Industry (and miscellaneous) Comments
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July 27th - There's some good news in the two channel stereo amp market with
Anthem now selling the powerhouse
INT.225 at 225 RMS per channel for under $2000. The previous importer was
selling them for $3499 and at that price they were fair value. At the new
pricing it's a knockout. We have some great deals on KEF demo stock currently,
speakers are as new with full warranty. Can't hardcopy the pricing bit if you're
interested in any of the iQ series, give me a call on 02 9651 4922 and you may
be pleasantly surprised..
July 19th - OK, I've had a decent drink over the weekend and now the attack
of the Forums has mellowed on me. Biggest news at the moment is the imminent
release of the new Anthem range of affordable A/V receivers ranging from $1499
to $5999 - Anthem being part of the Paradigm Speaker group. These are all 1.4a
compatible (for those of you still thinking of destroying your brain with 3D)
and, according to initial reviews, sounds like Cambridge Audio on steroids. I
have the preliminary specs for the Australian models coming soon and will post
them in my next
newsletter. I've already ordered them for stock although they probably won't
be available for 6 - 8 weeks. I hope to get my grubby mitts on one of the pre
production samples to play with at home. It'd need to be good to displace my
Yamaha 3900 however.
July 17th - Well, I'm getting a hammering on the Forums lately, one guy on
Stereo.net said nobody should take any notice of anything I said because he saw
a picture of my set up at home and is obviously so clever, he could tell it
sounded terrible. I just wish I was smart enough to be able to figure out how
something sounds by looking at a photo, he also said that it couldn't be any
good for music as I was using an A/V receiver. I feel somewhat sorry for him as
he probably acquired a dogmatic gene during gestation. Another post on Whirlpool
(they're usually a little more open minded) stated that HiFi retailers are rip
off merchants who drive Mercedes and BMW's. Well, I do drive a nice car and
after 32 years in the industry, the first 7 of which I didn't even have a
holiday and worked six days a week plus Thursday nights, I figure I deserve it.
If all HiFi retailers are rip off merchants, how come over 80% have gone belly
up over the last 15 years? I started off having to sell my home to buy into the
business and was on my arse monetarily for the first 20 years. Yes, there are
some dealers who make extravagant margins, usually because they import the
product as well as retail it but most of us have to compete with the likes of
Harvey's and the box movers yet still offer advice at a level they couldn't
possibly match.
It makes my blood boil so much, it's no wonder my Bourbon stock has diminished
at an ever increasing rate!
July 13th - Many years ago, I criticized one of my opposition stores for
going up-market and abandoning the mainstream HiFi enthusiast. Well Len, you
were right and I was wrong! Whereas Uncle Len has gone from strength to strength
on the back of more expensive, esoteric HiFi, I struggled with fighting JB's,
Harvey's et al. A couple of years ago, we also moved up a bit (not as much as
Len as I don't have that much capital) but we stopped selling the $699 systems
and aimed a little higher. Business increased and things are now going well (I'm
now able to afford bottled wine instead of cask wine). I was reminded yesterday
however what it was like in the olden days. We still have a couple of relatively
inexpensive setups for those wanting a simple solution. A gentleman (for want of
a better term) called and wanted to spend under $900 to listen to his CD's, play
his DVD's and hook up his Foxtel iQ. Now, there's not much on the market that
will do all that for under $1000, never mind sound good! We did have a system in
stock however (the Onkyo LV-S501) that, with a bit of input fiddling, would do
most of what he wanted for $899 so I spent a good 15 minutes on the phone
explaining the system. He came in and spent the next two hours asking every
question under the sun about bass levels, DSP functions, how it sounded without
the sub (not recommended with a 2.1 system), how to hook it up and then having
the cheek to say it sounded a bit thin compared to his multi million dollar Naim
HiFi set up. I kept a civil tongue in my head but, as we had two staff off and I
had 35 e-mails to answer, I really didn't have that much time to chew the fat
with him. He bought the product (I actually gave him a further discount as a
favour) then sent me an e-mail the next day saying we didn't pay enough
attention to him - next time I'll allow the full 8 hours.
I guess you can please some of the people some of the time...........
July 9th - Our old friend Joe who owns Audio Connection in Leichhardt has
decided to close down that store citing internet retailing for ruining his
business "All retail has definitely suffered and bricks and mortar retail is
getting butchered by internet sales" says Joe and in a recent conversation
implied I was one of the culprits. Well, this goes against our trend as we are
still a bricks and mortar retailer with two sound lounges and demonstration
facilities (in fact we just purchased the building) and, on a Saturday, the
place is generally packed with people waiting for a demonstration of equipment.
Yes, we do sell on the internet and due to serendipitous purchasing are able to
offer some excellent pricing. We're not always the cheapest but we offer a
service whereby we can design a system dependant upon the clients needs and
budget which goes far beyond just having a shopping basket.
The most successful HiFi stores remaining in Australia are those which can
juggle internet sales with personal service and, where necessary, demonstration
facilities for suggested systems. I've mentioned previously, we've had clients
from Perth, New Caledonia, Darwin and Tasmania make the trip to our humble store
to listen and finalise the sales of appropriate systems. We don't have a
"bullshit" page giving terms and conditions such as "no replacements or refunds
after three days" or "all returns for warranty are the responsibility of the
purchaser" as we look at each case individually and in over 99% of cases
actually pay for all shipping both ways in the case of faulty goods. We are
authorised resellers of all the products we deal with and as such have no vested
interested in moving stock just because we happen to import that product (either
as an authorised agent or a parallel impoter). I truly believe you can't be
objective in suggesting what is actually the best solution for a customer if
you've imported that product (as you obviously end up with double margin -
importers margin and retail margin). After finalising the figures for 2009/2010,
I can tell you that we have more than doubled our turnover since 2007/2008 and
held our (admittedly meager) profit margins without having to increase staff
levels (although they're always whinging about workloads) so perhaps some
introspective analysis should be embarked upon by struggling stores.
July 8th - I don't ask for help that often, but I'm a little stumped at the
moment. I thought one way to bypass the 3D HDMI pass through issue (with non
compliant receivers) would be to get an HDMI splitter and send the HDMI output
of the 3D player to the splitter then one HDMI cable direct to the TV for the 3D
picture and one HDMI cable to the receiver for the sound. Well, I certainly got
the 3D picture working (crap though it may be - a function of Monsters vs
Aliens, not the set up) but all I could get for the audio was two channel. I
played around for about three hours (by that time I'd had about six bourbons and
was useless anyway) and couldn't figure out a solution. I know some of you smart
bastards out there know more than I about this stuff so if you know of a fix,
could you please let me know, or do I wait for a certified 1.4a splitter?
July 6th - We've lately had some run ins with Digital Cinema, I would like to
apologise to Digital Cinema for any angst cased by my comments in regard to
products purchased from them made by Yamaha. Digital Cinema had an account with
Yamaha in 2009 and all products purchased from them that we're supplied by
Yamaha Australia are fully backed for warranty purposes by Yamaha Australia and
their service network. I also would like to apologise for any harm caused by my
remarks regarding the Whirlpool.net.au website. My remarks were not calculated
to bring harm or disrepute to Digital Cinema and I unreservedly apologise for
any negative impact that those comments may have caused.
June
22nd - There's a lot of price repositioning at the moment, both up (due to the
Kruddy Dollar) and down (due to importers wanting to reduce stocks for end of
financial year). If people start complaining that they purchased an item a
couple of weeks back, then there's a price reduction and they crack a nasty, how
about this, if the price goes down within 7 days, I'll refund the difference but
if the price rises, then the customer sends me the extra - that way, things will
even themselves out (imagine going into a car dealer after purchasing a vehicle
and wanting a $2000 refund because of the sale they put on a week after yours
was delivered - good luck). Just a thought!
The fact is, each time I get stock, I try to negotiate a better price than the
importers list. Sometimes I succeed, sometimes not, rather than make more money
if I do, I'll pass on the discount. It does mean however that I may pay a
significantly different amount for the same product within a short period of
time so if our prices go up or down, I'm not trying to rip anybody off or make
any more money (my % margin remains the same regardless), it's just the ebb and
flow of finances relate to the final selling price.
Sometimes, we decide to bite the bullet and clear stock at below our usual
skinny margin (Note to the dummy on Whirlpool.net.au, not all dealers make 50%
margin and are blood sucking leaches - I think his non de plume is techreder or
some such affectation), I'm not knocking the Forums incidentally as the majority
of referrals come via their posts, in fact most members are extremely
knowledgeable and certainly know more than I in specific areas, it's just that
the occasional nut case manages to learn how to touch type and infiltrate the
intelligentsia who normally reside within the Forum boundries.
Oop's, must get off Soap Box. Now, where was I? Ah yes, sometimes we have to
clear stock for the end of financial year at skinny (or silly ) margins for
example, the Mission/Yamaha 5.1 package in our specials section gets rid of a
lot of stock but there's bugger all in it for us (stop asking for a better price
on that one) and we have a few KEF iQ series speakers to move (call me on 02
9651 4922 for pricing as it'll change depending on stock levels).
Now, I must go home as it's Bourbon Time, plus I have to celebrate getting
tickets to the Chicago/America/Peter Frampton Concert in late October (scored
seats within the first five rows) - three of my favourite live performers ever!
June 17th - Well, if anything spelt the death knell of 3D TV it was last night s
State of Origin football broadcast. The occasional shots that were actually in
focus managed to give me a headache after about 5 minutes and I had to turn off
every Flouro in the house (3D cannot be watched in the vicinity of florecent
lighting). The fact that the glasses reduces the brightness by around 30% didn't
help either. Apart from the one or two movies made solely for 3D (and I don't
mean the 2D stuff like Clash of the Titans which was enhanced for 3D) - until
the holographic or lenticular systems evolve not needing glasses, it reeks of
the original Quadraphonic Stereo systems (yes, an oxymoron but that's what they
called it) when about 30 LP's we're released in Quadraphonic (Pink Flloyd being
the best of them) and was promptly forgotten.
If you're looking for the best deals in 1.4HDMI cables, don't forget my friend
Keith at EZYHD - just click on the link in the sidebar. He has some good cables
at reasonable prices (not like the vultures at Harvey's trying to get $200 -
$300 for "Monster Cable"). You probably don't need them yet but they do offer
return audio from the TV if the rest of the equipment is compatible (not
necessary but handy)
June 7th - Back from China, still intact although the motorists over there did
their best to terminate me (Sarah Connor could take a few lessons from them).
The weirdest thing we saw was a guy on a 50cc motorcycle with a 32kg propane
tank strapped to the back, he hit a bump on the road just in front of us and the
propane tank left the bike and bounced across the road. I was waiting for an
almighty explosion and a meeting with Beelzebub (I couldn't claim the 30 odd
virgins apparently - wrong religion) but all that happened was that the guy fell
off his bike and we sauntered on in the minibus as if that was an everyday
occurrence (which it probably was). Visited the factory that manufacture the KEF
products over there, very impressive and if anyone ever doubted the QC of
Chinese made equipment, our tour of the factory put any fears to rest. More on
that and specials are available in our newsletter - click the link above if you
want that delivered every month (or two depending on my moods).
May 22nd - Playing around with my new 3D TV, I stumbled upon the Channel 9 3D
Test Channel, I quickly grabbed my 3D glasses and was amazed by the Logo that
jumped out at me with stars appearing to be centimetres away from me.
Unfortunately, normal TV filmed in 3D seems fatiguing and after 60 seconds of a
soccer game filmed in 3D I had to take the glasses off and fight of nausea with
a stiff bourbon. It's now pretty well confirmed that the only time I'll be
watching anything in 3D is for movies specifically designed to be viewed in that
format and it'll ne years before there's enough to make that worthwhile. The
Samsung 7000 series TV however is still worth buying regardless of the 3D
feature (as I've said before) as I then watched a Blu-Ray disk of Kansas
http://www.amazon.com/Theres-Know-Place-Like-Blu-ray/dp/B002Q5O6YI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1274485985&sr=1-2
If I'd reviewed this Concert using my previous Panasonic Plasma or 650 series
Samsung (I've played the concert on both) then I would have given 3 stars out of
five for picture quality. Watching it last night on the 7000 series, I would now
give it 4.5 out of 5. The screen has the ability to differentiate the extra
video information from the Blu-Ray format, lesser panels show a difference but
nowhere as apparent. It seems the format I've always thought of as a minor
upgrade may now have its day (especially now we can get zone free players).
Holy crap Batman! I was reading the latest edition of Australian HiFi for a
laugh and saw a review written by Greg Borrowman. This is of some moment as most
reviewers these days wouldn't know their mouth from their arsehole when it comes
to "real" HiFi. Greg however, has been around for a long time and knows the
ropes. When he reviews a product you can be sure it's an objective look at the
unit. I may start reading the magazine for it's content in future rather than
the Len Wallis Advertisements and amusement factors. Come on Greg, how about
more frequent reviews!
May 21st - Clive Peeters has now gone into administration, mainly due to the $20
million siphoned off by some accountant, very poor monochromatic advertising and
badly designed store layout. What really irks me however is that little twerp
Kogan who puts the boot into them the same day they go under
http://www.current.com.au/2010/05/20/article/Kogan-immediately-puts-the-boot-into-Clive-Peeters/YPSWXVZQEQ
Here's the guy who sells more shit in a week than the Sydney sewerage system
handles during national Vindaloo Month. We purchased a Blu-Ray player off him -
faulty, sent it back, next one faulty, third one was also faulty so we gave up
and donated it to a web site fan (poor guy). I've heard nothing but horror
stories about the stuff he sells. Of course it's cheap, that's why people who
buy on price alone get exactly what they deserve. Fortunately for Kogan,
Australia is a country full of gamblers, you pay peanuts and get something that
may or may not work (you could get lucky and get one that doesn't fail). I sure
hope the industry puts the boot into him when customers wise up and buy
reputable products from retailers who can give technical advice. Imagine what
the warranties on the Kogan branded stuff will be worth then!
Have now been playing with the Samsung 7000 series 3D TV for a few days. You
really must buy one! The 3D thing, naturally, is a total wank, the glasses drive
you mad, the bloody things don't work within a kilometer of any fluorescent
lighting, the brightness diminishes about 35% with the glasses active, the
pseudo 3D is nauseating and there's no blu-ray content available to play anyway.
So, forgetting the HDMI 1.4 (which you'll probably never need since the only 3D
content will be free to air which means your existing 1.3a cable is fine) and
the stupid glasses, the normal picture quality for TV and Blu-Ray is stunning.
Actually better than my 8000 series 55" in the rumpus room. If it wasn't for all
the stupid questions I'd have to answer on their operation etc. and the fact
that the margins are around 10%, I'd probably sell them!
Off to China this weekend for a trip to the KEF factory so any e-mails for the
next week should be directed to Mike (same e-mail address) and he'll try to
abuse you with the same passion as I would.
May 17th - You maybe interested in this appraisal of the Samsung 3D TV (It's a
US report but should reflect on units sold here)
http://www.hometheatermag.com/3d-flat-panels/samsung_un46c8000_lcd_3d_hdtv/
As most other reviews have noted, there is a disturbing issue with the
brightness of 3D (it's almost 30% dimmer than 2D) and, whilst animated and well
lit movies look great, it remains to be seen when pictures of a dark nature
(think Blade Runner) make it to 3D. I'm still not convinced but I have put in a
firm order for a Samsung 7000 series 3D set so I can play with connectivity
issues etc. Trouble is, there's no stock for at least three weeks!
I troll through the various forums weekly for several reasons, firstly to see
who hates my guts at that particular time (quite a few although I suspect many
of the contributors are other dealers), to get a general feeling of what's going
on "out there" (wherever the hell that is) and to have a bit of a laugh. I
didn't get mush hate mail in this weeks discussions but I did get a drift on the
delay in purchasing A/V receivers due to the uncertainty of HDMI 1.4a
compatibility. Personally, I'm just as happy to run with my current Yamaha
RX-V3900 as 1) If it doesn't switch 720p/720p then I'll just run HDMI direct to
the TV and digital optical for the sound to the receiver (you can't honestly
tell me that, unless you have $10,000+ of speakers and are under 25 years of age
that you can hear any significant difference between DTS and HD Audio in general
- I know there are some showcase HD audio Blu-Ray discs but they are few and far
between), the other fix is to buy a Panasonic 3D Blu-Ray player which has two
HDMI outputs one to the TV and one to the receiver so you can get HD audio. At
this stage however, because we haven't played enough with the 3D TV thing, I
can't list which a/v receivers will pass through the 3D signal and which just
refuse to handshake. As soon as Samsung send us the bloody thing, I'll test all
the receivers in store and see who's who in the zoo!
Talking of HDMI cables, I've been going on for a year or so how unreliable and
variable the quality of cables are, it seems totally price independent as some
of the $300 - $400 cables that Harvey's and the like seem to be pushing have a
higher failure rate than some of the $40 - $70 cables we've now standardised on.
I originally sold a highly regarded, reasonably expensive brand but after three
of that particular brand cables failed in my home system, I gave them away (not
happy). One brand I've found to be consistently reliable is from EZYHD - just
click on their link in our sidebar. They ship direct, are not too expensive and
I've had no failures at all. Remember, under 5 metres, all HDMI cables give
exactly the same result - assuming they work correctly - so all this bullshit
about better picture and sound quality from the more expensive units is just
crap. It's the mechanical aspect you're paying for (quality of soldering, pin
connectivity and resilience of the cables and plugs) - all the HDMI cables (and
I'm assuming here you know a little about required bandwidth etc) deliver
digital signals which are then processed on board the A/V receiver or the video
processing unit in the TV.
I'm off to China next week to check out the KEF manufacturing facilities, should
be a hoot as I'm not particularly noted for my discretion and I'm not quite sure
if the Chinese share my sense of humour. If I end up in a local jail there, my
favourite author is Lee Child. Just send the books care of the Australian
Embassy and they'll ensure I receive them. I wonder if Peking Duck is part of
the jail diet?
May 1st - Well, I've been looking into this whole 3D TV thing and have concluded
that, at this stage, it's nothing but a gimmick. If you read some of the more
informed articles on the subject such as the following -
http://blog.ultimateavmag.com/ultimate-3d/glasses-3ds_achilles_heel/
That's the bit I'm worried about as the glasses thing can be awkward (I have to
wear the glasses over my existing glasses). Then there's this blog
http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/stories/s2813511.htm
I'm not convinced on this guys reasoning as he seems a bit of a wanker (read the
comments underneath the article) but he does make some valid points. Then
there's this -
http://www.hometheatermag.com/flat-panels/first_look_3d_samsung_un46c8000_3d_hdtv_and_bd-c6900_blu-ray_3d_player/index.html
This is a more positive article but the lack of software (probably no more than
10 Movies released in 3D in Australia this year) is likely to kill off any mass
purchasing of the product. Reading the reviews, I was going to get a 7000 series
Samsung to put an the store for trial (even though we don't sell them, we have
to keep up with the hype) but after reading that the 8000 series (to be released
later in the year) has better blacks and contract (the Achilles heel of LCD), I
think I'll wait.
Our newsletters are an interesting thing, I generally muse upon a particularly
distasteful event concerning difficult customers then, Lo and Behold, there's an
"unsubscribe" which follows - One wonders who the unsub. is (as if I couldn't
work that out). I also give the subscribers the first opportunity to purchase
any bargains that may arise. This month we had some
Yamaha BD-1065 Blu-Ray Players going for $239 down from $799, there's still
a couple left if you'd like to call us on 02 9651 4922 to procure one. There was
also a couple of new
Yamaha RX-V3900 receivers with i-Pod docks for $1990 (retails $2999) of
which there are a couple left - these are the receivers I use at home both in
the music room and the home theatre room so even at $2990 I consider them one of
the best value A/V receivers on the market.. If you haven't subscribed yet, it
could be worthwhile. Just click on the link at the top of the page.
April 2nd - Oops, I think I'm turning into a wanker (lots of you figured that
out long ago anyway) - I've just heard a musical combo to die for, the new
Vincent TAC-V60 Valve amplifier matched with the TAC-C-60 CD Player. Both use
valves which is unusual for me to get excited about because the only decent high
power valve amps I've heard in the past were $6000 plus. The V60 retails for
$3990 and blows the competition to the weeds (in that price range), the matching
CD also retails for $3990. This combo will improve the sound of just about any
speaker you can run with. I must have been impressed (or drunk) as I've now
ordered them and will have them on demo by the end of next week. For pure
musicality, it's a hard act to follow although the "audiophiles" out there who
think I've turned may wish to note that I still use a REL subwoofer with any
speaker I run with them (sorry, it's the rock and roller in me - I just like my
music to be "live") and no, I don't have any turntables hooked up!
