Hi Fi industry (and miscellaneous) comments

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February 22nd - Been playing with subs lately and until yesterday I would have said that there's little difference between good expensive subwoofers. That's until I tried the Paradigm Sub 25 (retail $6999)
http://www.paradigm.com/products/products-by-category/subwoofer/signature/signature-series/sub-25
This is a 3000 Watt, 15" monster that needs it's own power station. When fine tuned with the PBK-1
http://www.paradigm.com/products/products-by-category/subwoofer/paradigm/paradigm-perfect-bass-kit/pbk
which has just been reduced in price from $499 to $149, the results are truly spectacular and the improvement for both music and movies is immeasurable. All the guys in store now are wondering if they can afford one (or two in Mikes case) for themselves. I mention this for two reasons, to point out that Subs ain't Subs and the fact that we now have a demo unit for sale at $3390 (plus $149 for a PBK-1 if needed).

February 20th - Friday night we went to see Cotton, Keayes and Morris, all icons from the late 60's, early 70's Australian music scene. They sung some of their old songs and newer stuff at a place called Lizottes at Dee Why in Sydney. You get a delicious two course meal included in the price of admission and we were right up the front (not that it matters where you sit as it's an intimate 200 seat venue). Now, believe it or not, the show just blew away the mega productions of Rod Stewart and Roger Waters in terms of shear enjoyment. It was just two acoustic guitars and a keyboard player but the banter with the audience and musical brilliance of the performance just transfixed me. Well worth a visit to the venue or, if you get a chance to see Cotton Keayes and Morris at your local club, go along (assuming you're over 40).

So, Harry Halfwit comes in and sucks us dry on a receiver. Spends two hours with the guys getting to know how to operate the various apps and zone's etc. Asks our best price, we give it, he says thanks but he can get it $50 cheaper on the 'net (that's $50 on a $2500 unit) and walks out. Now, that's bad enough (albeit understandable) but we then get a phone call from Harry who now has his new receiver and wants to go through the set up with it as the place he bought it from couldn't help. You don't need three guesses to imagine what I said to him!

February 16th - Interesting comparison. Saw Roger Waters "The Wall" on Tuesday night and was absolutely blown away with the audio/visual production. Even someone unfamiliar with the Pink Flloyd classic would have been mesmerized. Certainly the best concert I've been to since Queen back in April 1985 at the Sydney Entertainment Centre. I'm not sure if any concert can eclipse Freddie in full charismatic mode. Went to Rod Stewart last night and, although the band and lighting were technically spot on, it felt like going to a Karaoke party with 12,000 of your closest friends. Rods vocals were mixed well back - the backing singers were actually louder. Everybody was singing along, just a pity you couldn't hear the person you paid to come and enjoy. Next time I'll watch his DVD concert. One good thing however and that's the fact that the lovely Noelene (The Missus) loved the show. Maybe it's a gender thing.

February 14th - Just to give you a small taste of our newsletter here's a link to this months. You're not eligible for the contest unless subscribed however and a lot of the specials are gone (not all though)
http://www.eastwoodhifi.com.au/newsletter12.html

February 11th - It's been slow this month! so stop reading this rubbish and go straight to the hifi specials page and buy something.  On another note (pun intended) it's going to be a ripper next week with me having tickets to see Roger Waters performing "The Wall" on Tuesday night, Rod Stewart on Wednesday night and Cotton, Keyes and Morris on Friday night. I may have to ease up on my "no drinking" policy just for a short while.

February 4th - Don't shoot the messenger! Not all hifi dealers are bad (although we tend towards it sometimes). Just got an e-mail from a disgruntled purchaser accusing all hifi retailers of being crooks. Nothing to do with us mind you, I think we just popped up on Google and he decided to bombard us with his misfortune. Seems like he ordered a Yamaha Aventage product off some mob called Digitalcentre in Victoria and pre paid by credit card. Money comes out of the account, no product sent (that was in December). Refund promised - no refund (as yet). Lesson - check that the retailer is an authorised distributor for that product (the store in question is not an authorised Yamaha A/V stockiest) and maybe check the A/V forums such as www.whirlpool.net.au or www.dtvforum.com.au as the guys on the forums can generally point you in the right direction when it comes to reputable suppliers. And stop abusing us (I'm extremely sensitive).
Incidentally, the customer in question has now involved the police so it could get interesting.

