Newsletter February 2012

Business up. Profit down!
I'm not quite as bad as Uncle Gerry who's crying crocodile tears (regardless of how bad his business is, he still skims a shitload off the top, it's the poor franchisees who get screwed) however to keep up with some of the self destructive morons masquerading as retailers who are working on less than 18% overall margin (break even is 19.5%) we've had to bite the bullet on mark up and move some stock. This has led to an increase in sales of 39% in December and 24% in January over the previous years figures but the overall profit is down in relative terms. Fortunately, we no longer sell TV's as that's where the real problem lies. The average markup on a flat screen TV is around 10 - 20% and can be as low as 5%. No business can survive on that hence the push for HDMI cables at $199 (dealer cost around $45) when purchasing one. They make more money on ancillary items than the actual TV.

I'm not complaining mind you as I still make enough to pay the wages and buy decent booze. I may have to cut down to one new car every two years however (in case you hadn't figured it out, cars are my passion).

Steve Cleans Up!
Every now and then (about once a year), the lovely Noelene insists I get rid of the random assortment of goodies I bring home for review or testing. I have my own music room for this but when it gets to the stage that nobody can actually walk into it, things must go. This means I have some genuine bargains (not the bullshit ones I sometimes post on the specials page). No one but me has touched them and they all come with full factory warranty and as I'm generally sober when unpacking and re-packing, the goods are as new. I haven't brought them all in yet but here's the list (no negotiations - I'm not Bing Lee!)

Richter Dragons, Retail $2390 now $1550 pair
Richter Wizards, Retail $1999 now $1249 pair
http://www.eastwoodhifi.com.au/richter.html
Paradigm Signature S8 Cherry (Voted #7 in the best speakers ever made - US Audiophile Magazine) - Retail $11000, now $6990 pair
http://www.paradigm.com/products/products-by-category/floorstanding/signature/signature-series/signature-s8
Paradigm Signature S6 Cherry (had to compare the S6 and S8 side by side) Retail $8999 now $4999
http://www.paradigm.com/products/products-by-category/floorstanding/signature/signature-series/signature-s6
Paradigm Sub 25 Cherry (matching subwoofer) Retail $6999 now $3390.
http://www.paradigm.com/products/products-by-category/subwoofer/signature/signature-series/sub-25
Paradigm Studio 100 Gloss Black (had to compare them to the Signatures) Retail $5499 now $2990
http://www.paradigm.com/products/products-by-category/floorstanding/paradigm-reference/studio-series/studio-100
Onkyo TX-NR1009 A/V Receiver (had to compare against my Yamaha RX-A3010, Retail $2799 now $1690
onkyo-tx-nr1009-3d-network-receiver
Yamaha RX-V771, retail $1299 now $849
http://au.yamaha.com/en/products/audio-visual/av-receivers-amps/rx-v771/?mode=model
Yamaha RX-V671, Retail $1099 now $699
http://au.yamaha.com/en/products/audio-visual/av-receivers-amps/rx-v671_g/?mode=model

Now, since most companies give me a discount as the products are for review, don't expect me to get even close to some of those prices (even demo units) under normal conditions.

White Van Scam.
By now, you've all heard of the White Van Scam where a couple of guys pull up at a petrol station or convenience store car park and give you the sales spiel about having excess speakers or home theatre stock that they must sell before going back to the warehouse and offer $8000 gear for $1990. Heavens knows we get at least one or two complaints each month from people who have been "had" - the actual worth of the goods are around $150 to $300. I noted with interest that it finally made a mention in Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_van_speaker_scam
I mention this as I had another customer call this morning saying he'd just pair $950 for a pair of Dynamic Acoustix Speakers and what did I think of them. Well, after ascertaining he bought them out of the back of a white van and Google showed nothing about them, I told him that for his next BBQ, he should use them as kindling.

Contest Time.
Last months contest was a no-brainer. Naturally everyone said it's better to spend $179 on the pokies at North Sydney Leagues than buy a $199 HDMI cable from Harvey's. Very few answers were publishable however (there seems to be a fair amount of venom regarding Uncle Gerry and Monster Cable). It appears all of our readers agree that any  two metre HDMI cable from $15 to $500 give identical results hence it's better to piss $179 against a wall and buy a $20 HDMI. The winner is our old friend Sumeet. I'm sure he won't mind me showing you his reply

Is by far, easily, losing $179 playing the pokies at the North Sydney Leagues Club!! Why? 
If I were to buy a 2 metre HDMI cable from Uncle Gerry's for $199, I would have to live with it for the rest of my life.