March 22nd - In my never ending quest for musical perfection, once again I
let myself be dragged kicking and screaming to a live concert. This time it was
Cotton, Keays and Morris
http://www.mastersapprentices.com/ckmnews.htm
They may be old and getting on a bit but musically superb. I saw them at North
Sydney Leagues Club which has one of the best House Sound Systems around.
Listening to the mix, it hit me that the major difference between a good
domestic system and the live performance was the immediacy and impact of the
drums. I spent most of the next day (Sunday) listening to a variety of music in
my newly tuned music room and found that the difference is probably more to do
with the production than the system. If you get a copy of Joe Jacksons Volume 4
http://www.amazon.com/4-Joe-Jackson-Band/dp/B00008J2F7/ref=pd_sim_m_3/105-8944040-7858023
You'll hear one of the best produced CD's ever, the drums on most tracks are
totally realistic (listen on "Chrome"). Having seen Joe Jackson live on at least
three occasions, I can do a reasonable live/recorded comparison.
As always, however, I'll continue on my search and go to as many live concerts
as my aging body will take (one has to take into account the alcohol consumption
needed to blend in with today's audiences and the fact that my liver isn't
processing as it used to).
My wife told me to clean up the rumpus room, this is where I normally take
various bits and pieces home to test. I can still do that but I have to clean up
the mess the same night (some wives just don't understand). So, my new official
rumpus room system is as follows -
Now, I know this doesn't look impressive (none of my systems do) but believe me,
it sounds BIG and accurate. System consists of Yamaha RX-V3900 A/V Receiver,
Panasonic BD-60 Blu-Ray (soon to be replaced by the Cambridge Audio BD650),
TiVo, Foxtel (satellite), KEF XQ40's, KEF iQ60C Centre (yes, I know the XQ50C is
the matching centre but A) it doesn't fit, B) it's bloody expensive and C) the
iQ60C doesn't sound much different. The subwoofer is the Definitive Technology
SuperCube 3 (very small, absolutely unbelievable in performance). You'll notice
I still have plenty of room either side of the cabinet for when I take home
anything from Signature 8's to Definitive Technology BP7001's - my ability to
test various rigs therefore is undiminished. TV incidentally (we don't sell
them) is the Samsung 55" 8000 series. Guitar is an Ovation.
March 20th - There's been a lot of disconcerted potential purchasers of A/V
equipment regarding the new HDMI 1.4 format, most people are under the
impression that HDMI 1.4a will be necessary to transmit data for the new 3D
formats. This will not be the case according to David Meyer (CEDIA Certified
Instructor), All 1.4a will have over 1.3a is the addition of an optional HDMI
Ethernet Channel (the only physical change) and changes to labeling. Any high
speed 1.3a certified HDMI cable will be fine for 3D transmission from player to
display panel as long as the bandwidth or speed is sufficient. According
to David, the minimum acceptable bandwidth is 1.98 Gbps with 3.96 Gbps handling
the highest resolution for movies and games. Most high quality shorter cables
will cause no grief but beware when purchasing cables of 5 metres or greater as
that's when bandwidth can get somewhat throttled. For more information you can
visit www.kordz.com as they seem to be one of
the few sources of information that's up to date.
March 15th - I don't mind being berated in regards to selling crap gear but
I'd like a little acknowledgement when the purchaser blames me for selling a
"shitty" product then finding out the problem was him setting up the equipment
incorrectly in the first place. I sold a particularly good quality A/V receiver
to a guy who received it then e-mailed about how bad it sounded and could I take
it back because it was unfit for human consumption (or some such thing). Being
the kind hearted person I am, I offered a full refund if he sent it back in
original boxes etc. I didn't hear any more about it but read the saga on DTV
Forum (I get a lot of referrals and support from the guys on DTV) - apparently
the guy had no idea how to hook the thing up, finally read the manual and ended
up with a decent sound. Fortunately some of the guys on the Forum guided him in
the right direction otherwise I'd have a perfectly good A/V receiver for sale
(slightly used). All I needed was an e-mail from the guy to say "sorry, I fucked
up" but no, if it wasn't for me reading the Forums every day, I'd still be
wondering.
I have the same problem currently with a customer who bought a pair of speakers
of which myself and the staff are particularly fond. Admittedly, he bought them
on my recommendation but was disappointed with the end result (sonically), I've
offered him a full credit on them but my worry is that, given we rate them very
highly, that his room acoustics are that bad , anything decent that goes in will
sound just as bad or worse. Still, the customer is always right so it pays to
make everyone happy (he mumbles).
Talking of room acoustics, I've finally reached satisfaction point in my music
room, the wife has made it a bit clinical and made my guitars look a bit poncy
at the back but acoustically it's almost Nirvana (not the band you idiot!) - I
know it doesn't look much but everyone who's listened to music from the lounge
chair has raved unconditionally about the sound. I'm running a Yamaha RX-V3900
receiver, Sonos ZP90 (accessing my complete CD collection, ripped as .WAV onto
my home computer in another room), DacMagic, Definitive Technology Mythos Ones,
DT Mythos 8 Centre, REL T1 Subwoofer, DT Gems (surrounds), Samsung Blu-Ray
Player (to be changed to a Cambridge Audio BD650 as soon as available in zone
free configuration). The TV is a 46" Samsung (I use a Samsung 55" LCD/LED in my
Rumpus room as the picture is more critical in there)
Actually, it doesn't look like much at all really. Good job it sounds magic!
That's the back of the room, it only looks neat 'cause the lovely Noelene had
just finished tidying up, don't worry, those guitars will be down and rocking
before you see this.
March 6th - Shitty business this. If I quote someone on a deal then I'll
stick to it even if I've made a mistake and it costs me money (I've done it many
times). Unfortunately, I must be in the minority. We agreed on a price for a
particular speaker package with an importer and he supplied some of the speakers
at the agreed price with the balance to be sent when stock was available. The
stock is now available but the DRSFB (you work out the acronym) has put the
price up around 20%. As I've already taken orders and deposits on some of these
systems, I have to honour my agreements and lose money on those deals. Obviously
I won't be dealing with the DRSFB again and in future I'll take more notice of
other people in the industry who warned me not to deal with him.
On a brighter note, Audi contacted me and said there was a software fix for my
turbo lag (I have the 3.0 TDI) - Currently, from a standstill, I floor the
accelerator then wait a couple of minutes before the great lump of metal decides
to get motivated. Extremely dangerous when merging in to peak hour traffic.
Hopefully by next Thursday I'll be driving normally again.
There's been some murmurings on the Forums about me favouring some Yamaha
speaker packages. It's true, I do have a couple of packages I recommend whist
their on sale as they offer the best sound for the dollar within that particular
price range. As I always say, there are no good or bad speakers, only the best
sounding in a particular price range (given the aesthetics are suitable) and
whilst the Yamaha packs are around half price, there's nothing to come near them
(those deals don't last for too long however). There was a need for a slightly
better system however for those with greater financial resources so we harassed
the various importers and tested a variety of combinations before putting
together a package from KEF (Speakers) and Yamaha (subwoofer) which shows a 35%
discount. You can check it out on our specials page.
February 26th - In my never ending quest for the perfect
live sound, once again I let myself be dragged into a
concert. This time it was a show at Star City called
The Fab Four
Now, I'm not a fan of tribute shows but these guys have to
be seen to be believed. It's as if the Beatles just dropped
in for a gig (except the sound was better than any Beatles
concert ever). This was the best experience I've had
musically since Fleetwood Mac. If you get a chance, you just
have to see these guys before they head back the the US.
February 25th - It's now official, the new importers of
Paradigm are Audio Active, they will be getting their first
container in about two weeks so there may be a few hiccups
until then (although we generally carry plenty of stock).
There is a new version (V3) of the Signature series just
about to be released (about six weeks) so we're clearing our
demo stock. Now the interesting bit, most reviewers have
stated the new V3's are no better or not as good as the V2's
- just more efficient (no big deal as the V2's are over 90dB
anyway). I've listed the clearance price on the specials
page. Note also that the V3's have come down in price as
Paradigm have apparently tried to cut a few corners to make
the Signatures more affordable. The remaining V2's may well
be a true bargain then.
February 22nd - In my never ending quest to find musical
perfection, once again I had to attend a live concert on
Friday, just to ensure I retain the "live" sound which I
always try to attain at home. I went to see "The Motown
Event" at Sydney Entertainment Centre. It was all a bit sad
really with most groups having only one original member
(speaking of which, Glenn A Baker had a slash next to me in
the urinal and he had one member I have no wish to see
again), Martha (Martha and the Vandellas) lost her voice and
Jimmy Barnes murdered several songs. Ian Moss, by contrast,
did an excellent job both on vocals and guitar. All in all,
not something you'd rush out to see. For once, I agree with
the review in the Sydney Morning Herald, a tabloid so
powerful that when placed in the front seat of my car, the
car continually pulls to the left (I've learned that putting
Alan Jones on the radio at the same time corrects this
anomaly). I spent a couple of hours last night trolling
through my CD collection (well, WAV. files on my hard drive
to be precise) listening to my new set up with the Mythos
One speakers, REL Subwoofer, Yamaha RX-V3900 receiver and
DacMagic, I'm even more convinced it's one of the best set
ups I've experienced in my music room.
February 18th - Sometimes, I discover things
accidentally, such as excellent sound. Reason is, I sold my
Definitive Technology BP 7001's to a customer who just have
to have them (at the price I sold them for, I don't blame
him) so I needed a speaker for my music studio. I got the
guys to set up a pair of KEF XQ20's with a REL T2 Subwoofer
in their place (a combination that sounded superb in the
store). I got home, started a listening session and the
thing sounded like shit! The top end was just too harsh with
not mid bass. I was pretty pissed off especially since the
Definitive Technology Mythos Ones in my Theatre Room
disappointed me with their lack of dynamics. In a moment of
desperation, I changed the speakers over so the KEF's were
in the theatre room and the DT's in the music room. Holy
Batshit Robin! What a difference. The DT Mythos Ones in the
Music Room now give me absolutely the best sound I've EVER
had in my house (or just about any other place I've
listened), Last night I spent four hours just trolling
through my music collection hearing things I've never heard
before. Bloody amazing, it brought all my music to life.
Interestingly, the KEF XQ20's sounded fantastic in my
theatre room, it's just another case of demonstrating the
importance of room acoustics and placement.
February 13th - OK, I'm back from Holidays and I have to
tell you, going from 3*C in San Francisco to 39* in Sydney
is a heck of a shock to the system. The guy's did a good job
in my absence although there's a few stores out there
getting aggressive on pricing so I'll have to sharpen my
pencil (so to speak) on some sale items. One store causing a
bit of grief is a mob in Melbourne advertising cheap Yamaha
products without clearly mentioning that they're all
reconditioned units with only 12 months warranty (Yamaha
factory warranty is 2 years) so if you see something
advertised at a price substantially lower than anyone else
can do it for, just ask how long the warranty lasts, that'll
get to the bottom of the matter immediately.
February 1st - All the guys (from the industry) are now
back from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and it
seems that the audio side of things got the arse this year.
Everyone came back raving about the new 3D screens which
will be available mid year, no one mentioned any significant
audio products. They were probably there but were swamped by
the Gee Whiz factor from Samsung, Sony et al. It's a great
pity as there are still many boundaries to be explored and
perfected in regards to audio. Certainly, if they can give
us 3D TV, then 3D sound from a single pair of speakers
should be no problem. I'm not talking about Yamaha's amazing
sound bar which actually does give true surround from a
point source (if the room acoustics allow) but more in the
line of modulating a sonic beam to make sound "appear"
around the listener. This has been done previously but not
perfected to the point of commercial reality. As specialist
audio retailers, we certainly need something new to spice
things up. The thing that irks me is the ratio of money
spent on audio in relation to video. In controlled
experiments, it's been shown that a small screen with BIG
sound gives a better and more exciting, physical experience
than a BIG picture with small sound and yet people still
spend $7000 on their new PanaSony 200" LCD/LED/PLASMA yet
only want to spend $1000 on some crappy little sound system
to go with it. This is partly our fault (as consumer
retailers) as all the marketing effort goes into the sale of
screens, generally as a result of the fact that it's a lot
easier for the salesman to rip $5000 off you for a single
box (TV) than go through the rigmarole of choosing the
correct sound system to suit your room acoustics etc using a
variety of A/V receivers and speaker combinations (all of
which takes knowledge and experience not usually associated
with the major department stores and box movers).
I'm taking a couple of weeks off to recharge the batteries (and mow the
lawn, clean the pool - you know the drill) so Mike will be
answering the e-mails 'till I'm back. I've given the boys
some really hot deals so they have something to do during my
absence. No e-mailing for these, just call one of the guys
(Mike, Kevin or Craig) on 02 9651 4922. Here's the list
Yamaha RX-Z7 - We had a cancelled order for a couple so
these units (brand new, factory sealed with full 2 year
Yamaha Warranty), which are normally $4499 will go for $2990
each.
Yamaha AW592 Outdoor Speakers - part of the same deal.
Retail $399, we have them in white for $249 pair.
Yamaha 5.1 Speaker Package consisting -
1 X Pair NS-555 Mains
1 X Pair NS-333 Surrounds
1 X NS-C444 Centre
1 X
YST-RSW300 Subwoofer
Retail on that package is $3146, we have them for $1499.
Add one of the receivers from Onkyo or Yamaha we have on our
specials page and you'll have a great system.
Remember, Phone orders (02 9651 4922) or Personal Shoppers
only for these specials.
January 22nd - The relevance of the previous blog just
hit me. I didn't drive the new Audi before buying it - I
never test drive cars as it gives a false sense of synergy.
I'll explain. If you test drive a new car and it has a "wow"
factor, it means that something really stands out in
relationship to every other car that you've driven, that
means something is (generally) radically different and your
stimulus is responding to that difference. That "wow" factor
can quickly become annoying when living with the vehicle on
a day to day basis. In the case of the Audi, that philosophy
would have worked in reverse. After a day driving the thing
I had the shits. Bloody turbo lag when taking off from a
standing start, shitty sound system, steering wheel shake.
If I'd have driven it on a test drive I would never have
bought it. After a couple of days I'm now used to the lag (I
take off in anticipatory mode), I've forgiven the crappy
sound and ended up listening to AM or EQ'd i-Pod, and
adjusted the steering wheel so it's closer to the dash which
has virtually eliminated the shake. Now I'm enjoying the
superb seats (the joys of which were not apparent for the
first few days), the immense 500Nm of torque and the all
wheel drive (I have a very steep driveway). In other words,
I'm bloody happy with a car I wouldn't have purchased had I
test driven it. The analogy with HiFi shouldn't be
discounted. When people come in and listen to HiFi, be it
speakers, receivers or a complete package, the "wow" factor
can be a deal clincher (you know the one - subwoofers
shaking your guts, vocals jumping out at you) then when the
system is set up at home, those very things can absolutely
annoy the crap out of you as prolonged listening in that
situation can be fatiguing. I'm not saying you shouldn't
listen to the stuff, I'm just pointing out the fact that you
should maybe listen to what the salesman has to say in terms
of music type, room situation, furnishings etc. and factor
his opinion into the equation (and by salesman, I'm talking
about guys from specialist stores, not box movers). An
interesting fact is that over 70% of all our sales are done
without demonstration - not through laziness on the part of
the customer, or indeed ourselves, but as a consequence of
distance or lack of time. The sales are generally to people
who have researched the product and know what they want and
are happy to purchase from us due to either our reputation,
pricing or ability to offer after sales service or they
answer the questions on our HELP page and with our
experience with various types of equipment in different
types of environments, we can offer a solution within a
particular budget (assuming the budget is realistic)
January 19th - Awkward really. I don't normally admit to
semi catastrophic mistakes (when you reach my age, you're
supposed to have a modicum of intelligence) but I made a
rather expensive one last year. Nothing to do with HiFi, but
noteworthy none the less. It's like this you see, I don't
normally keep my cars beyond three years (tyres need
changing, seats get dirty, interior needs a vacuum etc) so I
go and look at how much money the bank will lend me and
chuff off to the nearest car dealer. My last car was a Lexus
GS300, nice vehicle, very quite, great sound system (oh,
there is some relevance after all) and it had a certain
"presence" with it's menacing dark grey metallic. I used to
get to work in a serene state and was ready to take on the
world (well, maybe the 30 or so e-mails waiting for me).
After the mandatory three years (which just happens to
correspond to a normal car lease period) I went back into
the Lexus dealer and was seduced by the smaller (albeit more
nimble) IS250. It was cute, had every possible extra
(Radar cruise, auto everything) and for the first couple of
months we got on like a house on fire. Unfortunately, the
magic faded and I became bored. I guess it's kind of like
moving in to live with Angelina Jolie then discovering that
after a month or so of wild, frenzied physicality that all
you want to do is get into bed and sleep. This lack of
communication between me and my car (or should that be, my
car and I? I'm sure Clive will correct me on that) became
extremely frustrating to the point that I was dreading
driving to work. Lo and behold, on they way home from work
the other day I spied, just sitting in a car yard, what I
considered to be one of the best looking cars I've ever
seen. Naturally I stopped to admire it (it was an Audi A5)
and as I was drooling the salesman came out to do the
obligatory "How may I help you sir?" To my amazement, said
salesman turned out to be Steve Drew, I guy I went to school
with, played guitar with and rode bikes with (all over 40
years ago incidentally). He had no hesitation in giving me
the keys to this beautifully sculpted mobile artwork and
told me to go on an extended drive. It didn't take long.
After 10 minutes I'd signed up for a new car. Obviously I
did my arse on the Lexus but to my eye's it was worth it. I
did three things I swore I'd never do - sell my car before
the first year of ownership, buy a diesel (it's a 3 litre
turbo) and purchase without shopping around (some guys you
just have to trust). With 500nm of torque, I get the feeling
that I can pull an airbus from the terminal to the runway in
record time. I love it, I just hope it takes a while longer
before I want to go straight to bed and turn out the lights!
January 12th - I don't normally do this but I'll put a
link to last months newsletter here for those who don't
normally sign up for it. The reason is, I listed some
various methods of playback media and their effectiveness
which appears to have opened up a wasps nest. You may be
interested. Don't click on the link if you get offended by
my warped sense of humour or are basically a nasty person.
http://www.eastwoodhifi.com.au/news12.htm
January 8th - OK so it's been a while since the last
update. We've just had the best month in the 30 years and
I've been flat out so stop bitching! We also got burgled a
week ago and we have some lovely photo's from our video
surveillance which Mr. Plod now has (it's amazing that the
robbers hide their faces from the camera's with lights on
them but ignore the ones with infra red and no "on"
indication). I've also upgraded security so it's going to be
fun watching the next surveillance video (can't say much
more on that). Fortunately, we didn't lose any stock so
trading wasn't affected. Decembers newsletter was also
delayed and will be out this weekend for the masochists out
there.
December 21st - Well, the package I referred to below
from DHL still hasn't arrived and appears to be waiting in
Silverwater for some strange reason. It's now been almost a
week since it landed in Sydney. So, the next person from
interstate who rings up and complains that their
delivery has taken two days instead of one can go and get
well and truly rooted!
Our Manager, Mike, went and got himself hitched yesterday to
the beautiful Maryann. Unfortunately that meant all the
remaining staff were pretty useless today. If you forgive
the slurring of words and inebriated responses over the
phone, I promise we'll be back to normal tomorrow.
December 17th - So, I go and buy a new Netbook, the HP
Mini 5101 came up as the best option (1.2kgs, 320GB HD at
7200 RPM, 2 GB RAM all for around $750). It came with XP and
Vista with the option to upgrade to Windows 7 for $19.95.
Obviously a no-brainer so I order the upgrade. Hats off to
HP as they shipped the disc from Singapore the same day. It
was picked up by DHL and arrived in Sydney the next day
(they give you a tracking number to follow it) and then -
THREE days to get to Dural. I could have walked to the
airport and back in that time! We're less than an hour from
the airport via the motorway. I called DHL and they said
there wasn't much call for deliveries out here so they use a
contractor who takes 2 - 3 days to get out here. Boy, was I
pissed off. People may complain about the couriers we use
(TNT) but at least they get the goods to us a heck of a lot
faster than that DHL mob.