January 28th - There's a reason why listening to sound systems and driving cars before buying either can be counter productive. It's called the RC (Resistance to Change) factor. I first learned about this phenomenon during my training as a typewriter salesman. Laugh if you will but selling typewriters by cold calling back in the early '70's was regarded as the most difficult sales job in Australia. IBM had the market locked up with the Golf Ball machine since every secretary used one and was used to the feel of the machine. I was selling a typewriter from Olympia called a Whisper Disc which used a rotating font wheel instead of the IBM ball. It felt totally different to use and, although far superior in both operation and longevity than the IBM, it was virtually impossible to sell as the secretary's (and, believe me, they made the decisions) just wouldn't use them. Although superior in every way including price, the Olympia felt different and the secretary just wasn't as comfortable with it.
How does this apply to HiFi and cars? Well, if I'd have test driven the IS350 before buying it, I probably wouldn't have bought it because the difference between driving a turbo diesel and naturally aspirated V6 is almost diametrically opposite and when I first picked up the Lexus I was disappointed at the lack of instant torque. After three weeks with the new car however, I now find it to be the best vehicle I've ever owned (I won't bore you with the plusses) and had I not taken the plunge, I'd have missed out on the pleasure of ownership. I bought it incidentally after researching the 'net and reading reviews and taking an average of the articles. With Hifi, the same rules apply. Generally people are used to a particular sound and when purchasing upgrades or replacement equipment, they go for the sound that they're used to, not necessarily the most accurate or "correct" sound. I'm not saying they're wrong, it's just that they're going around in circles and not getting the full enjoyment from the system. Occasionally, ask the salesman what he (or she) would recommend in your particular price range, giving thought to the room acoustics, type and volume of music played and aesthetics. It may not sound "right" to you initially but is probably a more accurate sound and one you'd grow in to over a short period of time.

January 23rd - So, the missus got the Audi and I bought the new Lexus IS350. Must be something wrong with either my ears or Mark Levinsons design work. The Lexus has several hundred speakers hidden around it and a subwoofer not so hidden. It's supposed to be a premium sound package (admittedly it's a lot better than Audi could muster) by Mark Levinson but unless I go into the set up menu, put the high frequency to minimum, mid range to normal and bass to max, it sounds shit! Even with my tweaks, it only passes as OK. As I've read reviews on the car that state it has the best sound system that the reviewer (s) have ever heard, I'm glad we don't employ motoring journalists to sell hi-fi as their ears must be rooted.

Incidentally, kudos to Lexus of Parramatta, it's like the Len Wallis Audio of car dealers without the pressure and reluctance to negotiate.

January 18th - It's been a bit hectic lately hence my lack of updates. We've just gone through our lay-bye section and have found some unclaimed bits and pieces which I'll list on the specials page soon. We get asked for complete packages quite often in the $2000 - $3000 range so with the help of some advertising dollars and squeezing our margins, I've put a Yamaha / Paradigm package together which should hit the spot. Just check out our hifi Specials page.

January 11th - Uncle Clive has upgraded from a Cambridge Audio 840A amplifier to a Dussun V8i (there's nothing like 42kgs of throbbing amplification), consequently we have his pre-loved amplifier for sale, original price $1999, this one $699 with three months warranty. No box and a bit grubby (no, not Clive, the amplifier) but works perfectly.
http://www.cambridgeaudio.com/summary.php?PID=292&Title=Azur+840A+%28Version+2%29+Class+XD+amplifier
It's a Mark1 however (almost identical to the Mk2)

January 4th - Funny really (or maybe not) that the people who screw you down on price and generally make a retailers life a misery, are the ones who give the most grief after the sale is completed. Guy buys a subwoofer from interstate, orders it off our specials page that had links to the specifications, when it arrives he wants to return it because it's too big. Hmm, what part of the specifications that list the dimensions didn't he understand? Remember, we didn't suggest this unit, the guy just rang up and ordered. OK, sometimes we wear this lack of common sense and refund (try that with other retailers) but in this case we suggested another, smaller unit and sent it out for the difference in our discount pricing (we've already lost $120 in shipping at this point) - guy gets the new sub, rings up and complains there's a hole in it (WTF???) - turns out to be the indicator light at the front which is countersunk into the cabinet. Our guy says "turn it on", customer does, light comes on, all sweet.