1) My Father and Mother would disown me. We are Indian, and we sure as hell don't OVERPAY for anything!!!
2) My wife would leave me (see 1)
3) My brother would kick me in the nads (see 1)
4) My mates would bring up how I am the first Indian to ever by fooled into overpaying for something... at EVERY event/gathering.
5) I would be $199 down, and only have a very shiny (gold plated, of course), possibly very thickly shielded, HDMI cable to show for it.
6) Having no family/wife to waste (I mean "spend") money on since the purchase, I would have extra money lying around and would upgrade my home theatre room and system to Cinema standards. And when I find that the distance between my amplifier and projector is in fact 4m.... that would render my cable useless!!
7) On the upside, my drinking habits would become a hell-of-a-lot more regular

  However, if I were to lose $179 on the pokies at North Sydney Leagues club, all I would have to regret is the loss of $179! Why?
Losing $179 would take me a while (why? Cause I'm a tightarse (didn't you pay attention? I'm Indian!) and be playing the cheapest pokies at the club). So, the result is: 
1) I would have had MANY drinks while enjoying the pokies that night.
2) I would've had a great night out, and so would have the wife!!! So no fear of divorce!
3) The only thing parents know is we had a great night out! So no disownment! (I know that's not a word...)
4) My brother would have had a great night out... no kick in the nads!
5) When I got home, I would've got some action! Drunken Sumeet is very sexy!
6) Losing $179 on the pokies is not a very good story and won't make many appearances at events and gatherings with mates. So, less teasing!
7) The next day, I wouldn't feel like an absolute TOSSER for buying a $199 HDMI cable 
Finally, of both scenarios, losing $179 means I'm still $20 better off that buying a ridiculous HDMI cable for $199.

Far too much information Sumeet, however enough to get you the Canton Sound Thingy worth $2790 (well, that was the original retail anyway). Just send your delivery address (business if possible) and we'll get it out to you. My regards to your cricket team (heh, heh)

Now for this months contest. Prize is not for everybody as it's part of Yamaha's pro-product range - it's the MW8CX which I've been using at home for the last few months to make some music It sells for around $500 and I haven't the original packaging so it comes in bubble wrap :)
http://au.yamaha.com/en/products/music-production/interfaces/mw/mw8cx/?mode=model
This is a great little USB mixing console supplied with Cubase AI4 and if you don't understand any of that then you may want to pass on this months fun. No product support on this one either.
If that's not to your taste however you can have a pair of Yamaha Award Winning headphones worth $149.
http://au.yamaha.com/en/products/audio-visual/headphones/hph-200_w/?mode=model

The question is (and believe me it's extremely relevant), If one has a nagging toothache, what's the best course of action and why?
1) Ignore it (cheaper)
2) Take copious amounts of Codeine (more fun but the constipation can be a bitch)
3) Go to the Dentist (I have an indescribable fear of Dentists and have no dental plan so it costs a fortune)
4) Elope with a supermodel (I'd forget about the toothache - until my wife catches up with me then it wouldn't matter as she'd knock the teeth out anyway)
Just click HERE with your answer. Remember, I can't reply to individual responses as I get over 600 entries. Winner announced in next months newsletter.

Subwoofer Blues!
We sell a lot of subwoofers - and I mean a lot! Most people are happy when they get them home although we do get people complaining that there's no Bass response when in their seating position. This is due to a phenomenon called "standing waves" and is caused by the long wavelength of the lower frequencies causing "nodes" and "antinodes" in the room. This is where the waves intersect and cancel each other out. It's mainly prevalent in square rooms (for an idea of just how long the wavelength is, use this calculator)
http://www.mcsquared.com/wavelength.htm

There are three ways of overcoming or reducing this effect, first is just to move the subwoofer around the room to find an ideal position. The best way to do this is to put the subwoofer at your seating position then walk around the room until you find the spot that gives the best bass, then move the subwoofer to that position. This doesn't always work however as some rooms just don't allow it. The second way is to get a subwoofer with a phase shifting set up such as Paradigms PBK-1 ($149), these only work with Paradigm subwoofers however, Velodyne and several other brands have similar room acoustic adjustments. The ideal fix however is to get two (or more) subwoofers, this means you can place them to eliminate standing waves and get more Woof (the ideal number, according to the experts, is four - fairly impractical however). If you do have a problem, you can always call us to get our opinion of the best fix.

Thin HDMI Cables.
We just received an e-mail from a company offereing the worlds thinnest HDMI cables, I can see how that would facilitate tight installations and such, my only thought was about 50Hz induction from adjacent power cables and the effect that may have. All the cables I've tested so far have been 30AWG or thicker and I haven't seen or heard any significant difference in any (under 3 metre) cable regardless of brand or price. These cables use 35AWG from memory and I'd like to hear from anyone who has used any of these super thin cables to see if they have had any issues. If no one has then I'll purchase some (I have to buy in bulk, hence my hesitation).

More Trouble with On-Line Retailers
There are still some rogue retailers out there listing products for which they are not authorised resellers. They take the money then don't deliver. One guy e-mailed me to express his displeasure with a particular store in Melbourne (who uses a photoshopped picture to make their whorehouse, sorry, warehouse look like a legitimate store) He ordered a Yamaha Receiver in December, paid by credit card, and still hasn't received either a refund or the goods. Always ensure the retailer has a physical presence with demonstration facilities (that means the guys who are selling the products have, hopefully, played with and can operate the gear hence offereing after sales technical support) and is a genuine reseller for that brand.


To unsubscribe from this rubbish, just click HERE and save me some bandwidth!

Later

Steve