December 15th - We've now started our Christmas sales.
All Yamaha and Onkyo Receivers, KEF Speakers and REL
Subwoofers are at least 20% off retail, Paradigm speakers
and subs are as low as we can go. Just call 02 9651 4922 for
pricing.
December 8th - In keeping with my penchant for live music
(and because it was my wife's birthday) Last nigh I went to
see Fleetwood Mac. The most amazing concert I've had the
pleasure to see. Stevie Nicks is living proof that, no
matter how much botox you use, it doesn't affect the voice
(absolutely superb) and Lindsay Buckingham re-enforced his
position as one of the great guitar players of all time (you
had to be there to appreciate the blues solo) - I was lucky
enough to be in the second row and the band asked for the
first two rows to come up to the stage, consequently we
heard the mix through the foldback monitors rather than the
front of house system (the band didn't use those in-ear
monitors apart from Stevie). I'm still buzzing today!
If you're looking for a pair of magic sounding bookshelf
speakers, we've decided to move some ex-display speakers
(never used) from KEF. These are the
KEF XQ20's I used to have a pair of these at home as my
reference monitors and still find them to be one of the best
sounding bookshelf speakers I've ever used. We have a pair
in Gloss Black and another pair in Gloss Mahogany. Retail
was $3999 pair (although that should go down slightly with
the better exchange rate), we have these at $1990 pair.
December 2nd - About ten times each week I get e-mails
asking why pricing hasn't dropped on imported products since
the Aussie dollar has improved against most overseas
currencies. Generally it's because most larger companies buy
forward cover on their purchases for periods of between
three months to one year and it can take that long for the
changes to manifest themselves (Yamaha, for instance, buy 12
months cover so their prices generally reflect the A$ as it
was in March/April) Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.
Smaller companies however pay per container and their
pricing should reflect the $A of around four to eight weeks
previous. I say this because there are certain small
importers who really stick it up us (us being the retailer
and consumer). There's a particular company I deal with
whose product I've always heavily endorsed (I use them at
home) who put their prices up within 2 days of the Aussie
dollar collapse down to US62c and now we've been back up to
around 90c for the last couple of months haven't even hinted
at any price reduction. I believe this is pure price gouging
and it really pisses me off to the point of looking around
for a better value for money product. I've always contended
that there are no absolutes in HiFi (or any other commodity
for that matter) just the best value in that particular
price bracket. This is particularly applicable to the
loudspeaker market where the product is made for worldwide
distribution (as opposed to anything electronic which is
made specifically for our region). I mention this because I
had a discussion with one of our major speaker suppliers
yesterday, KEF, and they have reduced their pricing down
around 20% over the last six months - not in one hit mind
you, but gradually as the dollar crept up. This means they
are financially and sociably responsible and as a
consequence now have some of the best value - for - money
speakers on the Australian market (at the retail level,
opposed to some of the specials we manage to rip off
Definitive Technology etc.). I haven't the full revised
pricelists yet but if you're in the market for a good
speaker system, you might want to check out their range at
the KEF website
and check with us for current pricing. As an example, the
2008 speaker of the year was the Paradigm Monitor 11, the
KEF iQ90 is every bit as good but was $300 more ($3100
against $2790) and it all boils down to the best product at
the price. The iQ90's have now been reduced to $2490 (with
enough dealer margin to offer a bit more off) and
consequently would now be a better buy. As I said, there are
no absolutes in this industry (except absolute greed).
Anything with electronics in it has a different time line as
often the equipment is made just for the Australian market
and must be costed well in advance so don't take it out on
A/V receivers etc.
November 27th - I haven't had a laugh for a while so I
thought I'd read some of the Pommie HiFi mags to lift my
mood. I started with HiFi Choice and was quite intrigued to
find some rational reviews which were quite enlightening,
then, of course, they had do that stupid stuff on a
particular speaker cable which had "excellent bass with
impact, tunefulness (?????????) and extension all first rate
plus very good imaging" One wonders what mystical properties
the atomic structure had woven by the sonic elves in the
underground copper foundry (I'm a metallurgist so that crap
doesn't sit well with me) and if you read on about the
dielectric and inductance values impacting on the sound, you
realise the reviewer was an arts student (probably failed)
at Uni. Certainly he would never have got through Physics
101. It gets worse however - I'll ignore the reviews on
Turntables from the next zillion pages as I realise some
people have not yet arrived in the digital age (or worse,
regressed to analogue) and we get to the reviews on speaker
stands, specifically how the wooden stands reviewed gave the
speakers a particularly sweet treble sound making that
particular reviewer wonder if even the best metal stands
still add a trace of colouration lacking in wooden designs.
Before I read any more and risked turning into a miasma of
putrid decay, I threw that mag. away and read HiFi World
hoping for some sanity. It's certainly a better thought out
read with the comments more meaningful to the potential
consumer with the only slip occurring when the writer who
tested the new Yamaha Soavo 1.1's mentioned the fact that
they were very close to the originals which he'd spent a
couple of weeks listening to TWO YEARS AGO!!!! Heavens
above, what a sonic memory this guy must have. The good
thing gained from this exercise reading about this industry
from the perspective of people living in the land of smoke
and mirrors is that it makes Australian HiFi and Australian
Sound and Image magazines seem glowing by comparison (even
if they do lack a little in content). Good work Jez, Greg
and the guys.
November 21st - I'm always looking for new CD's as demo's
to show off speaker systems and to that end get a lot sent
to me from aspiring artists (plus I buy a heap of CD's from
here and overseas). One CD that took my fancy as a well
produced, clear sounding and actually was soothing to play
in the car during my stressful commute was from a lady
called Roseanna Gallo, the CD is called "On the right track"
and is available from her website
http://www.rgmusic.com.au/
Apart from the religious connotation (which doesn't manifest
itself to any great degree) its well worth buying as a
system tester if not a relaxation and mood enhancer.
Recommended.
November 18th - It's official - Kogan Blu-Ray players are
crap! The first one we ordered had a hum from the power
supply that was so loud, the neighbours complained. The
second one we received worked for a week now it keeps
freezing randomly regardless of which DVD/Blu-Ray we put in
it. The next move is straight to the dumpster as I just
can't be bothered with it. Then I received a call from a
friend of mine in the business (speaker importer) who asked
about them as he was on his second unit as well and wondered
if he was doing something wrong, well he was, he was
purchasing rubbish. Avoid them like the plague and remember
- you generally get what you pay for.
Thanks to the guys on the Forums, especially Whirlpool and
DTV Forum, as our web hosting system can tell where the
referrals originate, I can see we get a lot of people from
those Forums contacting us. We really appreciate it (even
those inane questions sometimes lead to sales). I also
notice we get some detractors saying our prices are too
high. Well, we can't always compete with the box movers who
are happy to make $50 a box regardless of cost but generally
we match or beat most other stores and, more importantly, we
can offer technical advice and suggestions for add ons etc.
There are also some internet cowboys out there importing
from Singapore and Hong Kong who you'd be a little silly to
purchase from as there's no warranty (apart from the guy who
brought them in and good luck with that), plus places that
advertise products that are not available to them just to
screw up the market (like the mob in Melbourne advertising
Paradigm speakers really cheap - they have no access to the
product but still list them). Oh well, that's all part of
business I guess and the stress of it all keeps the Bourbon
manufacturers happy (I think I'm up to around four bottles a
week now).
November 14th - Small industry this. As you know, we
bought a truckload of Definitive Technology speakers which
had slight marks or were excess stock at ridiculous prices
(most all sold now) and as I had a few questions about
purchasing new product at a bulk price, I called the manager
of the distribution agent. It turned out to be a guy called
Manny who I dealt with 15 years ago when he ran the sales
and distribution of M&K Speakers, in fact Manny took me to
lunch a couple of times in Melbourne when I visited their
premises. He consequently left that company and now is the
Business Development Manager for the importer of DT and
several other brands. We haven't worked anything out yet but
hopefully we can come to some financial agreement to sell
Definitive Technology products at a competitive price with
an ongoing relationship. That'd be good as I now use DT at
home. It's not that I've given up on Paradigm (still the
best value speaker on the market at normal prices), it's
just that with the inbuilt subwoofers and price/performance
ratio of the DT's (at the rate we bought them from last
time), they're hard to beat. Hopefully Manny will remember
me fondly and let me purchase at a nice price :)
November 5th - I thought I was going to be sued by the
aforementioned Mr. Martin over my HK comments but it doesn't
seem to have happened. Pity as I paid to have a lawyer go
over the figures and was all ready to get down and dirty,
still, less a waste of money than piece of mind. Lucky my
uncle is a QC (or Silk as they're now referred to) and I get
a good rate.
The fastest moving special I've had in years was the
Definitive Technology Speakers (7001s and 7006's) as we sold
out everything in the store in less than 7 days (over 30
pairs) so I had to look for something else exciting on the
speaker front. Luckily for me, Definitive Technology had
some of their Hero Speakers (Mythos
STS) - in both Gloss Black and Gloss Silver (more shiny
aluminium) which, due to the way they were packaged, have
slight marks on the casing. These marks are due to the
plastic wrapping clinging to the boxes and are easily
cleaned off with Windex or some such cleaner. You don't need
me to tell you how good they are, just click
HERE for reviews
from Stereophile, HERE
for reviews from Home Entertainment Magazine and
HERE from Home Theatre
Magazine. Remember, all prices quoted in the reviews are US
pricing. Retail is $6500 pair. We didn't get many of these,
but at $2990 pair they sure won't last long. We also have
some matching centres (Mythos
10) in Silver only which retail for $1999 and we have
them for $990. Don't mess around with this lot as they'll go
as quick as the last specials.
October 31st - Annual Sound and Image Magazine awards
were last Wednesday night and there were some interesting
developments and awards. Most surprising (or maybe not) was,
for the second year in a row, the Yamaha RX-V3900 won the
best A/V receiver of the year under $4000. As I use two of
these at home (one in my music room and one in the
rumpus/movie room) I obviously made my mind up on that a one
a year ago. Unfortunately, they're out of stock for some
time so we've had to do our usual "lets find a replacement
at a red hot price" deal. Call me on the pricing of the
Onkyo TX-NR906 receiver (normally $5999 and way better than
the 3900 but you may be surprised at our price, or the Onkyo
TX-SR806 which is the Onkyo equivalent of the 3900.
The other interesting award was the Harman Kardon HD990 DVD
Player, it's a great unit but I often wonder if the judges
take into account the reliability of the product. In the
last 12 months we sold HK, our return rate for faulty
products was in excess of 85% so we naturally discontinued
our association with the distributor. Oh, just in case you
don't believe us, just call the HK product person John
Martin on 02 9700 0111 (no lies now Johnny as we have all
the documentation filed in store here). I'd almost feel
sorry for him but I notice he received a bonus last year. As
I only get to see most of the industry people annually you
get a "snapshot in time" so one notices the size
differential. Simon Goldsworthy (MD of Yamaha Australia)
last year was a little on the rotund side, this year he
looked positively svelte, fit and a lot happier, I suspect
he donated the extra weight to aforesaid Mr. Martin who is
now a lot, shall we say, meatier and certainly a lot less
relaxed and quite frankly has turned into a right rude
individual. Must be the 10kgs donation from Simon. Some
people are just so ungrateful.
Scott Krix was honoured for his service to the Australian
Speaker industry, quite deservedly so as he is a true
pioneer in local manufacture (in fact, he used to make our
Australian Acoustics speakers back in the late 80's when
Scott McKenzie and Richard Priddle did the design work in
conjunction with Scott Krix). Alex Encle was honoured for
something (can't remember what) but his speech contained far
more references to his testicles than was appropriate whilst
eating desert (sorbet, about testicle size)
Onkyo got the best A/V receiver of the year over $4000 with
the TX-NR5007 (retails $5999) and is the successor to the
TX-NR906 (not substantially different but they have gone to
a four digit reference number so it must be better). We
stock those too but whilst the 906's are being run out at a
ridiculous price, I wouldn't grab one just yet until the
906's are all gone.
I can't remember much more of the awards as the wine was
giving me a headache, if Jez Ford (Editor of Sound and Image
Magazine) can't afford a slightly better brand of piss for
next year, I'll personally donate a good piece of HiFi so he
can raffle it off and add another $10 per bottle so I can go
to work clear headed the next day (shame on you Jez, just
because your missus doesn't let you drink on the night
doesn't mean the rest of us have to suffer)
All in all however, a good night and it's always good to
catch up with the other guys in the industry (even though
one rude bastard wouldn't shake my offered hand - it's a
very small industry - one can only hope he's not looking to
move companies anytime soon).
Note to late comers. We close at 5.30 weekdays and after
that the guys are usually off delivering or fixing up
systems so they have to get out on time. When Morrie Moron
drops in at 5.15 for a speaker comparison, then starts to
argue about pricing (after already getting one of our red
hot discounts) and expects us to have his particular colour
in stock (after asking about colours a week earlier) and
getting shitty 'cause we have to order it in - he can't
really complain when our guys get a little shirty with him.
Personally, if I was there, he would have got a gobfull (I'm
not known for my subtlety) so maybe next time Morrie should
consider other people apart from himself (Morrie is not his
real name - it's guarded to protect the innocent).
October 23rd - Toy time. I've finally found a speaker that
excites me more than Paradigm (for the money). It's called a
Definitive Technology BP7001SC. I won't go into the details
except that at $8000 it was too expensive for me but at
$3500 pair they're an absolute steal (considering each
speaker has a built in 1500 Watt subwoofer) - check them out
on our Specials page.
October 15th - As most of our customers find us via the
'net, there's a lot of comparative pricing going on out
there. We don't mind as we don't pretend to be the cheapest
for every product (although we do try) as we also offer
service and advice which the box movers can't. Sometimes
however, there are on line stores with ridiculous pricing
that makes us look bad. That can either be from companies
who parallel import the product from overseas (good luck
with those as there's no factory warranty or support) or in
the case of one Melbourne based store, someone who is just
trying to screw the market. This particular store is
offering Paradigm Speakers at prices at or below our cost.
They used to be a Paradigm dealer but are no longer as they
owe lots of money. No longer being official Paradigm dealers
they have no access to stock but keep the product on their
web page at silly pricing. Just beware, if they are sourcing
it from elsewhere, there's no warranty but usually, as you
try to order, they'll try to switch you to a different brand
(the old Bait and Switch routine). And you thought Car
Dealers were bad!
October 13th - Normally, around this time of year, Yamaha
would be announcing a replacement for it's
RX-V3900 as that range generally runs for 12 months
before an upgrade, this time however, the product has been
such a hit worldwide and there's little they can do to
improve on it, that they're running with it for the
foreseeable future (indeed, I run two of them at home, one
in the rumpus for Home Theatre and one in my music room,
primarily for two channel music). Consequently, the
next time I get an e-mail from some smart bugger telling me
they're being superseded so what's my best discount run out
price, I'll get very, very upset! They retail for $2999
including free i-Pod dock and I already have them on special
for $2390 - trust me, they ain't getting any cheaper! The
RX-V1900 has been replaced by the
RX-V1065 at $1899 ($1599 discount with free i-Pod dock)
and
RX-V2065 (almost identical sonically, just a little more
connectivity) at $2499 ($1999 discount).
October 3rd - Mike just returned from 2 weeks in LA and
agrees with my assessment of Blu-Ray. Over there (in the US)
the media is just outstripping standard DVD by some margin.
All the rental stores and sell through video stores feature
Blu-Ray ahead of DVD and the pricing is on a par with DVD.
As the benefits of Blu-Ray over standard DVD is marginal at
best (and I do my testing now on the new Samsung 55" 850 LED
backlit LCD) both in terms of audio and video quality, until
the pricing in Australia is at parity, then there's little
reason to go Blu-Ray over here (except perhaps as a good DVD
player as the better Blu-Ray players have excellent
upscaling facilities). Mike can't help himself and bought
around 15 Blu-Ray discs whilst away, lucky he has a Japanese
spec. PS3 which plays the Zone A discs from over there
(we're zone B in Australia).
September 29th - Someone wanted to buy my demo REL sub from
home so I had to replace it over the weekend. I decided to
revisit the Yamaha
YST-SW515 as it's a unit I've had at home before and it
matched well with my main speakers (Soavo 2's) in my music
room. Funny how placement can make all the difference as the
last time I used the Yamaha sub in the same room, it sounded
great. Since then I've moved everything around and the
subwoofer placement was in a different corner. When I tried
to adjust the new Yamaha, I couldn't get any bass out of the
bloody thing at all. I put the sub in the other front corner
and the difference was amazing, it actually sounded better
than the REL T2 I had in the previous week and considering
the Yamaha is on sale at $699, that's some feat (the REL is
$1499). The Yamaha sounded more musical, tighter and had
more slam for movies. It just goes to show how the room
configuration can affect the performance of any sound
system. Looks like I'll be keeping the Yammie in that room
(although in tour rumpus room which is twice the size, I'll
be keeping the REL T1) Incidentally, the photo of the Yamaha
515 isn't particularly flattering but it actually looks good
in the flesh (despite that, I had a customer reject my
suggestion for one on the basis of the bad photo - his
loss!)
September 24th - As I don't get to play with every brand of
speaker or electronics, I do what most of you guys do and
buy, read and absorb stuff written on the net and in the
magazines. As I'm sick of picking on particular magazines
(and because the Editors are all bigger and meaner than me)
I won't name the particular tome (although tome may not be
an appropriate description as a tome should be "scholarly")
but there's a review on a particular CD Player which ends up
saying that the particular unit in question was so good that
the reviewer would have paid 10X the asking price, he would
have bought it and as it was he went to a store and paid
retail for the thing ($999). Now, that's just so wrong in so
many ways. After 35 years in the business, I know of no HiFi
journalist who'd even shout a drink at a piss up than pay
anything like full retail for a piece of equipment (be
careful guys, I have a list of "borrowed" equipment from
certain suppliers going back decades), not to mention
the fact that he didn't mention what DACs were being used
(the most important part of any CD Player - incidentally, it
used Analog Devices AD1955 DACs). I'd love to hear what the
result is after 12 months of ownership as that particular
brand of equipment had an 85% failure rate during the last
12 months of our association with it. I know my opinions and
reviews aren't universally accepted but there again, I don't
get paid for writing them! On a brighter note, in this
months Australian HiFi Magazine, there's an excellent
article about music from your computer. The author, Daniel
Weiss, is something of a legend in the industry and really
knows his stuff, in his conclusion, he states "there is no
reason why a computer, when used with a proper D/A
converter, cannot deliver audiophile standard sound
quality". That in itself should put the shivers up some of
the major CD manufacturers (not to mention the author of the
preceding rant). I now use a computer to play all my music
via a Sonos system although I use a Cambridge Audio DacMagic
external DAC as the Sonos units are crap. Yamaha will be
releasing a similar system next month which I'll take home
and test, it'll have to be bloody good to take on Sonos, but
you never know.
September 15th - Looks like bad times for a few well know
HiFi brands. Nortek, a US based company, is planning to file
for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. This means,
essentially, that they're rooted. It doesn't necessarily
mean the end of the various products under their umbrella
but I wouldn't be rushing out and paying full price for any
of their goods right now as there may be some interesting
price re arrangements in the offing. Brands affected include
Niles Audio Corporation, Panamax Inc, Speakercraft Inc,
Sunfire, Gefen Inc and many more which I'll ferret out and
list if they're of interest locally. There's lots of other
nasty things happening in the business currently but I can't
let on yet. Keep posted!
September 3rd - Buyer beware! I'm sure you've heard that
before but lately we've had some interesting experiences
from people who have bought equipment on line at very cheap
pricing and ended up with egg on their face. We had a nice
gentleman come in the other day with a faulty receiver, it
was a brand we sold but not a model we stock so, to expedite
things (and as we were going to the repair centre the next
day) we told him we'd take it in for him. Well, didn't he
get the shits when he found it wasn't covered under warranty
as it wasn't imported by the official distributor, it seems
it was a parallel import sold by an on line company. Now,
there's no law against this (parallel importing) but any
warranty issue is the responsibility of the seller so the
gentleman had to send the unit back to the place of purchase
to get it repaired. Last I heard, he was still waiting to
get it back. Problem is of course, that none of these
importing cowboys have any back up spares (or technical
expertise in most cases) so you may well be stuck with a
lemon. I realise that we sell around 70% of all our
equipment over the 'net but we only purchase from the
official importers and all our stock is warranted by the
official distributors. This has also happened with some
speakers that are being brought in through the back door. As
I say, it's not illegal but you'll get no proper support in
case of failure, firmware updates etc. When purchasing on
line, make sure you ask who actually imported the product
and if the seller is an authorised dealer for that
particular product.