Now to an even worse scenario, guy buys an amp and speakers and was particularly aggressive and annoying regarding the pricing. Speakers sound scratchy, takes speakers to repair shop, speakers have been overdriven by customer ("not me" he says, I never play loud - If I had a dollar for every time I've heard that I'd never have to work again) I offer to mediate and get the repair bill down from $550 to around $250 with some subsidy from ourselves and the importer. Not good enough so he's going to the ACCC and all of a sudden it's "Doctor" in the correspondence (God, I hate honorifics when used for psychological advantage - if I wanted to be a real wanker, I could put more letters after my name than in Campbell's Alphabet Soup after nine years of tertiary education) So, what to do? I'm leaving this one to the importers as, even though it is our responsibility as the retailer if there is any manufacturing defect, it's clearly a operational issue and if we have to front any consumer tribunal, so be it. I haven't been to one in over 15 years but find them to be fair and equitable and would relish the chance to humble the good "Doctor". Now, I've been off the drink for three weeks (apart from the occasional tipple over the festive season) as my blood pressure was 200/100 and that scared me into abstinence. The last two cases (which popped up concurrently) may well force me back into death valley as my stress level is in orbit! Thank heavens 99.9% of our customers are understanding and generally a pleasure to interact with (I guess I'm no saint when it comes to "niceness").

Excuse me now while I go home for my usual dinner of 2mg Xanax on toast.

January 2nd - Happy New Year and all that. Apologies to anyone that dropped in today as we weren't expecting the rush that arrived and only two of us were here to assist. I think we got through everything OK however without putting too many noses out of joint. Everyone has been uncharacteristically nice to me on the e-mails over the last week apart from Morrie the Moron who took exception to me driving a nice car when he said his 15 year old Honda was just as good and asked why I drove such extravagance - because I bloody well can, that's why! ( I wonder if Morrie worked 6 days a week over the last 34 years and gets a maximum two weeks holiday a year?)

December 31st - Being Australia's #1 Paradigm Retailer (indeed, probably the largest dealer in the Southern Hemisphere) it's with some smugness that I note the Paradigm Signature S8 was rated #7 in the list of the worlds best speakers
http://audiophilereview.com/audiophile/the-25-ultimate-audiophile-speakers-of-all-time.html
If you click on the link, note that to scroll through the list you need to click on the translucent arrow on the right of each picture. The prices are in US Dollars so not entirely relevant but certainly, all six speakers ahead of the S8's were significantly more expensive. As a Paradigm user at home for the last 12 years I couldn't agree more with their assessment.

December 23rd - So, guy comes in for one of our specials. It's a relatively cheap product that we call a "commodity" so they normally get sold in the box without messing about. This guy wanted the whole nine yards, demo, specs and a over an hour play with it (our margin on this one was $75). It just made me think what would happen if you rolled up to Harvey's to buy a dishwasher and brought a pile of dirty dishes to see how the thing operated. I get the feeling they wouldn't be as accommodating as we were.

Have a great Christmas I'll be blogging again next week. We're closed Sunday 25th and Monday 26th, open again all week although Tuesday is a short trading day 9.00 'till 3.00pm. Other days 9.00 'till 5.30.

December 21st - Clear-out time. We have some old version Paradigm speakers that were on the shop floor for demo. Time to move on now so we're dumping them at silly pricing. Just go to the specials page for the deals. We're making nothing on these (actually some are below cost) so no time wasting.

Again with the e-mails already (oy vey!) If I've put in the effort to answer an e-mail, at least do the courtesy of replying even if it's to say I'm too expensive or I'm a Wanker. At least I know you received my e-mail that way. It's kind of like talking directly to somebody and they just turn around and ignore you (rude buggers).

December 17th -Time for the Dumbest HiFi Store Award for 2011. Couldn't split it this year between Stores with the phone numbers 03 9449 4832 or 03 9523 7145, both rang up trying to pry pricing out of us by pretending to be customers. Never heard of caller ID and Google guys? How stupid and technically inept can they be. I certainly wouldn't be relying on them for tech support.

