in a single
disc CD player is still available – and is still outperforming many
so-called “audiophile” DVD players.
reviews
The new DM-685 loudspeaker system can handle the power, and resolve the fine detail you demand.
Naim Nait 5
PASSION is what drives the whole business of being an audiophile. It’s the only way to explain the hermit-like behaviour of a person capable of spending hours in an enclosed area, with nothing but music and an audio system for company. Naim CD-5i Naim Nait 5i review
"Hey that's not the same track - you're cheating!" said a customer
It was the same track, but these
speakers
This was often a difficult concept for a customer to get their head round; how could one system 'play tunes' better than another? I think the answer is actually quite straight forward - many systems stop the tunes that are present in most recorded music coming out, by messing up the time alignment of different frequencies. In other words, they treat certain frequencies differently from others. It's rather like listening to a band where the drummer is slightly off beat and then listening to it again when he's got his act together. You've heard the same piece of music twice, it's lasted the same period of time, and it's contained the same number of notes, but it's been a far more enjoyable experience the second time around.
McIntosh MA-6300 Integrated Amplifier and MCD-201 CD Player
$12000
Only McIntosh can combine two basic audio components into a single instrument and still retain traditional McIntosh performance, quality and reliability. The MA6300 provides all of this in a more compact, space-saving configuration. Those considering a McIntosh system for the first time will find the MA6300 a very comfortable place to start.
Naim
$5000 up
Naim is probably the most musical hi-fi in the world. If you like music you should come in and ask for a demo in our store.
click here for complete systems and upgrade paths
Linn
$4000 up
click here for complete systems and upgrade paths
$17000
Forget for a moment that Classé is one of the top high end electronics manufacturers, and has been described as the world's best hi-fi. What is important is the way it will make you feel when you sit back and the sound starts flowing over you. Utterly transparent. review
Well, you have previously owned a high end stereo system and you demand the ultimate. Or you just want to get on with it and hear the same sound as the studio that mixed the Grammy award winning movie Gladiator. Abbey Road Studios in London use the B&W 800 Series loudspeaker system. Why, because its the best. B&W 804s
$27,000
Beyond exceptional performance and value,
Class
A new model for the 800 Series, the 803D brings diamond dome technology to a less technical looking piece of furniture than the larger 'headed' models. Here the FST™ midrange driver is housed in its own isolated section of the beautifully curved, Matrix™-braced main cabinet, which is kept as narrow as possible in order to optimise the dispersion of sound.
In order to have a similar bass output capability to the wider 802D, the 803D uses three 180mm (7 in) Rohacell® cone bass drivers, this time supplemented by a front-firing Flowport™. Like all of our dedicated bass-only drivers, the basic rigidity of the radiating area is enhanced by our novel 'mushroom' construction, a girder-like component that supports the central area of the dustcap. Although we talk about the three different drive unit types and how each is optimised for its particular frequency range, it is the way these speakers behave as a single whole entity that impresses. It doesn't matter if the programme is music or film, the naturalness and realism portrayed by these speakers is uncanny
B&W 803D has won the EISA European High End Audio Component of the year 2005-2006
$39,000
While circuit topologies and most signal path parts are identical across the Delta series amplifier range, the CA-M400 monaural amplifier applies those modules in a more advanced configuration. The 400W monaural amplifier is built using two of the 200W channels in balanced mode. The result is a fully balanced amplifier design, more closely resembling Classé’s reference Omega series amplifiers. The CA-M400, at the top of the Delta series range, represents a remarkable achievement in amplifier performance and value.See what Stereophile said of the previous model review
"To listen to the '802 is virtually to experience the Nautilus 801 but with a leaner and more easily tamed low-frequency output. There is a remarkable stop-start characteristic heard through the entire bandwidth of the speaker, but immediately apparent in bass timing and slam when playing good pop and rock material, letting you become more conscious of the space left between kick drum strikes for example. The excellent control of low-level smearing also goes some way to imbue the speaker with an incredibly transparent midrange presentation, letting you forget that you're listening to a reciprocating cone at all. Treble is pure, clean and unblemished by any suggestion of metal coloration, as befalls many aluminium domed units"
$67,000
Superb Classe components combine to make this a stunning turnkey system. This system is identical to the system used by Abbey Road Studios in London to master live music recording.
The elegantly curved cabinet of the top-of-the-range 800D stands on a heavy cast aluminium plinth that also houses the substantial crossover. The twin 250mm (10 in) diameter Rohacell® sandwich cone woofers have a radiating area equivalent to a single 380mm (15 in) driver and can deliver prodigious amounts of bass when called upon to do so, even in large listening rooms. Bass output is reinforced by a down-firing Flowport™ and is configured to have a taut characteristic, enabling the 800D to work optimally in a wide range of ‘real world’ rooms and acoustics.
Thanks to the geometry of the Marlan® midrange 'head' enclosure and the separate tweeter on top, the 800D can project an uncannily realistic and three-dimensional image that is more stable with changes in listener position than more conventionally shaped speakers.
Powerful it may be, but the 800D can also portray the finest nuances from the recording. So good is it at revealing detail that top recording engineers have said that it will change the way they mix and edit programme. This level of detail retrieval is a result of the unique combination of our FST™ midrange driver and arguably the world's finest tweeter. With the first break-up of its diamond dome at 70kHz, it ensures pure piston-like motion up to and beyond the limits of human hearing
$85,000
The debate over whether tubes or transistors sound better is still going strong after forty years. McIntosh has led in both technologies, and has just raised the bar again. The C500 is a two-chassis design that offers the ultimate in flexibility. It lets the listener choose between a solid-state preamplifier and vacuum tube preamplifier, or both
The most powerful single chassis McIntosh amplifier, the MC1.2KW produces a massive 1,200 watts. The MC1.2KW features the extraordinary McIntosh Quad Balanced Circuit. Each amplifier consists of two balanced amplifier circuits, the outputs of which are combined in the unique, hand-crafted McIntosh Output Autoformer. The result? Totally balanced operation from input to speaker output that cancels virtually all distortion.
Newly designed dual 10” woofers deliver a more
powerful and dynamic bass response than was achievable in prior models.
The high-gloss, piano black extruded aluminum enclosure is extra deep to
allow top-porting. A new woofer casting permits the XRT1K to have an
unusually narrow profile for a loudspeaker with 1,200 watts of power
handling and its 8 ohm impedance is easy on amplifiers.