August 28th - People are strange (now there's a good name
for a song - maybe I should approach Jim Morrison). Here's
an example. Danny Dork (not his real name) was having a
problem with his CD player so he took it into the
distributor to be fixed. Problem was, after playing over 10
CD's in various states of disrepair (scratches, scuffs etc)
the CD Player didn't hiccup once. For the sake of customer
relations however, they replaced the laser mechanism anyway.
The customer took it home and after a few weeks complained
it was skipping on some discs. Same deal, the importers
couldn't fault it but they replaced the main board as an act
of good faith. The damn thing is now a new unit as the only
original part is the casing. Couple of days later, he
complains again with the intermittent disc reading and
DEMANDS a new player within 5 days or he'll take it to court
(he also sends a letter to consumer affairs). The importer
say's - OK, bring in the player and the discs that are
skipping or misreading, if it's shown to be misbehaving then
we'll give you a new unit. Now, you can't be fairer than
that. Danny however refuses and says that he just wants it
swapped over without taking in the offending discs. Now,
call me suspicious or paranoid but maybe they're copied or
rogue discs otherwise what's the big deal? The other thing
it could be of course, is that the CD player is on the same
shelf as the speakers or the playing level is excessive,
that will cause skipping and jumping regardless due to
resonance (kind of like the old acoustic feedback from
turntables). I'm not quite as nice or tolerant as the
importers so I would have told him to bugger off after the
final offer (maybe that's why I'm disliked in the industry).
What I would have done if I wanted a new unit would be to
ask nicely in the first place if they could possibly replace
it. He may well have got his wish but threatening to go to
Consumer Affairs and making demands will get you nowhere.
Some people just never learn!
While I'm at it, we had a complaint from a customer who went
to our Eastwood address last week, only to find we'd moved.
The customer phoned up and gave me a gobfull because our
address in the phone book was still listed as Eastwood and
why wasn't it changed - well Duh, the phonebook gets updated
later in the year and we moved after the last edition was
printed. I often wonder how some people actually manage to
exist in society with an IQ below the average winter
temperature (in Celsius).
August 24th - OK, I've caught up with all my e-mails and
correspondence after my week off so it's time to hunt down
bargains. KEF had some excess stock so you may be interested
in the KIT120, KIT530 or Satellite packs I've listed on the
Specials page.
I went for a ride on the new TDM900 motorcycle yesterday
with the lovely Noelene hanging on for dear life behind me
(no amount of wheelies would dislodge her) and ended up at
the Wisemans Ferry Pub for lunch. It was a revelation for
several reasons. I'm pretty sure I was the only non Harley
rider out of about 200 revelers, I reckon I was about the
oldest guy there and I finally found a Bose product I could
listen to. Yes, yes, I know I've been putting shit on the
product for over 10 years but that's since they stopped
making decent domestic speakers and started with those
stupid 2" all purpose drivers. I still think their domestic
stuff is crap but there was a singer/guitarist at the pub
using the Bose L1 PA System
http://www.bose.com/controller?url=/shop_online/speakers/portable_amplification_systems/l1_model2/l1_model2_singlebass_tonematch_pkg.jsp
Now I'll always give credit where it's due and this guy just
sounded fantastic playing guitar, singing and using a
backing track through this tiny device and it managed to
fill the open air portion of the pub with enough loud clean
volume to let 100 or so people enjoy the show. It makes one
wonder how good Bose domestic products could be if they
actually concentrated on the sound rather than the dinky
looks.
Speaking of guitars, someone out there must know a good
guitar luthier, preferably over my side of town. I don't
mean one for just tweaking the strings and adjusting the
pickup height etc. I need one who, if necessary can machine
the frets and get my new Yamaha
SA503 playing the way my old Ibanez Roadster 11 plays
(it was worked on many, many years ago and plays better than
any other guitar I've owned - doesn't make me sound any
good, it's just easier to play). Please let me contact me if
you know of one.
August 12th - I'm back (obviously) and fighting fit. The
trip to Honolulu was fantastic albeit way too short. It's
been 4 years since my last trip there and things have
changed a lot in that time. Tower Records (my favourite CD
store) has closed, as has the restaurant at Fisherman's
wharf. The Ala Moana Centre has increased in size to the
extent that you need a GPS just to navigate from one level
to another. The Bose Store is still there (and growing) -
you probably know I'm not a Bose fan (style over substance)
but back in 1986 I was Australia's largest independent Bose
dealer (that's when they made real speakers) and the Bose
store had just opened. I was on my honeymoon and the
manager, Conrad, took time out to show us around the island
and invite us into his home for many drinks. I don't
remember much about it but I'm told I had a good time. This
trip I remembered everything and just wish we had another
week over there. Normally I'm pretty good with predictions
about the future of HiFi and video (I was right about the
demise of Beta when everyone said it was so much better than
VHS that it was going to dominate) and I was right about the
demise of HD DVD (even though I was pilloried in the forums
for my views), what I may be wrong about however is the
demise of Blu-ray. In Australia it's really a non event as
the movies are so much more expensive than standard DVD and
the rental stores aren't getting behind them. In the US
however, all the video stores are pushing the format like
buggery and the rental stores are now 50/50 on new titles.
The players are down to $199 (even the new Panasonics and
Sonys are under $249) and are stacked high next to the $49
DVD Players. I get the feeling Blu-ray will take a good
chunk of the US market. If there was a way to easily convert
Australian players to go zone free, then I believe it'd take
off here too but as a lot of Australian enthusiasts buy
their movies from the US (via Amazon etc) then I'm not sure
of the future of the format here.
In my absence, the guys did a good job keeping the business
afloat, Now I'm back I have some catching up to do regarding
specials, I'm ringing around the suppliers today to see what
I can dig up. As usual, I'll offer the specials to the
newsletter subscribers first (sign up
here for that dubious privilege) then I'll list them on
our
specials page a day after that.
Incidentally, when we batched off electronically from our
EFPOS machine last night, this is the amount transferred
into our account (this is absolutely true)
Now, if you never see or hear of me again, it's because me
and the $14,000,000 have decided that Honolulu is a bloody
good place to retire and the ANZ bank can go and get rooted.
July 30th -
I'm on holidays from 2nd until 8th of August. Mike will be
handling the e-mails in my absence so you'll get more sense
out of him than you would from me. I've put on a couple of
interesting specials to keep the ball rolling - just check
our specials page.
July 20th -
Interesting show last week at Darling Harbour in Sydney. It
was the annual CEDIA show (Custom Electronic Design and
Installation Association) which is traditionally held at the
Gold Coast. This year for some reason they held it in Sydney
and exhibitors and attendees dropped by over 50%. This
probably tells you something about the members (you may have
to ponder on that a while). I'm not quite sure what the
purpose of the show was as any of the exhibitors with good
representatives would do a better information job but it
gave many of them a reason to go to long lunches and
bullshit to each other for a couple of days. I must admit,
it gave me a chance to catch up with some people in the
industry I hadn't seen in a while and then there was that
girl with the tightest shorts I've seen since Warwick Capper
lost his up his arse. One good thing that came out of it was
that there was a demonstration of KEF XQ Speakers (one of
the best looking speakers on the market) and the importers
had a damaged pair of XQ40's in gloss black with a ding on
the top rear corner of one and a chunk out of the rear of
the other. Apart from that they work just fine. I bought
them for a ridiculous price (naturally) - they retail at
$7499 pair, these will be around $3990 with full warranty!
Just give me a yell if you're interested.
We just received some Soavo 2 Yamaha speakers at a silly
price - click on our updated newsletter page below to check
them out.
For those who didn't receive the newsletter this month, we
had some trouble with our server - here's the link
http://www.eastwoodhifi.com.au/newsletter.htm
July 9th -
Been on holidays up to Port Stephens for a while hence the
lack of updates. Plenty going on in the clearance
department, one store went under and had a heap of up market
Cambridge Audio interconnects which we bought rather
cheaply. For instance, some of the RCA/RCA stereo
interconnects which retail for $149 - $199 will be going for
$75, 3 metre HDMI reference cables for $75 (retail $299) and
plenty of other goodies. I'm going to list them initially
via our newsletter link so if you're interested and are not
yet a subscriber, you need to click on the subscription link
at the top of the page. There's also some red hot deals on
the just superseded Signature Paradigm range (V1) which I've
listed.
To compensate for the lack of grunt from the baby Lexus, I
bought a Yamaha TDM900 motorcycle so I could take my
frustrations out at 9000 RPM, A bit top heavy so I haven't
quite mastered the wheelie thing yet but I'm working on it!
Of course, it's been raining and freezing since I bought the
bloody thing so I'll probably have to wait 'till spring to
give it a proper work out.
We've been testing the new Paradigm Studio (V5) range and
it's certainly more "out there" than the previous model.
Whether you think they're better or not is subjective but
the guy's here prefer them to the V4 range (considering the
price increase - they should be better). Our biggest selling
sub/sat system, the KEF KHT 3005SE is currently out of stock
(the importers tell us it'll be three to four weeks until
the next batch arrives) so to compensate, we've dropped the
price of the next model up (the KHT 5005) which retails for
$3999 to $2790 until we get the 3005's back in stock - never
lose a sale if you can help it!
June 25th -
There are not many life changing or defining moments
I've had - maybe I've just led a boring life. I remember
however one instance when a good friend of mine was also the
manager of the Eastwood HiFi store. This was over 10 years
ago and he'd been with me for over 12 years. One afternoon
he just quit! The reason was that a particular customer was
so rude and objectionable that he figured he didn't need all
the shit and just left. He's now national sales manager for
one of the largest A/V suppliers in the country so he
certainly ended up OK from the experience. That was his life
changing moment. I often wondered how a relatively small
encounter like he had could possibly create such an
emotional reaction. Then yesterday happened. A customer
complained that a particular pair of (very expensive)
speakers he purchased tended to give distortion at a
particular frequency when turned up. I won't go into the
details but, trust me, I don't care how good an amplifier
is, 15 Watts just won't cut the mustard at anything above
medium listening levels with a speaker of 88dB efficiency.
Considering it was a valve amp and we get things like
harmonics involved at specific frequencies it's not
surprising there was a little bit of distortion. I asked the
guy to bring in the speaker for testing and if it was
faulty, we'd replace the tweeter (while he waited!) but he
started to lay into me about how disappointed he was
spending all that money and getting a shitty product (It may
well be the tweeter at fault but I'll lay 10 to 1 that the
coil was burned due to overdriving). I tried to explain
about overdriving and so forth but he obviously knew more
than I and continued to rant and rave and was sure that it
couldn't possibly be the hugely underpowered amp. After the
conversation, I knew exactly how my ex-manager felt and
really felt like going home, selling the shop and going up
to the holiday house at Port Stephens for a life of fishing,
bike riding and general relaxation. I then realised I'd miss
the technological advancements I get to play with and the
really interesting people I get to meet, that outweighed the
negative of one customer. The really frightening thing is
that this particular person was a professional and people
were putting their trust in him for life changing decisions.
That really scared the shit out of me 'cause I figured if
he's that dogmatic and unable to understand even basic
physics (or bother to try and understand), how the hell
could he possibly give educated advice to anyone.
It's no wonder I'm off for more Bourbon.
June 23rd -
Before purchasing my last vehicle, I did a lot of
research on the internet (as you guys all do) and it made
me realise the futility of the majority of tests that
are written up in magazines. Lets just stick to cars at the
moment. If I were to take notice of all the reviews and add
all the little stars (like 4 out of 10 stars for a
particular vehicle) I would have ended up buying a BMW 335
sedan. It was the right size (there's only two of us now the
kids have grown up) It goes like a shower of shit (twin
turbo's etc) and goes around the Nurburgring faster than any
other four door sedan at the price - and all the motoring
journo's gave it 8 out of 10 stars. So I went and drove one.
The run flat tyres made motoring on normal crappy Australian
roads most uncomfortable over a period of time and as my
daily commute of 20kms is in stop start traffic, the motor
was noisier than I'd like and on cold mornings the air
conditioning sounded like a blast furnace when trying to
heat up the interior to a reasonable temperature. I then
tested the Lexus IS250, it has 70KW less (but still gets me
the 20kms in the same time), I can't hear the motor (unless
I rev it over 5,000 RPM - then it actually sounds good) and
the air conditioner is silent. Not to mention the heated
seats and is one of the most comfortable rides in a car that
size I've experienced. In other words, it does the job I
wanted the vehicle for better than any other car I could
find. I bought it, not because the Lexus is a better car
overall but because it happens to be a better car for my
needs. Now on to Hi Fi and Home Theatre Systems. I get
around 50 e-mails each day which I try and dutifully answer
within 24 hours (although sometimes I fall behind). The
majority are from people who would like to know what system
is best for them. Generally, they've been to another store -
either a specialist or chain store, and were told what
system would suit their price range, unfortunately, in 95%
of the cases, the suggestions were wrong. Why?, well, it's
because the sales people didn't ask any questions about the
customers particular situation - Room size, musical
preference, video processing needs (remembering, most
sources now have on board processing), distance from the
speakers, type of furnishings, floor coverings and many
other factors which affect the overall performance. That's
why I have the HELP link which allows people to answer the
basic questions thus allow me to take an educated guess at a
good compromise (as all a/v or stereo systems to some extent
are a compromise). Most times I can help people out although
there's a lot of people out there who still think they
should spend less on the sound than the TV itself (which is
crazy). Fortunately, due to my penchant for hunting
bargains, I can generally work within the cheaper end of the
market (under $2000 for a 5.1 system) and still come out
with something that's at least listenable. My usual laugh
for the day is in the first bunch of e-mails I get where
someone asks me about the Jamo 606 system that was suggested
to them - I say laugh because it's a Harvey Norman special
(which in our opinion doesn't sound good for the money) and
is touted as being the best system for any situation (even
if you live in a 3 X 2 metre toilet). It just amazes me that
people actually buy this stuff without then going to another
store (with their own DVD or CD) and comparing it to another
brand (and I don't mean Harvey's other brand - Klipsch).
Well. that's my rant for the day. Must be Bourbon Time.
June 13th -
Don't you just love it when
spend literally hours doing e-mails backwards and
forwards with a client regarding the best system for a
particular room in terms of music taste and budget, you give
it your best shot, the customer comes in, listens to
the system, likes it , leaves a deposit then e-mails the
next day that someone on one of the forums bought the same
system a bit cheaper with a slightly different components. I
just gave up, refunded the deposit and cut my losses. We
sell as cheap as we can (get beaten sometimes by the box
movers) but offer advice and after sales service that is
unavailable via the JB's and Harvey's of the industry. It
seems that our time and experience are worth zero (in my
case that's probably true but the guys here are trained up
to the eyeballs in all the latest gear and technology). So,
we do all the work and the box movers make the $50. I wonder
if the "lets get the best pricing then screw it down further
at JB's by lying about what we can buy it for elsewhere"
mentality will upset all the scrooges when the last of the
true HiFi stores close down and they'll be no one left to
demonstrate (JB's don't even have sound lounges) or give
informed advice. I'm at an age where I really don't give a
shit as I'm old enough to retire and go fishing,
unfortunately, so are most of the other dealers in Sydney.
There are no new specialist dealers opening up to replace us
as it just ain't worth it. I realise that getting a good
deal is important but as I troll the Forums (Whirlpool, DTV
etc) and see all these guys asking for copies of receipts
other people bought stuff for at ridiculous prices so they
can go into a store with it and (hopefully) price match, it
just makes me wonder where their priorities are.
June 9th -
A couple of problems this month, firstly, I've learned
that people only get my newsletter so they can pick the
mistakes and grammatical errors, not the content.
I unfortunately referred to an error I made resulting in
a public fogging (instead of flogging) so, of course, of the
2345 subscribers, over 700 responded with some witticism or
just to point out my typo. Well thanks a heap guy's!
Actually, that's not quite true, some people do read the
content - I can always tell when some unscientific type
resents my ranting about overpriced cables (they probably
just paid $1000 for a pair of 1 metre interconnects) 'cause
they always "unsubscribe" in bold capitals as if to make a
statement. I generally only get one per month (as against
100+ subscribes) but it always amuses me.
I have a problem at the moment (yeh, yeh not THAT type
though). We have absolutely bugger all space left in our
warehouse, this is due to a certain national sales manager
dumping stock on me without telling me the size of the boxes
or the number of items. All he said was "it's real cheap"
and I should buy the lot. Well, I'm a sucker for a bargain
so I did buy a lot and now I'm up to my arse in subwoofers
(some in very large boxes weighing 30kgs). I listed them the
other day on the specials page but I'm reducing the pricing
even further (if you saw the inside of the store you'd
understand why). Just go to the Specials page to check them
out.
Yamaha have released most of their new models now, the
RXV365 (wimpy), RX-V465 (a bit wimpy), RX-V565 (slightly
better), RX-V665 (better still), RX-V765 (Hmm) and the soon
to be released RX-V1065, best of the bunch and a worthy
replacement for the RX-V1900 (now retailing for $2499) in
the under $2000 stakes. Onkyo have released the TX-SR507 (if
you only need 5.1 - which most people do) then this is the
best buy under $1000 selling at around the $890 mark with a
free i-Pod dock for the first batch, the TX-SR607 is also
now available at around $1299, similar to the 606 but with 5
HDMI inputs and a few extra goodies.
May 21st-
The Onkyo TX-SR607 is released this week (retail $1699
-
Phone for discount pricing), Not a great deal of
difference between that and the outgoing TX-SR606 except for
six HDMI inputs (I'm not quite sure where you're going to
get that many goodies to plug in though). and it's 7.2
meaning it has two subwoofer outputs (which you could get by
buying a splitter anyway). The now superseded TX-SR606 will
be running out at $999 - not a bad buy for essentially the
same machine. Yamaha RX-V3900's are now back in stock but
unfortunately at the new price (retail $2999) best we can do
at the moment on them is $2499 including Blue-tooth dock or
i-Pod dock. We've been playing with the new Sangean DAB+
WiFi Tuner, believe it or not, listening to 2CH on DAB+ is
enough to make me want to have one. Normally in crappy AM,
they play all the old 60's and 70's music I love so finally
I can actually enjoy it. The internet radio thing is
terrific although varying bit rates etc. means some stations
sound great whereas others not so. The long and short of it
is, I think it just replaced the normal AM/FM Tuner -
especially at the $499 sale price!
May 14th -
As I mentioned earlier, we were having problems getting
our sound lounge to sound good,
we were having slap echo problems along with standing
waves which give zero bass in some areas of the listening
room. Well. thanks to our friends (?) at Amber Technology,
we installed a room acoustic kit from a mob called
Primacoustic. Now these guys know a thing or two about
getting decent sound out of a room as just about every major
recording studio and recording engineer in the UK and USA
use their panels. The difference it made to our crap
sounding room was absolutely amazing. It was so incredible
in fact that we asked if we could sell their product.
Reluctantly they agreed (I say reluctantly 'cause they
wanted to really keep it for the music industry and not for
domestic use). There is one domestic kit which they package
however called a London 12-a which sells for $1299 and will
totally transforms the sonics of any system. I'm going to
list the kit and all the specs on our "Tweaks" page over the
next day or so. If you have a dedicated Home Theatre room
(or understanding wife/husband for the lounge room) then you
really need one of these.
You can download the brochure from
here
May 1st -
Great
new products coming out this month, the new Paradigm
Studio series have just arrived and we have them in store
for demo, they look identical to the KEF iQ Series (very
strange) and sound quite different to the older models. I'll
let you know more as we have a better listen. There's also
the first of the component DAB+ Digital Radio Tuners
available as from next week (as distinct from portable
thingies)
http://www.sangean.com/product.php?model=WFT-1&prod_id=55
These retail for $599 but we'll have the first batch on
special at $499 available in Black or Silver as from next
week. Great stuff, I'm getting one for myself. You really
have to hear DAB+ to appreciate it (Clive Robertson is
positively slathering at the mouth just thinking about it).
It also has networking and Internet Radio etc.
