John
With a desire to redefine hifi, Redefy Audio (geddit?) turned up to New Tech ‘15 with faces as fresh as daisies. Their loudspeaker business solidified only this year sees them joining the likes of fellow Aussie manufacturers like Duntech and Legend in New South Wales, Lenehan Audio in Queensland, SGR and Osborne Loudspeakers in Victoria as well as VAF and Krix in South Australia (among others). The local competition might not be abundant but it most certainly is stiff.
To the casual observer, Redefy’s design and manufacturing experience arrives concealed from view. Sydney-based Henry Kristanto has been in the DIY loudspeaker design game for 18 years – Redefy is his first stab at a commercial venture. Unable to find a satisfactory cabinet maker in NSW, he joined forces with Geelong-based Ben Arends who brings 26 years of loudspeaker cabinet-building experience to the company. Rounding out the Redefy team is Justin Gutman who handles finance and marketing.
From the bottom up…
The Redefy ONE is a large (60cm tall) three-way standmount with coaxial compression driver tweeter and 6.5″ woofer. 92db. 6 ohms. A pair will run you AU$4000 for which custom stands are all but mandatory; an additional AU$600.
When I stop by, the ONE are taking time out along the side walls. In play are the Redefy TWO, a three-way floorstander with 8″ mid driver, horn loaded tweeter and 15″ side firing woofer. 94db. AU$8500/pair. The cabinet is made from birch ply, MDF and a real timber veneer.
The sound here was as full as it was super-dynamic. Sadly, the main hall’s background din and (worse) subwoofer thump from the adjoining room made it near-impossible for musical subtleties to properly undress themselves. A shame – and certainly no fault of our hosts. What I definitely heard was the sound of promise.
Kristanto apparently visited the venue months ahead of the show proper to suss out room acoustics in advance. “It was far too echo-y,” he said, “so we made bass traps and diffusers to line the besser (breeze) block walls.”
The more unusual looking floorstander is the Redefy NEO: a two-way floorstander with 12″ mid/bass driver and horn-loaded tweeter. Front ported, 94db. AU$9500/pair.
Three enthusiasts serving up three distinct loudspeaker models with an emphasis on three fundamentals:
1) High efficiency. Amplification here was handled by the 35wpc Due Volte 805 tubed monos from Arte Forma (AU$8500/pair). They’re made in Taiwan with in-house handwound transformers. The matching Arte Forma Thalia pre-amplifier runs 6SN7 tubes and sells for AU$3500.
2) Affordability. “Hifi should not be excessively expensive,” says Kristanto.
3) Good music. Props to Gutman who took charge of the demo music for doses of Radiohead (“Paranoid Android”) and Prince (“Diamonds and Pearls”).
Who doesn’t love a good HAG?
Further information: Redefy Audio
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