Obviously giving up the drink over the last two weeks has had a negative effect on my good side, I think I've crossed over (says with Darth Vader voice) - expect no mercy for low iQ fools!

December 16th - For the best coffee beans in the country, visit www.baybeans.com.au I normally don't do endorsements but just tried some of their coffee (they ship Australia wide) and its an absolute knockout! Just tell 'em Steve sent you.

It's that time of year that, when dealers that aren't going too well, cancel some of their forward orders. Avaricious bastard that I am. I swoop like a vulture and buy them cheap as the importers have already committed them. Included in the latest batch are some Onkyo receivers down from $4499 to $1999, Blu-Ray Players down from $599 to $199 and a couple of Yamaha complete packages at up to 30% off normal price. Go to our hifi Specials page to check them out.

I'm pretty thick skinned so I don't take much notice of the shit that gets thrown at me from other dealers (I actually get on pretty well with most of them) but it really gets my back up when one particular lady (if one could call her that) complains to the representatives of three different companies that she hates Eastwood HiFi and myself all within the last week. The fact that she's in Queensland makes it all the more strange as anything I sell into Qld has to have shipping costs involved so if she can't compete I suggest she's either not buying right or, more likely, is even more greedy than myself (and that would take some doing). I always say, if you take more notice of  your own business and less of others, you'll do a lot better.

December 12th - When you hit my age, you tend to be a bit more laid back and less aggressive, consequently I haven't lost my temper in over a year. Until today! Customer calls up complaining of a distorted woofer. I ask him to test it by gently pressing the cone in, he says there's a slight scraping noise. I suggest it's been overdriven, he goes bananas and says its impossible as he has children so never plays it loud. I suggest that every person who calls with a blown speaker says the same thing (they actually do). He says he has a degree in Electronic Engineering and knows what he's talking about. It just escalated from there. Long and short of it is that we're sending him a new woofer, he's sending the old one back. We'll dissect it and if has a burned coil we'll charge him $90, if not it's free under warranty and I have egg all over my face. I'm backing me on this as there's almost no chance a speaker can be working OK for a year then develop the scraping sound due to a manufacturing defect. I'll keep you informed and let you know if I need an egg remover.

December 7th - I get asked for complete systems to be listed on our specials page. This isn't as easy as it may seem as each persons requirements are different. To satisfy the need however I've come up with a set up that would suit just about any requirement in terms of room size and type of music played. It's not cheap but I've tested the system at home and can vouch for it's suitability to reproduce anything from Classical to Heavy Metal and give goose bumps when watching movies. Check it out on our hifi specials page.

November 29th - It's interesting marketing, do you try to sell a product on the basis that you've made it desirable (albeit flawed) such as, lets say, some Bose products (they call them "LifeStyle meaning form over function) or do you risk pushing a product that actually suits the customers needs (sonically I mean) at the risk of losing a sale to an inferior but more attractive product? I'm prepared to lose a sale in the pursuit of sonic purity and often, when I could have just sold a pretty system, I've suggested something else as the "pretty "one wouldn't suit the room or give the performance required. Car manufacturers could learn a bit from this. BMW and it's associated companies tend to lose quite a few sales by foisting the "run flat" tires on the purchaser. Having no spare just doesn't make sense, as my wife found out when her Mini (owned by BMW) had two flats in three weeks and considering a lot of her travel is between our home in Sydney and the Holiday house 230 kms up the coast, a flat half way up the expressway could be somewhat unfortunate in many ways. The Mini was replaced by an Audi which does have a spare (and has been used several times). For the same reason, I've decided not to purchase a new 5 series Beemer. I wonder how many other potential customers have been turned away by the marketing department from BMW?

Talking of customer needs, my wife came into the store last week (probably to check up on me) and saw the new Triangle Color range of speakers. As our new TV stand is gloss white, she insisted on me bringing a pair home along with matching centre to suit the decor. I did as any red blooded male would do and did as I was told. No, they're not quite as good as my Paradigm Studio 100's but in my acoustically challenged rumpus room, don't sound significantly inferior and the missus is now happy. The moral of the story is - do as you're told by the wife.