The new Cambridge Audio Sonata system arrived today
http://www.cambridgeaudio.com/summary.php?PID=349&Title=Sonata+AR30+AM%2FFM%2FSirius+Ready+2.1+receiver
http://www.cambridgeaudio.com/summary.php?PID=351&Title=Sonata+DV30+HDMI+1080p+DVD+player
Retailing at $1199, we have them at $975, great CD sound (Wolfson
DAC in the DVD Player).
April 29th -
We now have one of the two new sound lounges working
although we have a nasty standing wave issue that'll have to
be addressed (we get no bass from the subwoofer when sitting
on the lounge).
These are the type of problems that can plague any
normal home theatre set up and can only be fixed by moving
the seating position or subwoofer
which can be a real pain sometimes. I must apologise to
all those people who came along on Saturday for
demonstrations and had to wait, with only one sound lounge
and four or five potential clients waiting for a demo, it
wasn't good. This weekend will be much better. I'm also
sorry for the lack of updates as we're still not completely
out of Eastwood yet although that will be addressed by
Friday, then I can relax a bit and get on with working out
some more specials and answer e-mails a little less curtly.
April 18th -
I took some speakers home over the last week to do a bit
of comparative testing, my source is a computer which holds
all my CD's as WAV. files, sent via a Sonos system, then
through a DacMagic and the analogue signal goes to my
RX-V3900. Not a bad set up when using in conjunction with a
REL T2 subwoofer. The thing that really got me was that
different speakers suited different artists and production
techniques. CD's of Joe Jackson for example, sound better
with a neutral speaker such as Paradigm Studio series or the
new KEF iQ series. Older recordings, be they classical or
pop, tend to be less dynamic in production and sound better
with more forward speakers such as Yamaha Soavo's and
harsher productions such as older remixes better using more
laid back speakers such as B&W. Overall though, the
Paradigms were the best compromise in my music room. As the
room acoustics are critical to the overall sound, I
generally ask about size, floor coverings and furnishings
when suggesting a speaker for a particular situation.
There's no speaker that will suit every CD as there are just
too many production variables.
April 14th -
Finally, we're up and running at the new location, apart
from the fact that Telstra hadn't forwarded our old number
to the new one, didn't have our numbers on rotation and
blocked our caller ID, the sign company hadn't shown up to
let people know where we were and the Blind people (no puns
please) hadn't installed the blinds, everything was just
fine. I've now got to dig up some real specials to entice
you lot to dig deep so I can pay for everything. Keep an eye
on our specials page over the next few days as I'm working
on a few deals.
April 4th -
Another HDMI cord problem. My Yamaha RX-V3900 decided to
click off and not turn back on and didn't I have the shits!
I have so many connections on the back that it takes
literally hours to disconnect and reconnect all the wires
(neatly that is). As soon as I unplugged my TiVo HDMI
interconnect however, I hit the soft "on" button by mistake
and the bloody thing worked again. I replaced the HDMI cable
(with another brand) and the trusty RX-V3900 receiver has
been working ever since with absolutely no shut down or
other issues.
March 28th -
Messy business this moving. We're updating the web site so they'll be some
anomalies for a week or so (we we're down last week courtesy of Web Central -
that wasn't our fault however). We'll be operating from the new store as of 14th
April and I'll have a proper office for the first time in 30 years! I may even
get more blogging and reviewing done. new contact numbers are -
Phone: (02) 9651 4922 (five lines instead of the current two - we won't
answer any quicker but at least we'll know you're there)
Fax: (02) 9651 5011
My after hours number: Yeh, right!
Don't call those numbers until the 14th however.
The current phone number will be diverted for the next 12 months however - I remember when Campsie HiFi went bust and Craig from Carringbah HiFi diverted the Campsie HiFi phone numbers to his store - clever but sleezy (he's gone now so maybe it's karma).
We're changing ISP's as well. iinet wanted more money at the new place to
downgrade to ADSL from our current ADSL2+ with less bandwidth. I don't know how
they figured that although he lady on the sales desk mumbled something about
ADSL only being available from that exchange and as there's less competition for
ADSL (than ADSL2+) they can charge more. Somehow or other, Telstra managed to
give me ADSL2+ with more bandwidth and cheaper rates than I'm paying now from
the same exchange so work that out!
My business e-mail remains the same -
steve@eastwoodhifi.com.au but my private address (goes to the same inbox
anyhow) which was
steveneil@ozemail.com.au is no longer in use.
March 14th -
Sorry I haven't been updating to enrich the lives of you voyeuristic malcontents
out there but we're close to moving now and I'm jumping between our Eastwood
store and the new, soon to be operational joint in Dural. Our new address
will be
Eastwood HiFi
Unit 16, Q North Business Centre
829 Old Northern Road, Dural
Phone 9651 4922
Our old phone number will be diverted for 12 months however, as will our mail.
Our plans for a GFOE sale have been scrapped as most of our old crap has been sold already.
February 28th -
Occasionally, I go and visit other dealers sites
for a bit of a laugh (they are just soooo serious). One mob say they are about
to change their demo CD's 'cause they are getting worn (what the #uck?), maybe
they should stick to vinyl. Another has a shopping cart with all products at
retail (Hmm, I'd like a list of their customer base) but the funniest thing I
read this week was an article in current.com.au which is the best source of
industry gossip. They reported the following -
By Patrick Avenell
SYDNEY: Gerry Harvey believes the strong
relationships between the Harvey Norman
organisation and suppliers will be crucial to the retail
group surviving the economic downturn and thriving
when the inevitable upturn occurs.
Now, to understand the irony of that comment by Uncle Gerry, you have to talk to the suppliers who, to a man (or woman) say that Harveys buyers are the biggest bunch of (put in own noun) that they've ever dealt with. After Uncle Gerry takes his 17% off the bottom line, insists on free floor stock (not always successfully), takes advertising allowances then hits for an extra 10% for the privilege of using his floor space to showcase the product, the poor wholesaler makes 2/10ths of fuck all. That type of aggressive and predatory purchasing is partly the reason that most of the Plasma and LCD manufacturers have pulled out of Australia. I fairly pissed myself when I read that gem. Unless the suppliers take a stand, certainly Gerry will survive, unfortunately, more wholesalers will go to the wall.
Having said that, Uncle Gerry may well be onto something with the "lets kick the suppliers in the guts" thing so I tried it yesterday on one of our more pliable sources. It turns out they had some old stock which they were either going to take a bath on or die with. They took the bath! Try this for size - KEF KIT200 Surround Sound Home Theatre System kef-kit-200 Original RRP on this slick gloss black system was $4499, only its lack of HDMI connectivity has diminished its desirability. Hence we bought the remaining few at $999. Even if you don't need one - its a bargain for which you may find a use!
February 21st -
I was just sent this link from a reader of this
page and I warn you, don't click on it unless you're broad minded and non
litigious as it contains foul language and disparaging remarks about a very fine
and upstanding company. The views expressed in this link are by no means
representative of my own personal views (and any other disclaimer that may get
me out of the shit)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AyVh1_vWYQ
February 20th -
So we're getting closer to getting out of here
and we need to move floorstock. As I go through the sound lounges and find
stuff, I'll list the goodies bit by bit to clear. Here's one system to clear at
below cost - it's the DB Dynamics Blue Diamond system which retails for $5500.
Its big and ugly but boy, does it pack a punch.
http://www.eastwoodhifi.com.au/blue_diamond.htm
Our demo unit with full 3 year warranty will go for $1990.
Paradigms new Studio range will be released in about three weeks although there's only one pair of each model available in the first shipment. I've ordered the lot! Hopefully they'll sound as good as they look.
It's unfortunate that some stores don't do their homework before buying up big. I noticed one particular store bought a shitload of Yamaha Soavo surround systems and has split them to sell separately. They obviously didn't listen to them before committing. The only good value for money speaker in the range is the Soavo 2 and its the only model they didn't purchase (the 1's are too boomy, the 900's overpriced and the sub has less musicality than my guitar playing). Still, in 12 months time when they still have them in stock, they may have to discount them another 50% then they'll become better value for money.
The recession (or the lead into one) has started to bite and some wholesalers
are getting twitchy. To that end, we've been able to screw some of them more
than usual (now Scott and Paul, this won't hurt - much) so there are some real
bargains to be had at the moment. I'll be listing them as they arrive in store
over the next couple of days on our specials page.
http://www.eastwoodhifi.com.au/SPECIALS.HTM
Now I know this web site is a bit messy and some of the links don't always work but remember, we were the second HiFi store on the 'net (the first was the now deceased Campsie HiFi) and I've just added bits and pieces as time went on (we started it in 1999). There's enough bits of redundant code floating around to sink a battleship so finally, we're redoing it from scratch. My wayward son (Hmm, good name for a song, I'll e-mail Kansas with that) has agreed to lay off playing WOW and work on it. I figured since I'm paying for the lazy bugger to do Computer Science at University that I may as well get some return from the investment. That may mean we're down for a day or so over the next weeks. Blame him, not me!
February 12th -
Whinge, whinge, if it's not customers
complaining that our "pricing" button leads nowhere (that's because it's being
updated - a slow process) then its other dealers (specifically some
Mediterranean recalcitrant from Sydney's inner West) moaning that I get
better deals than he does. I've said it before, if they concentrated on their
own business instead of other peoples, they might be more successful (he says
smugly after the two best months of trading in 30 years) - yeh, I know I'll come
crashing down eventually but its fun while it lasts.
The new store now has the internals built, the air conditioning is in and the phone system is up and running. Carpet and cabinetry is next so we should be starting to move in around 4 - 6 weeks with full operation from there around April 1st (most appropriate).
Name's aren't everything in this business (or any other for that matter). The new Chariot de Neil has a Mark Levinson sound system with 86 speakers (I've only found 13 so far) and, according to the review in "New Cars Magazine" it's one of the best sound systems available in any car at any price. The reviewer should stick to driving 'cause he knows f*ck all about sound. So does Mark Levinson for that matter, it's probably the worst sound system I've experienced since I had a 3 series BMW which had a sound so bad, I only listened to AM radio for the two years I had the misfortune to own it. At least when I play my iPod through it, I can use the iPods built in EQ and get a reasonable sound.
February 7th -
New pricing on the Yamaha A/V gear goes into
effect in a couple of weeks, the RX-Z7 will be $4499, RX-V3900 at $2999 and
RX-V1900 $2499. I can wear the 3900 and Z7 at the new pricing but the value on
the RX-V1900 is just not there (I'm assuming the robots at JB's and Harvey's
will be quoting $1990 for them). I've been on the lookout for an alternative and
discovered that the Onkyo TX-SR706 is the answer. It sounds better than the 1900
but not quite as good as the 3900 and has better video processing (although I
don't consider that to be at all important as the sources do most of the
processing these days), best of all, even though the retail is the same as the
RX-V1900 at $2499, I bought enough pre-price rise stock to be able to sell them
below the 1900 (for a while anyway). Call for pricing if you're interested.
January 29th -
OK, so I'm being slack (again) in my updates but
this move to Dural is a lot more demanding that I thought and is taking up
valuable drinking time (thank goodness I've joined the Dural Country Club just
up the road).
I see Strathfield Car Radio has gone into administration, just goes to show, all that "WOW", "SUPER CHEAP", "NEVER AGAIN AT THIS PRICE" stuff doesn't equate to making enough money to stay afloat. At least were still here to service our customers needs (and were not THAT expensive).
Due to the ever decreasing lack of outlets for their products, some importers have excess stock which I intend to help them move (out of the goodness of my heart) so keep an eye on our Bargains page as I have some doozies coming up in the next week or so.
I just bought Roy Orbison's "Black and White" on Blu-ray (now there's an oxymoron) and couldn't pick the difference in either audio or video from my standard DVD. Don't waste your money (leave it to me, I'm good at it). Still a good concert however.
January 16th -
Funny isn't it? As I read some of my old DVD
reviews, you realise that the overall rating was limited by the equipment of the
day. Some of those reviews are over 8 years old and were done using some of the
best equipment (at a reasonable price) available at the time. Re-visiting some
of those DVD's last night showed that today's display panels and A/V receivers
are miles ahead - some DVD's which I rated as having good to excellent picture
quality should now be downgraded to "OK". The ability of today's digital
decoding and DAC's to reproduce music has also improved to the extent that the
sound quality ratings need to be re-evaluated on a lot of the DVD Concert
reviews. The only concert DVD I still rate as excellent for sound is "The
Shadows Final Tour"
The Shadows - The
Final Tour
I still use this DVD to set up all my Home Theatre systems as it lets me set the
audio levels absolutely spot on as the mix is just great and I know the music
back to front. For video set up I use Elvis Costello and The Imposters Live in
Memphis on Blu-ray. Even though I think Blu-ray is a dying breed, it still has
some uses!
January 9th -
One of the hardest things to do in this business
is to put together good speaker systems at the right price. To that end we wheel
and deal with the suppliers to get 5.1 or 7.1 packs that suit both music and
movies in various sized rooms and configurations (Floorstanding, Sub/Sat etc).
We just put the thumb screws on poor old Paul at Synergy Audio and stole some
Mission speakers off him. The problem was though that they make great speakers
but the subwoofers are way too expensive so we had to look elsewhere for the
bottom end (so to speak). The results are on our Bargains page.
The internet can be both a blessing and a curse. Sometimes too much information gets on there without proper verification, at least in Wikipedia you have statements qualified by "citation needed" which means "this could be a piece of shit so make sure you verify it" whereas on the Forums etc. Morrie Moron may have set his system up incorrectly and as a consequence it may sound bad so he goes and buckets it. In other words, if I get one more Onkyo purchaser saying "but I've read that they run too hot" I'll do a van Gough except I'll cut off my whole bloody ear, not just a bit of it! Of course they run hot, so does any high powered amplification unit (OK, maybe not a "D" class, smartypants) - try sticking your hand on my new VOX AC30CC Guitar amplifier, then you'll understand what "running hot" really means.
January 3rd -
Why oh why do people insist on buying electronics
based on specifications. I had a guy this morning wanting to buy an A/V receiver
but insisted it be THX Ultra 11 because of the audio Re-Eq. As I said to him,
who gives a rats arse? It's the sound that matters, not the spec's but no, it
had to match the specs. I'm afraid I just don't understand the mentality of some
people (maybe I'm getting too old) - not to mention the fact that the
speaker/room combination is 80% of the overall sound anyway.
Speaking of A/V receivers, I took a Yamaha Z7 home and hooked it up to my main system, tried to put it back in the cabinet after I'd attached all the interconnects and bugger me if the thing didn't fit in the cabinet!. At least I got to try it before I repacked it and brought it back into the store. It definitely sounded better than the RX-V3900 and it improved my analogue Foxtel picture to the point that even my old eyes could pick the difference. Looks like the 3900 gets to live at home by default.
December 31st -
Some people just never learn. The White Van Scam
is alive and well, currently using a dodgy website to validate the products
http://www.symphony-orchestra.com/main_default.htm
I've had three calls this week about people who've been approached to buy these
products (and one actually did). Let's see if you can pick the faults!
Customer walks in today with a handful of CD's asking to audition a pair of Paradigm Studio 60's, when asked about the purchasing timeframe (so I could work out whether it was going to be the current V4's or the soon to be released V5's) he said he was going to buy a set he'd seen on e-Bay but wanted to audition them first. You really don't want to know what I said (although I'm sure you can imagine).
December 30th -
Sometimes it pays to read the instruction manual
(most of us industry types think we're so smart we don't need to). The Mission
M-Cube speakers (cuter than a bugs ear) always sounded a little thin to our ears
yet the reviews were all positive so yesterday we decided to read the set up
manual. After setting the speakers up as per the instructions, we tried them
again and bugger me if they didn't sound 50% better. We now put them way above
the KEF KHT 2005's and almost as good as the 3005's. Considering the 2005's now
sell for $2499 and the 3005's $3299, the M-Cubes at $1650 (although the retail
is still $2499) are an absolute bargain. There's a moral to the story somewhere
there.
December 29th -
The thing is, of course, you never invite me to
a social event which has lots of booze. My wife learned that last night at a
quiet gathering of her friends - I only knew a couple of the 20 or so
unfortunate guests. After three beers and a bottle of rather nice Chardonnay
plus two Gin and Tonics I was in full flight. We were out on an open verandah,
the night was warm and the Christmas Beetles were in a jovial mood joining us in
the candlelight and, as is my want, I started naming the beetles that joined us,
there was Bertie Beetle, Benny, Brian, Barbra etc. Some smarty then stood on one
and killed it then said "what do you call that one?" and I yelled out "I'd call
that one fucked!" That was the end of a really pleasant evening as my wife led
me away, drove me home, put me to bed and slept in the spare bedroom.
That's a true story!
December 24th -
Yeh, I know, it's been two weeks since the last
update. I've actually had to do some real work (like talking to people and
selling stuff) not to mention we now have the keys to the new shop and I'm
running around trying to organise air conditioning, shop fit outs etc. I reckon
it'll be about April until we can actually start trading there.
Both Craig and Mike now have their Yamaha Z7's at home and both tell me that the video processing is awesome. Craig has a 55" Fujitsu which is 1366 X 768 pixels and tells me that since running his PS3 and Foxtel through the Z7, it's like having a 1920 X 1080 screen in the room. Looks like I'll have to take one home and replace one of my RX-V3900's with one. It'll certainly be interesting to see if I can get a better picture on my Samsung LCD via Blu-ray as I think it's already the best picture quality I've experienced (except on very fast moving objects - then I watch in the other room on the Panasonic plasma).
The new range of iQ KEF speakers are now in stock and as we suspected,
they've used the same audio modeling as the xQ series. That means they are
bloody fantastic. I've always been a great Paradigm fan as they have been the
benchmark in terms of value for money speakers, the KEF's however are going to
give them a real run for their money. We're still playing with them and doing
comparisons in the sound lounge so I'll let you know what we think after playing
with them for a bit longer.
http://www2.kef.com/GB/loudspeakers/q-series
Pricing is as follows
iQ10 $899 pair
iQ20 $1199 pair
iQ50 $1699 pair
iQ70 $2399 pair
iQ90 $3099 pair
iQ60C Centre $1099
As we'd like to get the ball rolling on these products, we're very negotiable on the pricing for the initial batch (good grief! I'm starting to sound like Bing Lee).
December 11th -
The fun times just never stop here. We had a
customer return a product because the remote control only worked to a distance
of 12 feet instead of the stated 16 feet in his room. Sometimes you just feel
like whacking yourself over the head with a bourbon bottle!
Bad News - The DA was finally approved to demolish and rebuild the Eastwood Centre where we've been for 30 years so the owners are throwing us out next year.
Good News - The DA was approved on a property we were looking at in Dural so we've bought it and will be moving there in around April 2009. Talk about fortuitous timing!
Don't ask me why or how but the new Yamaha Z7 ($3999) actually sounds better than the RX-V3900 ($2799), certainly on music, it's a bit harder to define the differences with a movie as there's just so much going on but the consensus is that it's better in that regard as well. It's a big bugger with the same chassis as the Z11 with more ins and outs than a CEO's corporate credit card near an ATM. There's a lot more to differentiate it from the 3900 than the spec's indicate. Mike has bought one for himself so we'll get a full report shortly.
We still have a few left over at the pre release price so if you're thinking of getting one soon, give me a call on 02 9874 2726 for the good news.
November 25th -
There's always someone out there who likes to
spoil the party. We get an absolutely fantastic deal from Yamaha on their
Soavo-2 bookshelf speakers (which, incidentally, are one of the best speakers
under $2000 we've ever heard) and some cretin of a dealer complains to the
powers that be at Yamaha head office (Australia) and puts a stop to any chance
of a repeat performance. Never mind that the cretin hadn't the balls to put a
zillion dollars on the line to make the offer in the first place. It's no wonder
HiFi dealers are dropping like flies, they're more interested in other peoples
business than their own. I never complain about getting slaughtered on pricing
from the Box movers (JB's etc), I just get the shits with the people who buy
stuff from there dirt cheap then have the gall to e-mail or ring me for
information on how to set the stuff up to get the best sound or picture.
November 18th -
So, the Yamaha RX-V3900 is now installed and
running at Chez Neil, having replaced an RX-3800 and using all the same speakers
and sources the comparison should be fairly objective. First thing is that
there's not a great deal of difference when playing movies in terms of audio.
