April Music is the parent company behind the Stello, Eximus
and Aura brand names. The company is located in Korea and its president is Simon Lee, who
can bee seen in the picture above. We've reviewed a number of Stello products very
favorably, some of them award winners, so we went into April Music's room to simply find
out what new products the company was offering. What we heard when we got there was some
of the best sound of the show, but in quite a small and affordable package that will
appeal to people who want big sound from something convenient. The main components in this
system were the latest version of the Aura Note, dubbed V5, and some customized Amphion
Helium speakers.
The Aura Note V5 is an all-in-one-audio
centerpiece that contains a top-loading CD player, preamplifier, 50Wpc amplifier, and
AM/FM tuner. The retail price is $2500. It also has a number of inputs, including optical
and USB digital inputs to connect external music sources. The build quality is outstanding
and the styling is exceptional. This is a really elegant little showpiece.
Simon was mainly using...
...an iPod Nano and a laptop as sources -- the
digital front-ends of now and the foreseeable future. The sound was big -- the soundfield
extend beyond the speakers and had a great sense of dimensionality and depth. More, the
system was exceptionally clean- and sweet-sounding. From what we can tell, the Aura Note
V5 is not only refined-looking but refined-sounding as well. It also works very well with
small speakers, like those from Amphion, and sources like the iPod, which is everywhere
today.
This Aura Note-based system is proof that you
can high-quality sound and convenience and not break the bank to get them. Another winner
from April Music.
