GATO AUDIO FM-6 SPEAKER SYSTEM

Though a relatively young newcomer to the high end segment of the audio market Gato Audio is formed by a group of dedicated Danish audio engineers with decades of experience between themselves.

Among their achievements are names such as Holfi, Thule, GamuT and Avance.

Founded some four years ago Gato Audio today offers a selective range of audio electronics, speakers and cables.

The subject of this product news write-up is the FM6, the high end version  of a two model Gato Audio speaker line-up.

Described as a 2½ way floorstanding speaker system the FM6 is impressive looking, measuring 1020mm high, 370mm deep and 300mm wide and weighing in excess of 30 kg.  Designed to operate optimally at a 2.5 degree tilt the FM-6 is available in high gloss finish of white, black and walnut.

Drive units compliment comprises dual 180mm woofers, one for dedicated bass reproduction  and one for upper bass/midrange duty.  High frequencies are handled by a 30mm ring radiator tweeter.

An unusual feature of the FM-6 is the presence of an extended  aluminium spine located at the rear of the speaker.

According to Gato Audio the primary function of the aluminium spine is to provide critical damping of resonances and improve dynamics.  Shaped from extremely strong MDF (Medium Density Fibreboard) the teardrop shaped enclosure of the FM-6 is further braced structurally from the inside.

Rated to match amplifiers with output of between 50-300 watts the FM-6 has a fairly sensitive 90db into 4 ohms efficiency.

Features include WBT style connectors, bi-wirable capability,  aesthetics matching aluminium trim rings around the drive units and separate crossover  PCB boards.

The FM-6 retails for RM50,000 per pair.

The FM-6 and other Gato Audio range will be on display/demo at the coming KL International AV Show 2013, July 05-07, JW Marriott Hotel, Kuala Lumpur.

For further information contact : Acoustic Arts Sdn Bhd

                                                   Tel:  03 80235708

BOSTON ACOUSTICS ASW250 SUBWOOFER

Home cinema fans looking to augment or improve the level of bass coming from their current home theatre  set-up will do well  to prowl the five floors of the coming KL International AV Show 2013.  Subwoofers aplenty will be on offer and you might specifically want to give  Boston Acoustics' mid-sized wonder, the ASW250 a serious going over.

Part of the current Boston Acoustics A Series the ASW250 is an active bass plumber  featuring a downward firing 10" ceramic glass fibre woofer in  an enclosure measuring 372 x 357 x 415mm.  It is also fairly heavy, weighing in at about 15kg. Retail price is RM1,750.00

Providing the drive is a built-in 100 watts RMS power amplifier that Boston Acoustics claim is able to take low bass reproduction capability of the ASW250 down to 35hertz. 

Pundits should note that Boston Acoustics also offer another 10" active sub in the A Series  inventory - the higher end ASW650 which retails for RM2,250.  The difference?  Apart from a similar looking and similarly sized enclosure the ASW650 comes with a much more potent 300 watts RMS power amplifier but unlike the ASW250 features  a  forward firing driver.   Possibly because of its more powerful built-in amplifier Boston Acoustics is able to claim a more extended bass response of down to 28 hertz for the ASW650 . 

My personal thoughts is that there will undoubtedly be some cause for confusion and  hesitation among purchasers especially when it involves a RM500 difference.

The ASW650 would have been better served had it offered a similar quality 12" woofer instead of the 10" it comes with.  At least  the difference between it and the ASW250 would have been that much more palpable and distinct !

In use the ASW250 is  simple enough to set up.  Connections at the rear is rudimentary for a sub but adequate.  In addition to a power on/off switch and  the controls for volume, crossover frequencies and phase, a  trio of phono type sockets allows connection from an AV receiver /processor .  One of the inputs is marked LFE which when used disables  the crossover network in the ASW250.  Crossover frequency selection in this case is achieved in the AVR/processor.

One of the greatest effects on  bass performance is placement , so be sure to experiment to achieve the optimum bass slam, control and extension.  Optimum performance of the  ASW250 in my system  is at  the inner side of my main left speaker approximately a foot from the  rear wall and  2½ feet from the side.  Room dimensions are 13' x 25'.

At this position the ASW250 delivered a well controlled and tight bass slam.  It was able to deliver not only a good perceived bass extension but was able to go fairly  loud though not quite as near the prodigious level that my reference SVS is capable of.  That's understandable  for the SVS PB12 Plus is an entirely different animal. It is simply bigger and better and yes, it also cost much more.

The Boston Acoustics ASW250 is targeted at a slightly different market sector where decent performance is pre requisite of a given  cost.

In this respect,  in  AV systems of entre and mid level cost the ASW250  performed  admirably.

The more costly ASW650 may, at least on paper, offer certain performance advantages but its price may be a mitigating factor.  My recommendation would be to opt for two ASW250.  It will of course jack up the final cost but the advantage of improved volume,  a flexible and more accurate bass loading and extension  would be significant  and worth the extra cash outlay.

Boston Acoustics products  will be on display/demo at the coming KL International AV Show 2013, July 05-07, JW Marriott Hotel, Kuala Lumpur.

For further information  contact :  Woo Kee Hong Trading Sdn Bhd

                                                      Tel: 03 79548088

SONY VPL HW50ES 3D HOME THEATRE PROJECTOR

Inspite of its successful foray into the rarefied air of 4k projection last year with its superb but expensive VPL-VW1000, the main Sony home theatre projector range is still spearheaded by its capable and established 1920 x 1080p resolution line.

The latest of these 1080p full HD 3D projector which will be on display/demo at the coming KL International AV Show 2013 is the VPL-HW50ES.

As with all of Sony's home theatre projectors the VPL-HW50ES is based on the company's proprietary SXRD (Silicon X-Tel Reflection Display) imaging system.  A variation of the LCD format,the SXRD device is said to offer an almost perfect alignment of the separate red, green and blue imaging chips.   It is also said to minimise the gaps between the pixels for a more artefact free image.

Looking almost identical to the VPL-HW30 which it augments, the VPL-HW50 offers a higher light output at 1700 lumens (compared to the HW30's 1300 lumens).

Claimed contrast ratio is also improved at 100,000.1 which is about 30% higher then that of the VPL-HW30.  As such the VPL HW50 can be expected to provide fairly significant improvements in black level reproduction as well as in producing a brighter punchier picture.

According to Sony the VPL- HW50 excels in this two critical area of high picture reproduction not only in 2D but also in active 3D, where maintaining an adequate level of brightness has always presented a big challenge to all active 3D projector manufacturers.

Yet another important feature found in the VPL-HW50 is Reality Creation a video enhancement algorithm first found in the VPL-HW1000.

Sony claims that Reality Creation is able to  improve sharpness and visual detail without increasing video noise and other inherent artefacts. 

Other important videophile features include an aspect ratio stretch mode for use with an external anamorphic lens on a constant height 2.35.1 screen for screening CinemaScope type movies without the top and bottom black bars and without lost of resolution.

There is also a multiple setting Advanced Iris control for optimising black level performance, 9 video pre-set selection, a 144 point panel alignment control and two HDMI 1.4 inputs.

The VPL-HW50 retails for RM15,999 and can be viewed with other Sony AV products at the coming KL International AV Show 2013, July 05-07, JW Marriott Hotel, Kuala Lumpur.

For further information contact :

SONY (M) SDN BHD

Tel: 03 22950310