The video side of things is strange however. With the RX-V3800 it took me weeks
to get the lip sync working correctly, when I hooked up the 3900, the lip sync
was perfect without any adjustment at all. This was a major victory for me (and
Yamaha) although I have no idea what they did to overcome the problem. When
playing music using the internal DAC's from the receiver, there was more detail
from the 3900 and a slight increase in the higher frequencies. I actually
thought it sounded better although that would be speaker dependant. I'm waiting
to get hold of my Cambridge Audio DacMagic
http://www.cambridgeaudio.com/summary.php?PID=320&Title=DacMagic
These should be arriving next week and will tell me how good the DAC's in the Yammie are in comparison to an industry leader.
The remote control on the 3900 is easier to navigate and lights up like a beacon at night when the illumination button is activated. The initial set up however needs tweaking for a "standard" type system whereas the 3800 was pre set for "Large" mains, "Small" centre and surrounds and "Both" sub. The 3900 was all over the place. Maybe they figure the purchaser will use the Auto Set Up Calibration - not me, I'll put my ears up against any auto setup any day!
Initial impressions then are a slight improvement in musicality (although that may just be the DAC's), an improved video section and greater connectivity. I haven't played with the Ethernet connection yet but they tell me it's way more network friendly. I'll play around with it more by taking home a Cambridge Audio 840C CD player which I used with the 3800 and, by using the analogue outputs, I'll try to give a comparison on the actual "sound" of the beast.
The RX-Z7 is here in two weeks and I'm looking to take that home as well. I'm told that the audio is even better due to the improved connections and componentry (even though the basic specifications are the same). The video section is certainly better (it uses Anchor Bay chipsets). The auto set up on this thing actually works as it uses multi angle microphone placement as per the RX-Z11 so it may give my ears a rest. There's many more enhancements as to connectivity for other zones. I'll let you know more on that one when I get it home.
We have a special pre-release price on the Z7 (the retail is $3999), just cal us on 02 9874 2726 for details. There are also a couple of RX-V3900's left at the pre-release price (even though they're now available)
November 11th -
Ah well, I was wrong (as usual), I received a
shit load of e-mails from people disagreeing with me regarding the demise of Blu-ray.
We'll just have to wait and see won't we?
Yamaha's new RX-V3900 arrives today and we still have a couple left at the pre-release sale price (ring 02 9874 2726 for pricing). The RX-Z7 is now due in two weeks (same deal - we have a couple left at the pre-release price). I've been playing with the new Onkyo TX-SR706 receiver (Sound and Image A/V receiver of the year under $2000) and whereas it's no match for the Yammie 3900, I reckon it's a better buy than the Yamaha RX-V1900. It has more actual "grunt" than the 1900 when more than two channels are driven - the Yamaha is rated 130 watts per channel (input power 500 Watts) and the Onkyo 100 watts per channel (input power 550 Watts) and sounds a little less "brittle" than the 1900. The Yammie 3900 is in a different league however and beats the pants off both. It's all in the dollars however. the RX-V3900 retails for $2799, the RX-V1900 $2299 and the TX-SR706 $1990. Going on pricing then, I'd go for the 3900 if I had the money or the 706 if things were a little tighter. Yamaha have offered me a 3900 at a good staff discount rate so I'll be replacing my 3800 tomorrow (Onkyo - take note you bunch of tight bastards! - I happen to run two home theatre rigs at home). I'll let you know what differences there are between the two Yamaha's (if any). If (and when) Scott McKenzie decides to educate me on the benefits of the Onkyo A/V receivers (in the monetary sense), I'll give you my home tested report on that too. (Come on guy's, I get over 40,000 unique visits each month to this load of rubbish, it must be worth something).
November 5th -
About 12 months ago (or so) in this blog, I said
HD DVD was dead. I received all types of hate (e)mail saying that I didn't have
a clue what I was talking about. History shows the result of that however. Last
night I was thinking about Blu-ray and I'll make another prediction. Blu-ray is
dead! I don't think I'll get too many detractors this time however. The things
that pushed me over the brink are many. Firstly, the pricing - even though
they're practically giving away new players now (as low as $349) the movies
themselves are still 50 - 100% more expensive than standard DVD. If the price
was the same, I'd probably opt for the Blu-ray version although the load times
for some movies (up to 2 minutes) can be off putting. The rental prices for
blue-ray discs at our local stores are 25% higher than standard DVD's and most
people just can't be bothered paying extra for what may be a better experience.
Whereas we can multi zone most players for SD DVD's, it's almost impossible to
overcome the zoning restrictions for Blu-ray and as I buy most of my movies from
overseas. Regardless of what the "experts" may say, the sound differential
between the HD Audio and normal DD/DTS is very small, the differences between
production values have a far greater influence in the overall sonics.
Now the killer! Last night (before I had too much Chardonnay) I watched Harry
Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, it was a Blu-ray disc so I was expecting
superb picture quality. I got bored after the first hour so put on a BBC
documentary called "Wild China" (no you idiot, not feral cups and saucers - it's
about Chinese wildlife), this was a standard DVD, the picture quality however
was streets ahead of the Harry Potter movie, so much so that it made me wonder
what the Blu-ray thing is all about. I was watching on the Samsung 650A 46" LCD
from about 1.5 metres away so the differential was easy to pick. I'd prefer the
standard DVD any day. Now, that's mainly due to the production of the movie as,
we all know, theoretically Blu-ray is a better method of delivering video but in
the real world, it doesn't pan out that way.
I predict within the next five years they'll be another form of video
reproduction (and it won't involve a spinning disc).
The buy of the month is the couple of Onkyo TX-SR-875's we received from the importers which had been opened by them for a small hardware fix. Because they're such heavy bastards (the receivers, not the technicians) when they're taken out and replaced in the carton, quite often the packing foam gets messy. Because of this, they're being sold as repacks (with full 2 year warranty). The replacement model (TX-SR876) is now available at $3399 and there's bugger all difference between them which makes the 875's an absolute steal at $1990 (includes free delivery Australia wide).
November 1st -
It was the annual Sound and Image Award night
last night, from what I remember (and that's not much) the main winners were -
Best A/V receiver under $2000 - Onkyo TX-SR706
Best A/V receiver $2000 - $4000 - Yamaha RX-V3900 (call me for our special
pre-release pricing as they're not available to the public for another two
weeks)
Best A/V receiver over $4000 - Yamaha RX-Z11
Biggest gaff of the evening - Jez Ford for quoting some crap from my newsletter
then forgetting to acknowledge the source (I'll get you for that Jez)
Biggest Laugh of the evening - Some guy on our table who was pissing himself
laughing at the comedian. No one else was actually laughing at the comedian
however.
Best Speakers/Subwoofers - didn't matter really as no one could listen and
compare the zillions of brands out there so they went with safe parochial
options.
Best person in the world - Len Wallis as usual although his acceptance speech
was more than a little condescending and way too serious for an evening of
merriment.
Person least likely to get any award - Me, 'cause I'd tell half the people in
the room what I really think of them (except for Alex Encel - even I wouldn't be
game to say what he does to my digestive system)
Best Music Streaming System - Sonos (of course) except they forgot to mention
the shitty DAC's on board.
Best TV Panels - Samsung, Panasonic and Pioneer (not many left now anyway)
Worst Bow Tie in the world - Paul Clarke from Synergy Audio. It looked like
someone had a feast of 100's and 1000's then threw up all over it.
Biggest Secret of the Evening - Scott McKenzie from Amber Technology (Obviously
I can't tell you what it was)
Best story of the evening - George Nasr from Yamaha (he'd kill me if I repeated
it however)
By this stage I'd had that much cheap plonk that I really can't remember much
more apart from trying to screw Michael (Yamaha Sales Manager) for some deal
worth $100,000's dollars - I hope he doesn't remember.
I probably won't be invited back next year. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.
October 23rd -
It's all about value for money. I often get asked
which brand of speaker is the best, not a fair question really as it all comes
down to the performance per dollar. Up until last week I would have said
Paradigm speakers as they had the market by the cojones in just about every
price point from $500 up to $15,000 pair. A price rise of between 20 - 30% over
the last two weeks has skewed that and there's some new pretenders to the
throne. As readers may know, I now have a pair of the new KEF XQ40's in my music
room at home and absolutely love 'em (I still use Paradigms in my theatre room).
On the basis of their performance, we ordered a pair of the KEF Reference
203/2's which are a Made in England, rather strange looking speaker at $9990 a
pair. The reason for this is the Paradigm Signature S6 (speaker of the year in
several Australian magazines) rose in price from $7999 to $9899 pair so I
figured the KEF's would be a fair comparison. Very hard comparison though as
both speakers have their strengths and weaknesses. The KEF's have a slightly
richer, warmer sound whereas the S6's tend towards a brighter sound. Certainly
the sound staging of the Paradigms is a little better (possibly they put the
tweeters slightly out of phase to get that impression) but the bass and overall
weight of the KEF's get the nod. If the Paradigms we're still at $7999 then
they'd be a shoo in, at pricing parity with the KEF's however, the 203/2's would
have to get the nod.
See how tricky it is?
October 20th -
Again with the magazine articles! This months
Audio and Video Lifestyle magazine has a review of the KEF KIT 120 system
(brilliant incidentally - the KIT 120, not the review). The Author, during some
background info on KEF, mentioned the excellent Uni-Q system employed by KEF
whereby the tweeter resides in the centre of the mid range or bass driver to
give a point source of sound. The uninformed writer mentioned that until the
inception of the Uni-Q in 1988, only Electrostatic drivers could offer a full
range point source. Crap, anyone with a mild interest in HiFi would know that
Tannoy invented the dual concentric driver in the 1940's
http://www.44bx.com/tannoy/black.html
If I sound like I'm Journo bashing, I'm really not. It's just that people
believe the stuff that's written down in black and white by an "expert" and when
the "expert" doesn't have a clue about the subject, the readers get mislead and
misinformed. It's hard to sit back and read this stuff without commenting
(indeed, it would be remiss).
Bugger, there goes my free monthly copy.
October 15th -
The scary thing is, most people believe what they
read! There's an article in today's paper offering an insight into a range of
budget A/V receivers. I don't know where the guy who wrote the article comes
from but it sure ain't this planet!
Get this (and I quote) of the Yamaha RX-V463 "Expect the smoothest of sounds and a decent level of detail, but some softness in the treble" What a load of shit. The Yammie is famous (in the lower priced ranks) for it's top end harshness. Even worse, the Sony 520 (which has a top end sharper than Clive Robertsons tongue) is quoted as being "the most detailed and neural sounding model in this group, the Sony may sound bland to some" - well bugger me, that's like saying that sulphuric acid has a smooth, mellow taste when ingested. The writer couldn't have possibly listened to all the receivers in the same room using the same speakers and source otherwise the conclusions would have been totally different (and you can't do meaningful comparisons where different acoustic variations are involved). Ooooh, I just get so pissed off by this stuff. I just know that next time I suggest a particular receiver, the customer will pipe up with "but that's not what the guy in the paper recommended" Bah, Humbug!
October 14th -
Some dealers will go to any lengths to put us
down and upset our customers. Terry Turkey (not his real name) from a nearby
HiFi store in Sydney's North West upset one of our customers by telling him that
the Cambridge Audio "Scatched and Dented" product we sold him wasn't warrantied
by the importer. All Cambridge Audio products sold by us, be they new or
ex-demo, come with a full 12 month Cambridge Audio warranty.
It's funny how things like that can change the course of business. I can't say anything yet, but that little episode made up my mind to take a certain business decision which will come back to, not only haunt, but perhaps financially devastate that particular store (you think I jest? - just watch this space). Vindictive - moi? You can bet your balls on it.
Sometimes knee jerk reactions can backfire. Paradigm have increased their prices around 20% across the board as from yesterday, although Paradigm speakers were the best value for money product in Australia prior to the price rise, now they're up against some formidable opposition with the new KEF iQ range being released in three weeks, according to the importers (Amber Technology), they use the same tweeter technology as in the XQ series (the XQ40's currently reside in my music room). If they have the sweetness and dynamics of the XQ's at a price less than the equivalent model Paradigm (in the Monitor Series) then they'll be a real war in the mid priced speaker segment. The top end promises to heat up as well with the superb Paradigm S6's now approaching $10,000 pair which is the same price as the Made in England KEF Reference 203/2's, I'm getting a pair of the KEF's in next week to do an A/B with the Paradigms. It'll be an interesting exercise.
October 13th -
So all the HiFi importers are putting up prices
of goods at the rate of between 10 - 30%. They say it's because the dollar has
fallen from 96c a couple of weeks ago (against the USD) to 68c today. That's
fine, but considering our dollar was sitting at 82c this time last year, where
the hell were the price reductions when they bought at 90c plus? I guess you
can have your cake and eat it as well! (with the exception here of KEF who
actually did reduce prices at one stage).
I went to a restaurant last week and had a meal which reminded me of a Bose System. I ordered a steak, medium rare, with veggies and mash. The food came out on the plate placed in the most ornate and decorative style I've ever seen with the carrots cut to look like flowers and the mash sculpted. Everyone else at the table oohed and aahed at this magnificently presented meal. It tasted like crap. 'Nuff said.
(Sorry Amar, but you must admit there's some truth to the tale)
October 7th -
Oh goodie, Digital Radio's switch on date has now
been postponed 'till May 2009. At this rate any interest in the format will have
dwindled to somewhat less than zero (except for Clive Robertson who is virtually
salivating over the prospect of adding yet another tuner to his vast collection
of electrical wave grabbing devices). Talking of Clives', I notice Clive Peeters
lost $4.4 million dollars from it's five Sydney stores - and that was AFTER tax!
Whew, I said from the start it was going to be a hard slog for them, especially
given their monochromatic newspaper advertisements (although, I shouldn't talk -
I haven't used the print media for advertising in over 12 months). Only a month
or so after I bought what I believed to be the most advanced LCD in Australia,
the Samsung LA46A650, the bastards have released another range touted to be a
quantum leap in performance (Hmm, we'll see) - these ones use LED's as
backlighting instead of cold cathode, the prices are pretty horrendous however,
expect to pay around $5000 plus for the 46" model. It'd want to be bloody good
to make me change.
October 2nd -
OK, I'm back from holidays so beware, I need some
money! Actually, everyone seems to need money at the moment. The importer of the
i-Tube
http://www.fat-man.co.uk/docs/product_07/iTube_ValveDock.shtml
has been told to sell all remaining units at half price ($449 instead of $899) -
I've even bought one for myself at this price, they're great for playing iPods,
CD's (just add a good CD Player) computers etc. and will drive any pair of
speakers from $99 to $11,900 (we hooked one up to the Paradigm Signature S8's
just to see). Shipping to any mainland capital is only $49 (sorry you guy's in
Hobart or Launceston, it costs double).
I just received my copy of Speed Racer from Amazon. It could well be the worst movie of all time, having said that, the graphics are so vivid that watching it on a big screen is like tripping on LSD for the first time (not that I'd know, or remember for that matter). The sound is also, shall we say, exciting. It's a good demo to show off the system but you wouldn't want to sit through all 135 minutes of it unless you had some time release Oxycodone.
Paradigm have just announced price rises of between 10 and 15% across the range. All current stock will be at the old price but anything we order in from now will be subject to the increase. The new Version 6 Monitor series sound exactly the same as the Version 5's (to our ears anyway) so there's no disadvantage in grabbing a V5 at the old price.
September 16th -
News Flash! Yamaha will release the RX-V1900 in
September at $2199 and the RX-V3900 in October at $2799 - A great reason to buy
the outgoing RX-V3800 at $1990 as there will be no difference in sound between
the 3800 and 3900 (which sounds better than either the 1800 or 1900). The RX-Z7
will arrive in November at $3999 but I know bugger all about it at this stage.
September 13th -
I read most of the Pommie A/V mags for a bit of
a laugh as the laws of physics over in Old Blighty appear to be different to the
ones that apply over here in Convictsville (Magical Speaker Wire, Equipment
Stands that "sound" better, Power Cables that magically improve electrical power
etc.) but it seems that our local magazines are developing a penchant for
bullshitting. In the latest Australian HiFi (a magazine which I normally hold in
high regard) there was a review of a Musical Fidelity "Supercharger 550K" which
is, apparently, a fancy name for a bloody expensive power amplifier, and (I
quote) "the design of the 550K is such that after you've inserted a pair in your
system you will continue to hear exactly the same quality of sound - or if you
prefer, tonal quality - but that sound will be improved". Well DUH! if it's
exactly the same, then how is it improved? Sometimes I wonder about the
grammatical and linguistic abilities of writers. I know I'm no wordsmith but I
don't get paid for writing my rubbish. I don't know whether the 550K works or
not but I wouldn't be forking out $8000 on the basis of that reviewers
ambiguity, although in the final paragraph, he does say "you need one", Hmmm, do
I?
In the same magazine, there was an advert for a thing from Belkin called a FlyWire which appears to distribute HD Video wirelessly around the house. It seems like a solution to my problems at home but there's no indication on whether it transmits audio along with the video, or indeed, the price. If anyone out there has any experience with this system, I'd be interested in hearing from you (we're too insignificant for Belkin to talk to us directly).
September 10th -
Finally! I've achieved international notoriety.
In the Editorial of one of those overseas "Audiophile" magazines, they mentioned
my name in conjunction with my scientific view on interconnects and speaker
cable (as against their Smoke and Mirror conclusions). I won't mention the name
of the Magazine as those type of Audio Mysticism rags have a readership
somewhere South of the Outer Mongolian ambient temperature in winter (Celsius)
and I have no wish to give credence to such misleading ramblings.
I thought you may be interested in this article from "Current" which is an industry newsletter. I'm sure they won't mind me reproducing it.
By Patrick Avenell
GE Money, the credit provider for Harvey Norman, Domayne and WOW Sight & Sound,
amongst others, has raised its account keeping fee from $2.95 per month to
$3.95.
This increase, which occurred quietly early last week, applies to the myriad of
‘interest free’ loans consumers can take out to pay for consumer electrics
appliances at certain
stores. In addition to an account keeping fee, participating customers are also
charged a loan application fee, which is around $25, depending on the loan.
On a big-ticket purchase, paid off over the full 50-month plan currently being
offered by Harvey Norman, that would equate to $222.50 in fees and charges. This
new 50-month interest
free offer is in conjunction with Harvey Norman’s nearly 50 years celebration.
Although the biggest loan plan ever offered by the retailer, a 10 per cent
deposit is required.
So it just goes to show, it may be interest free but it sure ain't fee free. I always figure, if you can't afford it - don't buy it or save up.
The King is dead - Long Live the King!
Panasonics BD-30, the king of Blu-ray players (not only due to it's superb performance, but also it's zone free attribute for SD DVD's) has just been upstaged by the Samsung BD-P1500. The Samsung is smaller, lighter, loads faster, has a better picture and - more to the point - can be multizoned for SD DVD's. You can't compare the sonic abilities as that's a function of the DAC's in whatever receiver you're using (unless you're using the analogue outputs, in which case you shouldn't be on this site). The price is also more than competitive at $549 (includes us making it SD DVD zone free).
September 5th - Ring Ring, Ring Ring, -
"Eastwood HiFi, how may I help you?" "Well, I'm here in Harvey Normans and I'm
buying a new A/V receiver, I want the Yamaha RX-V663 but the salesman is telling
me I need the Onkyo 606 even though it's $200 more" "And tell me madam, why does
the salesman suggest that?" "Well, he said that I need the video upscaling of
the Onkyo to get a better picture" "what do you have feeding through the
receiver?" "Just a Panasonic Blu-ray player" "Well then", said I, "it really
doesn't matter a shit as there's no upscaling to be done" (the Panasonic
upscales to 1080p for SD DVD's). Yes folks, that's just one of many calls I get
each day from people buying from uninformed sales staff. Now, I don't blame the
public as the average person out there wouldn't be expected to know the ins and
outs of this game but for a person selling the stuff misinforming (or worse -
misleading for the sake of extra profit) it's bordering on criminal. I reckon I
should put in a 1 900 number (maybe $5.00 a minute) as an A/V help line.
Actually, it's a pity there's no 1 900 e-mail equivalent - Hmm, could be on to
something there!
I've been accused for being seemingly biased towards Paradigm speakers as I use them in both my rigs at home. The reason for that is because they have always represented the best value for money speaker system available in Australia (as distinct from the best speakers - most of us have to factor price into the equation) - that's all about to change however. I still love my Paradigms (and will continue to run the Signature S2's in my Home Theatre room) but I've decided to take home a pair of KEF XQ40's for my music room. Previous KEF models have left me a bit Ho Hum in the dynamics department but the more I listen to the XQ40's, the more I realize this is a major departure from the previous range. The treble is more forward and the sound staging better spread, at least as good as the Paradigm Studio 100's (albeit, without the bass extension). The Paradigm Studio 100's (the KEF's logical sparring partner) are probably a better all round speaker but when the drop dead looks of the KEF's are considered, the slight lack of "fullness" can be forgiven (not to mention negated by a good subwoofer). I'll keep you posted as to the real world assessment after living with them for a few weeks.
August 25th -
After much playing of CD's via the Cambridge Audio DV99 and comparing it to the
Sonos ZP90 using the digital output (hence the internal DAC's from the Yamaha
RX-V3800) I'm a happy chappie. The sound using the Yammie's DAC's is way better
than using the one in the Sonos and is almost identical to that in the Cambridge
Audio. I must admit to being a bit of a nong initially as I had the DV99
connected to the Yamaha via the HDMI cable and could pick absolutely no
difference whatsoever (Duh - that means the Yammies DAC's were being used for
both), when I sobered up a bit and realised what I'd done, I connected the
analogue out from the DV99 and did the comparison again. There was a difference
but I couldn't say which sounded better as the variation was so small. All in
all I'm now Very happy with the Sonos and it not only stays at Chez Neil but
will be expanded.
August 20th -
Well, I've been playing with the new Sonos gear at home to try and make it
easier to listen to my music collection. I've put all my CD collection onto the
computer as WAV. files and am now streaming via the Sonus ZP90 wirelessly to
another ZP90 using analogue cables to my Yamaha 3800 which powers the Paradigm
Signature S2's, I just can't get it to sound as good as when playing the
original CD through the Cambridge Audio DV99. This is not the way things should
be (according to the blurb), I'm going to give the Sonos the benefit of a doubt
and tonight I'll try using the digital output from the ZP90 and let the internal
DAC's from the 3800 do the work. If that's not satisfactory, they'll be a demo.
Sonos system listed on the specials page! (I don't suffer fools or errant
electronic devices gladly)
August 14th -
Maybe I'm just too old but back in my day, when wooing the fairer sex, one asked
for their phone number and tried to sweep them off their feet with well chosen
words using Alexander Graham Bells' amazing invention (although Innocenzo
Manzetti may wish to disagree) . I was at the RSL last week having a drink with
my 18 year old son Ricky, when he spied a particularly tasty dish (of the female
variety), imagine my surprise then, when they exchanged E-MAIL addresses!
What is the world coming to?
I have a problem (many actually - but I'll relate one in particular), last week I treated myself to a pair of Paradigm Signature S2 Speakers for my music room ($3999 pair). It's always difficult to tell how good a speaker is when auditioning in the store but in the confines of Chez Neil the revealing characteristics of the S2's became all too apparent. All of a sudden, the vocals sounded a little harsh, something that didn't manifest itself when I was using a set of $1700 speakers - even from the same manufacturer. The problem turned out to be my receiver, in the small(ish) media room where I placed them, I was using a Yamaha RX-V863 and thought it may not quite be up to the job, I took home the RX-V1800 (next model up in the range) and had the same problem so in desperation tried the Yamaha RX-V3800 which I use in my rumpus room, problem solved! The sound was balanced, sweet and the sound stage incredible. Just goes to show, if you upgrade one component, you generally have to match it with the rest of the gear - quite upsetting when working to a budget.
I was sent the following link from one of our readers, as I have no
Audiophile Acolytes left in the Eastwood HiFi fold, I'll post it. It's written
in a light hearted manner, but never have truer words been written apart from
No.7 which may be incorrect depending on the thickness of the wire (think about
it).
Here's the link.
August 7th -
There are few things I dislike more than going to the Theatre, root canal work
sans anesthetic comes to mind and not much else. I hate the thought of
hobnobbing with the "people who must be seen" and the generally boring acting
that passes for entertainment in Sydney's "boutique" venues. Imagine my joy then
when my lovely wife presented me with tickets to go to the Glen Street Theatre
to see a show called "Tell Me On A Sunday" which, according to the blurb, is a
one woman show about a single Australian girl who goes to New York. I feigned
Gout, Insanity and had a decent attempt at advanced Parkinson's Disease but to
no avail, I was dragged off to the show regardless. As expected, the foyer was
full of the usual suspects, aging TV personalities, would be actors and several
of the Arty Farty set wearing the skins of unidentifiable dead animals (no
Greenies on Sydney's North Shore). Things were just getting better and better.
Imagine my surprise then when this gorgeous creature called Jolene Anderson (apparently, an actor in All Saints) comes out on stage singing with the voice of an angel to the backing of five virtuoso musicians. The entire story was told in song and my interest didn't waver for the whole show. Why am I telling you this? Well, firstly to encourage you to go and see this wonderful event (I believe it's moving to other venues) and secondly to let you know I'm still out there in the "real" world listening to music as it's performed live, that way I have a better appreciation of the type of equipment and systems we can put together to try and recreate the atmosphere and sonic experience only live performances can really deliver.
Incidentally, the musical director, Anne-Maree McDonald, turns out to be a former classmate of my wife - Small world!
Now to the interesting bit. Last Sunday I was watching my latest delivery from Amazon (Stargate Atlantis) and noticed the picture quality wasn't quite up to the usual standard - this is via my Panasonic BD-30 Blu-ray player and the Samsung 650A 46" LCD. I flicked the "info" button on the remote which revealed an on screen resolution of around 1280 X 720 (ish - I can't remember exactly) when it should have been 1920 X 1080. I went through the set up menu on the TV, Player and A/V receiver and all settings were correct, so why the lower resolution? It took me over an hour of messing about to discover I had a faulty HDMI cable between the Player and Receiver, as soon as I changed it the problem was resolved and the picture was back up to 1920 X 1080 in it's full glory. Yes, the cable was 1.3a compliant and in fact worked fine for the preceding 3 weeks. It was the third cable from the same manufacturer that has failed on me (and I tend to take it personally). The fault ended up being an intermittent connection where the lead enters the molding for the plug. It's one of those faults the average punter probably wouldn't have picked up as everything else worked (sound and picture - albeit at reduced quality), needless to say, I won't be stocking that brand any longer.
August 1st -
I just spent the last 3 nights trying to sync the audio with the video on my new
Samsung LCD, what a bitch. It's a problem that hasn't manifested itself with any
Plasma I've taken home and wasn't a problem with any of the earlier LCD's I've
used but there is just so much video processing going on with the Samsung that
I've had to allow 230ms delay to get the audio and video to synchronise. As I'm
using the RX-V863 in that room, I can't adjust the delay whilst the picture is
displayed so it's a matter of adjusting then flicking back to the picture to see
if you have it right, it took me an absolute age to get it right and the more I
had to drink, the more difficult it was to adjust. There's probably a moral to
that although I haven't quite figured out what it is.
I've now finished playing with the Logitech Squeezebox Duet at home and it's time to retire it, unfortunately, I've lost the original packaging so it gets sold as is. It's a great product for those who are computer literate, if not - forget it. This almost new unit with full 12 month warranty is for sale at $499.
July 21st -
Imagine reading a car magazine to get the results of a tyre test so you could
make an informed decision on which would be the best for you, then discovering
the car they were using to compare them was a 1995 Camry. Wouldn't mean much to
the majority of people would it? (except, of course, if you drive a 1995 Camry).
I felt the same way when reading one of the local HiFi Magazines. One of the
guys reviewing the various bits and pieces of audio reproduction equipment lists
the gear he uses to test the goodies and, believe me, what a load of absolute
crap. The stuff is so bad it wouldn't resolve the difference between most good
gear so his observations may be meaningful to those using bottom end equipment
but as a comparative review to those aspiring to greater things, it means bugger
all. This really pisses me off as I don't have access to all brands and rely on
"professional" journalists to give me an idea of how other brands perform in an
objective way. That's the only way I can relay to you guys what I think of the
various brands available on the market (and I get over 50 e-mails a day with
around 40% of them asking just that). At best, his reviews are meaningless, at
worst, downright misleading.
I'd normally write that last paragraph in my newsletter but as all the Australian A/V mags have at least one journo subscribing to it, I figured I'd be safer spelling it out here as they don't have time to peruse my blogging.
July 18th -
We've been playing with a lot of two channel stuff this month (don't worry, I'm
not turning audiophilish) - We we're strong proponents of Marantz who really had
the mass market by the short and curlies as there really was little competition.
That's now changed with Yamaha introducing their AS 2000 stereo amplifier at
$2990 and Cambridge Audio with the 840E/840W pre-power combination at $5000.
Both these amplifiers do justice to the Paradigm Signature S8's which we use as
our reference speakers (I know they're relatively cheap for a reference speaker
at $12,000 pair but it's all I can afford - and they're better than most sub
$30,000 speakers available). The Yamaha at 90 Watts per channel is an extremely
neutral, sweet sounding amp which will drive any speakers with a sensitivity of
86dB and up. For those of you with really inefficient speakers or who love
playing LOUD then the Cambridge just may be the shot, at 200 Watts per channel
(or 500 Watts in bridged mode) this is a sonic experience not to be missed!
July 11th -
The main problem with LCD TV's - as I found to my detriment - is that they need
different settings for different sources. In my previous blog, I noted that the
LCD was no where near as good as Plasma for live TV but way better for DVD's. It
gets more complex than that, as I was playing around with my new Samsung LCD
last night, I found I could get a reasonable free to air picture by tweaking the
black levels and backlight, unfortunately when I tried to watch a DVD I needed
to reset the whole shebang. This is where the plasma makes things easier, it may
not be quite as good for some sources but overall it's a more user friendly
display to watch. Hmm, I'm glad I have both at home to play with!
Clive Robertson has kindly agreed to review some of our equipment over the coming months, starting with some Cambridge Audio gear. You can read the first of his musingshere.
July 5th -
Notice to customers - If you're not prepared to wait for up to 20 minutes, don't
come in on Saturdays. Normally we can accommodate you within 5 minutes but when
we get really busy it gets somewhat hectic and until we invent Salesman cloning
there's bugger all we can do. I say this because some rude bastard complained
that he'd been waiting 15 minutes and was told it'd be another 5 minutes before
we could get him into the sound lounge so he made a scene in front of all the
other customers and stormed out. Actually, it could work well as a screening
process as people like that are generally arrogant, stuck up pains in the arse
anyway.
I just finished reading the Big Screen Comparison for Plasma and LCD TV's in Australian PC User, if you read my July 4th blog, you'll see that I've just done my own research so I've delved pretty deeply into this stuff and the results published in PC User show why it's a PC magazine and not an A/V mag. They certainly know their computers (which is why I buy it every month) but they know f*ck all about TV's. As I don't sell TV's any longer I have no vested interest in promoting any particular brand so I can tell you unequivocally that most of the stuff they spewed out in their tests was misleading. I haven't the time or inclination to go into the subject any further so all I can say is go out and see for yourself (preferably in a store where someone knows how to set up the display properly).
July 4th -
OK so it's been a while since my last update but we've had stock take and it's
just taken it out of me (whatever "it" is). The up side for you lot is that we
have some stuff we discovered in the store room that needs to be cleared at less
than our normal ridiculous pricing (check out the specials page).
As you probably know, we no longer sell TV's (apart from the new Sherwood 22" with built in DVD player at $799 - I wanted one for myself but had to buy in bulk to get a good price). What this means is that I have no vested interest in any particular brand or model so when I decided to upgrade the TV in the music room at Chez Neil I went in search of the best 42 - 50" display available with money no object (this is my own little retreat - no wives, kids or mistresses unless invited). I won't bore you with the details of my search but I ended up with a Samsung LA46A650 LCD. Out of the box, the picture was pretty shitty but after turning off the stupid "100 Hz motion Plus' circuitry and toning the colours down a bit (pun intended) it was as good a picture from DVD and Blu-ray as I've ever seen. It's only average on free to air SD and HD TV broadcasts although the majority of watching is movies and DVD concerts so it's not really an issue (issue, issue, we all fall down) - whoops, the drugs have kicked in again. In our rumpus room incidentally, I use the Panasonic 58" Plasma as that's where most of the free to air and Foxtel viewing is done - that unit is better for TV but nowhere near as good for DVD/Blu-ray playback.
No correspondence will be entered into as regards the last paragraph 'cause its basically objective (as distinct from audio which is highly subjective).
June 17th
Sorry, you caught me out paying penance, you see I lost another customer because I told him what he should have, not what he thought he needed. Ah well, sometimes it just doesn't pay to speak your mind. Unfortunately (for me) it's what I do.
June 14th -
I've been trying out some new stuff at home, some for fun and some by necessity,
The necessary bit was when the missus decided to unclutter the rumpus room and
demanded a cable free rear speaker solution. As the technophobes out there
already know, there's no cheap solution for a wireless speaker system due to
interference, amplifier distortion etc. The only system that was good enough to
meld with my Yamaha RX-V3800 and Paradigm Studio speakers was the KEF wireless
solution which consists of a small transmitter that either plugs into the
pre-out of the surrounds or the speaker terminals themselves (the better
sounding of the two options) and two matchbox sized receivers with built in 50
Watt "D" class (switching) amplifiers. It sounded every bit as good as a wired
set up (surrounds aren't as fussy as mains) and worked superbly with no
interference. At $990 however, it's not a cheap way out, but it did keep the
wife from physically abusing me, and it's neat and tidy.
The other thingy was the new Logitech Squeezebox Duet which I have dubbed "The Thinking Man's Sonos". The reason behind this nomenclature is that I've always loved the idea of the Sonos system whereby the music stored on my computer hard drive (uncompressed wave files) could be wirelessly streamed to any of my audio set ups around the house. The downside of the Sonus is that it's bloody expensive (almost $2000 to get into the club). The Squeezebox Duet does essentially the same thing for $599 if you already have amplification in the appropriate places, the downside is that it's not exactly plug and play as the Sonos is. After playing around for over an hour, I finally got the bloody thing to work (I almost gave up), it's the networking that caused the problems but eventually everything was talking to everything else and I was happily streaming music. The remote has an iPod type wheel with the album covers being displayed on the screen, its all rather clever actually and now I have it, it's staying at home. We're now selling them at $599 (no technical backup) or $699 (we'll talk over the phone to help you) - think I'm kidding? No way, the margin on them is so slim that we can't afford to offer specialist product after sales on a computer margin box.
June 6th -
Stocktake time! Lets get down to realistic levels before we have to count it. Go
to the specials page and see what goodies we're sacrificing ( we normally
sacrifice virgins but stock levels on legal versions of those are virtually non
existent so electronics and speakers will have to suffice).
June 4th -
Tried to give up drinking two days ago, two night of restless sleep, feeling
rotten in the morning, back on the booze tonight, hopefully everything will be
back to normal. Been testing the Onkyo TX-SR805, most impressed. It falls right
into Yamaha RX-V1800 territory now it's on sale at $1749 and comfortably
outperforms the Yammie in most area's (as it should given the Onkyo's retail
price of $2499). It was never going to challenge the RX-V3800 which, in my
humble opinion, is still the best A/V receiver available under $3500, but
between $1400 and $2000 there's nothing to touch it. Well worth considering.
May 31st -
This game isn't just about selling HiFi, it's also about buying (so we can sell
at a good price), so we have to consider the various offers available to us from
the wholesalers. One such offer came our way yesterday which involved purchasing
an A/V receiver that was bundled with a DVD Player (kind of, buy one get one
free deal) but our experience with that particular DVD player has been so bad
that we'd feel guilty selling it off at any price. I say this just to warn you
that if anyone offers a cheap DVD player (that used to retail for $799) at a
ridiculous price, or offered free with a receiver, even the free price is way
too high for the suffering you will probably endure. Don't say I didn't warn
you!
May 30th -
Panasonic have just announced the release of two new DVD recorders. The most
exciting is the DMR-BW500 which is a Blu-ray player/recorder incorporating a
500GB hard drive which can store from 855 hours of crappy resolution up to 72
hours of full HD programming. It has twin HD tuners and can simultaneously
record two high definition programs whilst watching a Blu-ray movie. It can also
be used as a jukebox with Gracenote (CD database) and can play MP3, DivX and
JPEG from USB. It's almost a multimedia centre that is user friendly. I want
one. The other unit is the DMR-XW300, this plays SD DVD's and has a 250GB hard
drive, apart from that it's essentially the same as the BW500 with twin HD
tuners etc. Pricing will be $2199 for the BW500 and $1329 for the XW300.
May 26th -
Whilst rummaging around at home, cleaning out relics from the past (no, my wife
is still there thank you!) I found an old tape that we recorded as a band back
in the mid 60's. Pretty crappy really but I've put it on our
fun page for you to laugh at.
May 24th -
OK, Onkyo's now in stock and the guys are having lots of fun playing with it. If
you're an aficionado, call for pricing - hopefully we're more than competitive.
I went to see Joe Jackson at the State Theatre this week and was reminded why I
love this business. The whole exercise is to try and reproduce the excitement
generated at a well mixed live performance (and Joe Jackson was one of the best
mixes I've ever heard), unfortunately, most households don't have the room for
eight subwoofer boxes with 4 X 18" drivers in each box driven by at least 10,000
Watts, we do our best however. I've decided to take home a pair of Signature
S1's and matching centre C1 to try in my music room, in the absence of aforesaid
subwoofer boxes, I'll whack in a Paradigm UltraCube 10 (the room is only 3.4 X
5.5 metres).
May 15th -
Well, I did it. After 15 years of being one of
Onkyo's largest independent retailers, then 10 years in the wilderness, we've
signed up with them again. After checking out the quality and value for money we
decided they filled a hole in our product line. We needed a brand to compliment
our Yamaha A/V receivers and, unlike Marantz and Denon which tend to be a little
too laid back when running our speaker range, the Onkyo is more lively. Still
not quite as dynamic as Yamaha but with certain speaker systems that can be an
advantage. It means that I get to work with Scott again (McKenzie that is,
national sales manager for Onkyo etc) - Scott managed the store here at Eastwood
HiFi for over 12 years so he knows how we operate ( and I know how he operates,
which is more to the point). I'll be taking home a few of their products over
the next month or so and I'll let you know how they work in the real world.
May 12th -
One of the guys at work gave me a Blu-ray DVD Movie
to watch
This is quite possibly the funniest movie I have ever seen although there are so
many musical "in" jokes that those of you not into rock and roll history may not
get all the subtleties. The problem is this however, I was given the movie to
play on my home system so I could enjoy the benefits of the Blu-ray format (I'm
using the new Panasonic BD-30 Blu-ray player, Panasonic 58" 1080 X 1920 Plasma,
Yamaha RX-V3800 receiver and a variety of Paradigm speakers). After the first 30
seconds of ooing and ahhring over the picture quality, I could have been
watching a VHS tape (video wise). The movie content was just so interesting and
funny that I was drawn into the storyline regardless of the picture quality, The
sound happens to be in True HD although it would sound good in any of the
digital codecs. Where am I going here? Well, it would have been just as
enjoyable in standard definition DVD format and to pay a 50% premium to get it
on Blu-ray is just ridiculous. Unless the powers that be are able to churn out
Blu-ray titles at standard DVD rates the format will just die. Sure, we'll get
all the techno heads saying it's worth the extra but they're not the mainstream
purchasers who will decide the fate of the format (just look at SACD and DVD-A).
Laugh if you will but I was right about HD DVD not making it (and was pilloried for my views). After 35 years in this weird and wonderful industry, you get some sort of overview. This is a good one. A couple walk into the store and ask for the best price on a Z11 (retail $7990), I tell them it's not really a discount type of product but there may be a bit in it depending on when they're looking to purchase (obviously, I'll do a little better if we have one in stock). They say they're going to purchase it from the US anyway as it's way cheaper. I point out the "no warranty" bit, external transformer problems, radio stepping frequency incompatibility etc. - OK then, we'll buy it from Singapore cause it's still cheaper. I gave up at this point (there are still issues with the Singapore supplied units but I couldn't be bothered) - THEN they asked for a demonstration! For those that know me, you can imagine the various shades of colour emanating from my cheeks. I was reasonably polite and pointed out how busy we were at the time to which the lady of the duo said "I thought the customer always came first" to which I replied "buying in from Singapore doesn't make you a customer" which was my very polite way of telling them to piss off. They left saying they were now going to Len Wallis Audio to get a demonstration there, good luck Len (and no, I didn't shoot myself in the foot over a potential lost speaker sale as they buy those in from overseas as well). Mission Speakers have a new importer (Synergy) and the prices have tumbled on their basic range. We're getting some in to play with and I'll let you know the outcome over the next couple of weeks.
May 2nd -
Has it been that long since I updated? well, if you've
been hanging out for gossip, you should really subscribe as I've sent a
newsletter recently. Panasonic are still playing silly buggers with our
projector and refuse to replace it even after being repaired three times in 10
months then having failed again. Great TV's and Blu-ray players - really shitty
projectors and even worse after sales service (or pre sales in our case). The
only good thing to come out of it is that the unit we chose to replace it
(PT-AX100/PT-AX200) is the
Optoma HD65
If it was the same price as the Panasonic ($2500 ish) we'd still prefer the
Optoma, it's about one third the size, quieter and has a more cinematic picture,
the killer however is that it goes for around $1690. It just goes to show, from
every pile of shit, a flower grows.
In this ever changing industry, the retailer has to move with the times or perish. We tend to do this (change, not perish) on a regular basis in terms of equipment stocked. We no longer support the B&W 600 series for instance as the new range (to our ears) isn't as good as the older models and even though the prices were reduced due to the new models being made in China, they still weren't a match for the similarly priced Paradigm and KEF offerings (not to mention some of Yamaha's up market units). The same applies to Marantz's new A/V range, even after a significant price drop, their A/V receivers just don't cut it in the value for money stakes. We still stock them and they have some great sounding up market equipment but their basic and mid range stuff just doesn't cut it (I guess that's why they're now sold mainly through Harvey Norman and other box movers).
Where am I going here? Well, many years ago (in a land far far away - oops wrong story) we were the largest independent retailer of Onkyo in Australia. They strayed a little - as did we - and we parted company around 10 years ago. Their latest offerings however, to be released over the next couple of months, look to be both technically and sonically on the mark. To that end, we'll be looking carefully at the range (and pricing) and maybe we can be friends again. I'd really like to get behind the product as we had over 20 years of association with them and they were as reliable as any other product we ever stocked. Not to mention their national sales manager (Scott) was store manager here at Eastwood HiFi for 12 years prior to him joining Amber Technology (Onkyo importers). Could be interesting - I'll keep you posted.
April 22nd -
Sometimes size is everything, Paradigm have just
unleashed a monster. It's a 14" 300 Watt brute of a sub which moves more air
than 20,000 gluttons at a baked bean fest. Sure, the UltraCube 12 is slightly
tighter and petite but this thing just makes the whole store rumble. It's a
matter of space really, I'd love one at home but just can't fit it in (I use an
UltraCube 10). For home theatre, I'm not sure if even our $5000 REL comes close.
At $1799 it's the best boom for the buck we've ever heard. I just went back in
our sound lounge after writing the last sentence and it's official, the DSP-3400
moves more air than the REL B1 at $5000! We just blew two light globe filaments
playing Star Wars. The major downside is the size, it's bloody big!
April 15th -
Clearance time, we have several truckloads of
excess stock to clear so get onto our specials page for a bargain. There's a
Piano gloss black speaker system from Yamaha which has to be the best looking
set up around (sounds great too). We also have a heap of Cambridge Audio
scratched and dented stock at ridiculous prices, not to mention runout specials
on Yamaha receivers.
April 10th -
We have just been playing with the
Optoma HD-803 projector, We don't often get too excited by projectors
(especially Panasonic whose break down rate exceeds that of a 40 year old FIAT
and has customer service only matched by LG). This unit however had the lads in
the store drooling (not a pretty sight at the best of times). Now enough of this
"but it's only 1200 ANSI lumens" crap, all those 2000+ ANSI lumens projectors
just cannot give the contrast or cinematic experience (regardless of what the
specification may say) that you get in the theatres. We'll be putting one in
store for demo. shortly (as soon as I get enough money). We've also been testing
the new Paradigm C1 Signature Series centre speaker ($2095), it is absolutely
amazing considering the compact dimensions (heavy little sucker though), as soon
as the importer has more stock. As you probably know, the centre speaker is the
most important element in Home Theatre reproduction as up to 70% of the overall
sound emanates from there and it's very difficult to find a compact speaker with
enough finesse and grunt to satisfy a top end system. This thing does it!
C1 Signature Series
The matching S1 speakers should be in stock early next month, we haven't heard
them yet but from the reviews in the US magazine, Sound and Vision, they should
be absolute killers.
April 5th -
it appears that I upset someone by stating I couldn't
hear the difference on the Queen Blu-ray disc between DTS and DTS HD Master. How
the hell can someone be upset by my findings, I'm only telling as I hear it, if
Wally Wanker thinks he has better ears than me, so be it (he's probably right)
but that doesn't give him the right to spit the dummy and ring the guys in the
store for a moan - I'm all for a good discussion but threatening to complain
about me on the DTV forum is just plain childish. I'll bet my left testicle that
Wally hasn't even listened to the same disc in both formats. I did mention the
caveat of the speaker being able to resolve the difference - maybe he ignored
that.
The good thing about being on the 'net is that no one is forcing anyone else to read this stuff.
Bugger off Wally!
It's no wonder I'm up to 1/2 bottle of scotch a night.
April 4th -
Interesting!
Retailers fail to support consumers after the sale, survey finds
With credit towww.current.com.au - always an interesting source of industry info.
Fun times - we received the new range of Yamaha gear yesterday and have now had a chance to play with them. It just re enforces my thought that it's a great time to buy the superseded range. The new models (specifically the 663 and 863) are sonically identical to the outgoing 661 and 861, the only difference is an extra HDMI input for the 863 and the ability to decode the new HD audio formats (which, given the pricing of speakers likely to go with these receivers, won't make a skerrik of difference).
Two items we did get that excited us however were the A-S2000 amp and CD-S2000 CD Player. Yamaha have made no secret of the fact that they want to get back in to the "audiophile" bracket of two channel stereo. Well, Marantz, Denon and most esoteric brands - look out, this amp/CD combination will blow you away. There's not much I can say except, if you're in the market for a top end stereo package at a mid price, this combo ($2999 for the amp and $2599 for the CD) you deserve to audition these puppies. We tested them using the Paradigm S8's ($11000 pair) and all the guy's here rated the sound to be so much better than when we had them driven by the Marantz PM15S1 that it was a no contest (in fairness, the Marantz only sold for $2490). The test will come when the new Cambridge Audio pre/power combo is released later this month although at $5000+ it should be good.
April 3rd -
The old scam is back on - guy's in a white van
pulling people over and trying to flog a speaker brand called "Denmark Audio".
This stuff is absolute crap (unless you get it for the $299 it's really worth) -
I've had over 10 calls in the last week from people who've actually bought the
stuff (anywhere from $990 to $2500) or the smarter ones who called to ask about
it before parting with their money. It's also popping up on e-Bay although
surely no one would be brain dead enough to buy an unknown brand from an unknown
source. Sigh!
I just received my Blu-ray copy of "QUEEN Rock Montreal & Live Aid" - even though it was made in 1985, it has to be one of the best DVD concerts I've experienced both in terms of sound quality and content. One interesting thing I did note that, through my music room system, I couldn't pick any difference between DTS and DTS HD Master and believe me, I tried. Maybe a more expensive speaker set up could resolve them but mine (around $5200 for the speakers) certainly couldn't. I think there's too much emphasis placed on these new HD audio formats and only the very top end systems actually benefit. I'm going to give the same disc a go in our sound lounge at work using the Yamaha Z11 and Paradigm S8's with the appropriate centre, surrounds and a REL B1 subwoofer ($5000). Total system price would be around $35,000 so if I can't tell the difference on that set up I'll either get my ears cleaned out or ignore the hype.
March 28th -
I guess the problem I have with reviewers
(professional ones that is, not amateurs like me) is that they don't seem to get
to the crux of the matter. A case in point is the test of the new Yamaha
flagship RX-Z11 in the latest Audio and Video Lifestyle magazine. I've played
with the Z11 in store and compared it to Yamaha's own 3800 along with a few
other top end models from other manufacturers - I wanted to find out if this
model was better than the opposition and more to the point, is it worth the
$7999 price tag. You get my ramblings for free and I obviously have an interest
in the product as I sell it so you can take my observations with a grain of
salt. When I pay $8.95 for a magazine however, I expect an unbiased objective
view of a product with some guidance as to whether it suits my purpose in terms
of price and comparative performance. Of the four pages in the magazine, only a
couple of sentences referred to the sonic and video processing abilities (actual
rather than specifications), and even then the reviewer alluded to the fact that
the Yamaha sounded better when his Parasound $6000 power amp was stuck on the
back end (well duh!) - the rest of the review I could have gotten from the spec.
sheet. Sorry guys, I'm not reviewer bashing, I just expect to get a feel of how
a particular product stacks up against others in the market place when I'm
spending my hard earned dollars.
Oops, just lost my free magazines.
I saw John Foggerty at the Entertainment Centre a couple of nights ago and, as always, a good live mix brings me down to earth in terms of domestic HiFi. I was thinking of an article in the Herald a couple of weeks ago where Len Wallis said that (in essence) he disapproved of subwoofer usage for true stereo music reproduction. Normally I would agree with anything Len said about good stereo music as he deals in way more up market gear than Eastwood HiFi, but my idea of music reproduction is to try and get that "live" feel and reproduce the sound of the concert, be it acoustic or amplified. One of the kicks I get out of the concert environment is that thump in the guts feeling of the bass drum and bass guitar belting out the rhythm. There's no speaker system I know of that gives that feel without the addition of a good, tight, musical subwoofer blending in with the main speakers.
Oops, just lost the Audiophile audience.
March 22nd -
So this guy rings up and asks for a particular type
of HDMI cable (which we happen to stock and used as part of an A/B cable test).
I told him we didn't have that particular cable in stock with the length he
required but a different model (made by the same company) and there was
absolutely no difference in performance. "Oh yes there is a difference" he
screamed down the phone, "I've read it on the internet! and the importers of the
cable told me the more expensive one gives a better picture". Not much one can
do about dogmatism is there?. For the benefit of occasional visitors I'll relay
an earlier post.
Just finished reading the January edition of Popular Mechanics (purely in the interests of the A/V articles) and came across a test on HDMI cables. The editors of the magazine tested three HDMI cables, a generic cable ($13), a Monster Cable Advanced HDMI 1000 HD Cable ($200) and a Honeywell HDMI Cable with CURxE Light Technology ($300) and not one of the editors could pick any difference. They say that since the signal is digital, you either get feed or you don't and high prices, gold plating etc. don't affect the 0's and 1's. I agree but with the proviso that the cable needs to be mechanically sound. I've had several customers come in with faulty HDMI cables where the pins were not making contact or one of the cables was O/S. My suggestion is not to buy the cheapest but limit yourself to around $70 (max) for a 1.5 metre cable. Your local Harvey's store makes more money flogging you a $250 HDMI cable than they do on a $1400 42" Plasma (believe me!). I'll probably get hung, drawn and quartered for pointing that out.
March 14th -
Seems like the industry is catching up on the
Paradigm bandwagon. The latest Australian HiFi Magazine has a glowing review of
the Paradigm Monitor 11's. Don't take my word for it, go check it out!
I've taken to drinking Scotch and Soda now as I'm on a diet and the Bourbon and Coke thing wasn't helping my waistline. This turned out to be an extremely expensive exercise as I can actually taste the difference between brands and find Dimple to be my preferred drop. The only upside is the 1kg I lost last week!
Interesting news from KEF. Their biggest selling Sub/Sat system, the KHT 3005, is now available in the SE specification. Don't get too excited however as they're only available in Black (the Silver version is not available in SE spec.) and they don't sound a lot different anyway (If you didn't hear them side by side you wouldn't know which was playing) so no big deal (even though the Pommie mag's gush over the "improvements").
March 12th -
Ha! my apparent bias towards Paradigm speakers has
been vindicated. Audio and Video Lifestyle Magazine has just announced that
Paradigm swept the field with the best Floorstanding speaker of 2007 - 2008
being the Signature S6 and the Paradigm Titan Monitor the best standmount
(bookshelf) speaker of 2007 - 2008.
March 8th -
Pioneer has just announced the closure of its Plasma
manufacturing plants because, surprise, surprise, there's no money to be made in
TV display panels. That's three companies in 3 months (Fujitsu, Hitachi and
Pioneer). The fault lies with the large retailers - Harvey Norman, Retravision,
Bing Lee primarily in Australia and their ilk in other countries. These
retailers absolutely screw the manufacturers and importers down to the bone
threatening not to stock their products unless a particular price point is met.
As an example, my buy price on the Panasonic TX-50PX70A (which is a superb 50"
Plasma) is $2001.70 yet it's advertised in this weeks papers at $1970 from the
major retailers. The retail incidentally is $2799. Obviously I can't sell any
because I'm not here to lose money but it shows the disdain that the wholesalers
have for small businesses and the lack of loyalty from those wholesalers. Back
when I was buying Panasonic at the same price as the majors (20 years ago), I
was doing over $400,000 a year (wholesale) with them and they were my major
supplier of Audio and Video, now it's almost zero even though they have some of
the best A/V products around (we still stock their Blu-ray Players).
I see that some members of the DTV Forum don't like buying off us because of my "rantings". Well, firstly they don't have to read this stuff and secondly, if we give the best prices, service and advice, why would you preclude us just because you don't like me? Good job I have a thick skin! and pity them for paying more elsewhere because of personal prejudice (their business future doesn't look good).
March 6th -
Audiophiles WARNING -DO NOT FOLLOW THIS LINK!
audiophiles-cant-tell-the-difference-between-monster-cable-and
February 28th -
That's the last time I ask for suggestions via
the Newsletter! Much as appreciate the response, the 400+ emails I received just
swamped me. I'll troll through them over the next couple of days. (you had to be
a recipient of our newsletter to know what I'm talking about).
I don't get too involved in display panels any longer as it all gets too hard. A case in point was the guy (who had no intention of buying off us) who rudely interrupted a phone call I was making just to ask if the Panasonic 42" Plasma we have on the floor was "High Definition" or "True High Definition" because he'd been told that he needed "True High definition". I told him it was straight High Definition, he said that obviously True High Definition was better because it has more pixels. I told him you can't see the difference on a 42" at normal viewing distances and because of pixel density the True High Definition sets are often inferior 'cause their contrast ratio is less. He wanted to argue. I told him to go jump. I hate display panels.
Adjunct to previous paragraph - Full 1920 X 1080 can be beneficial in larger screens (but not always)
February 19th -
I've never been one to say "I told you so" as I
believe it's petty and juvenile, however, as Toshiba announced the cessation of
its HD DVD manufacturing facility a couple of days ago, I'm almost tempted to do
so. There was never going to be any room for two virtually identical HD formats
(in practical terms anyway) so one had to go and with only one company
manufacturing and distributing the stand alone players it was always going to be
goodbye to HD DVD. I really hope this gives Blu-ray a boost as the picture
quality really is so much better than SD DVD (just don't get me started on the
sonics). Oh bugger it - I told you so!
I was going to do a review on the Yamaha RX-Z11 but after playing with it for a couple of hours yesterday I figured that it would be akin to me being asked to road test Casey Stoners MotoGP Ducati. I could probably take it to 20% of its capability then the rest would be lost on me (assuming I survived the experience). The Z11 is so technically advanced in so many areas that it would take a video expert to run through all the up scaling / up conversion specifications and associated video processing, an electronics technician to go through the audio processing and an musician to appraise the sonic ability of the beast. Whereas I could take a stab at the two latter area's, I'm afraid the video section is way beyond me (hey, it was 1966 when I trained with the ABC). We thought it was fantastic when we did the initial set up with the supplied microphone but after a visit by Simon (Yamaha's Z11 expert) who spent 2 hours tweaking it, the results are even more astounding. Admittedly, at $7990 it'd want to be something special, if I had a dedicated room for Home Theatre at Chez Neil that was larger than the current dog box (it's only 5 X 3 metres) I'd grab one and attach a brace of Paradigm Signature speakers (is "brace" the collective for speakers?) and hook it up to my 58" Panasonic Plasma (which currently resides in the rumpus room) - now THAT would be a system!
What I will do however is a brief review on the basics of the Z11 without going into technical specifics. I'm working on it now.
I don't mind giving advice on sound systems (as per our HELP page) but be reasonable about the TV/Sound system price ratio. As a rule of thumb, the sound system (Receiver, Speakers and associated electronics) should be at least as expensive as the TV panel and preferably many times greater. I guess the problem lies in the perception of material wealth - it's a lot easier to brag about your new 70" Plasma than your new Yamarantz sound system. The person who wanted to spend $2000 on a sound system to compliment their 65" plasma needs a reality check, I didn't bother with that one.
February 11th -
And you wonder why I knock the Poms (even though
I am one)
http://www.current.com.au/news/article/RSUUTNLVIL.html
February 7th -
First test of the new KEF XQ40 Speakers has just
been accomplished. It's impossible to objectively assess speakers as there are
just too many variables - room acoustics, source, amplification etc. which is
why we always A/B against a known quantity (or quality in this case). My
reference speakers were the Paradigm Studio 100's as they retail for $4700 pair
and the KEF's $4999 pair, I figured they would be natural competitors and I've
lived with the 100's at home long enough to know their strengths and weaknesses.
It was certainly an eye opener, KEF UniQ speakers have always tended towards a
"soft" sound, much like B&W's. I don't like "soft" I'm afraid, I like accurate,
meaning soft when necessary and dynamic when called for. These XQ speakers have
a totally redesigned tweeter and crossover, they're actually slightly more
forward than the Paradigm's. This can be good or bad depending on the source,
for badly recorded material or a cheap source (CD Player or Turntable) they
sound terrible but paired with good quality input, the sound is sweet and
intimate. Our Sheffield Lab test CD sounded just brilliant with these KEF's.
I'll do a full review shortly after I spend a bit more time with them but my
initial impression is that, for Classical, Jazz and acoustic music, the KEF's
are as good as, and occasionally outshine, the Paradigm Studio 100's, for
anything modern or electronic, the Paradigms with their extra bass drivers, have
more weight and oomph (that's a technical term) and are my preferred noise
generator. I'd be quite happy with either however with the KEF's certainly
winning in the aesthetics department.
http://www.kef.com/products/xq07/global/productRange_xq40/default.aspx
February 6th -
Just finished reading the January edition of
Popular Mechanics (purely in the interests of the A/V articles) and came across
a test on HDMI cables. The editors of the magazine tested three HDMI cables, a
generic cable ($13), a Monster Cable Advanced HDMI 1000 HD Cable ($200) and a
Honeywell HDMI Cable with CURxE Light Technology ($300) and not one of the
editors could pick any difference. They say that since the signal is digital,
you either get feed or you don't and high prices, gold plating etc. don't affect
the 0's and 1's. I agree but with the proviso that the cable needs to be
mechanically sound. I've had several customers come in with faulty HDMI cables
where the pins were not making contact or one of the cables was O/S. My
suggestion is not to buy the cheapest but limit yourself to around $70 (max) for
a 1.5 metre cable. Your local Harvey's store makes more money flogging you a
$250 HDMI cable than they do on a $1400 42" Plasma (believe me!). I'll probably
get hung, drawn and quartered for pointing that out.
February 1st -
Fun times in the Flat Panel market. I've always
said the major stores screw things up for the smaller specialist retailer and
wholesalers alike. David Richards of Smarthouse magazine seems to agree with me
on that one (one of the few things we do agree on) here's an interesting link
How Harvey Norman Screwed Up Over Hitachi...
I don't think he'll mind me posting that one. It just shows what a hold the big box movers have over even the largest importers and wholesalers.
January 14th -
Not too much to report at the moment except that
my new DVD -The Other Side of The Mirror, Bob Dylan Live at the Newport Folk
Festival 1963-1965 is an absolute must for any Bob Dylan fan or anyone
interested in music history. The sound is absolutely incredible (age not
withstanding) and worth the price of the DVD alone.
January 2nd -
Well bugger me (metaphorically speaking of course) if we didn't just have the
best December in the 30 years we've been here. Now all I have to do is find the
money to pay last months invoices! It's almost time for the yearly Awards to be
announced. Unfortunately, I can't list them publicly so you'll have to
subscribe to the newsletter to find out who won what, where and how.
Pictures of the shop! (old old old old old old old old pictures)