November 22nd - Bob and John from Paradigm (North America) were in Australia for a look at how we operate our business. I showed 'em





































The rogue in the Black shirt is Steve, local representative for Paradigm Importers, Audio Active.
It's amazing what deals can be done when you anchor in the middle of Pittwater and tell them to do a deal or swim!


November 18th - Went to the Dolly Parton concert this week (don't laugh) - it was bloody good! When you have as much money as Dolly (and you write, produce and play your own songs), you get the best backing musicians, sound and lighting technicians that money can buy. Consequently, you end up with one of the best concerts for performance, audio and video quality that you'll probably ever hear and see. We went to the pre-concert event hosted by Richard (chipmunk cheeks) Wilkins who ably hosted the event. Playing to our select crowd was a brilliant country singer called Morgan Evans This guy is a great entertainer, singer and guitar player and was a great warm up to Dolly. If you get a chance to see him or hear his music, do so. It doesn't matter if you like Country Music or not, his voice and diction are just great listening.

This was in contrast to the Steely Dan/Steve Winwood concert the previous week which was pretty lame. Steve came on first and (to a lousy mix) played only four of his notable hits with the rest of the songs being twelve bar blues which reminded me of a crappy pub band. Steely Dan was next and again the mix was ordinary (unlike Dolly, they obviously didn't have the budget or inclination to pay big money for the sound system) - We walked out after the second song! I guess you win some and lose some.

I always wonder why I get e-mails asking for my best price on a particular item(s) and, when I answer saying I can't hardcopy the best price so please phone me, the bastards never phone! Must be other dealers or some poor soul who's already purchased and wants to find out if he got ripped off or not. Either way it's pretty rude (and that's my domain).

November 14th - Bunch of bastards these HiFi people. John and Mel Chillari (along with his lovely wife Vicky) invited myself, Noelene and several other HiFi notables (about 40 in all) for a cruise on his BIG boat. Everything was going along fine as we had a fantastic buffet, plenty of wine and good company. Then about half an hour before we disembarked, Mel brought a bottle of red from his private stash and insisted I join him in a glass - well, half the bottle actually. I felt no pain as I went to bed last night but today I feel like shit so instead of writing something witty or technical, I'm going home to bed!

November 2nd - We've had a clean up in our Lay-By section and anything over three months (our maximum period) is being cleared where we can't contact the original purchaser. Check our specials page for clearance items. Lately we've had a number of subwoofers fail on us, no particular brand, just across the board (RELs, Mission, Paradigm, Definitive Technology, DB Dynamics, Velodyne, M&K and lots of brands we never even sold). I don't have any idea why as it seems nation wide. Could be voltage fluctuations as there's no other reason I can think of for a mass subwoofer outage. Perhaps it's Julia Gillard's dulcet tones that are forcing the cones into a "death resonance" as she spruiks the Carbon Tax or, more likely, Max Markson belting his baritone bullshit on Celebratory Apprentice - that'd make any self respecting subwoofer self destruct . Maybe we'll never know but the event is certainly real enough.

October 22nd - Talking of ethics (no, you idiot, ethics, not non-Australian born people) I had a discussion with a guy about purchasing a Marina berth near our holiday house up the coast. He wanted $7000 (not actual figures but for relativity) and I said I wanted to pay $5000. He quickly said "OK, lets make it $6000" and I said I'd call him back to finalise. I called the next day and he said that he's changed his mind and wanted the original $7000. I told him to stick his marina berth up his arse (no mean feat). The extra money wasn't even the issue as I'd have been happy to pay the extra, it's just that in my world, my word is my bond and if I say something regarding pricing, I stick to it even though I may regret it later. In fact, negotiating with suppliers, we may do a $100,000 deal on a handshake or word over the phone and that's that! I guess some people just don't have the same sense of integrity as others.

October 21st - Beware of installers who are not recommended by a HiFi store or don't have a bricks and mortar presence! Called in the industry as "Boot slammers" they operate out of their vehicles and generally have no formal qualifications. Check to see if they're a member of CEDIA or/and have a UEE30310 certificate or some other recognised qualification. If you're not sure, contact the store you purchased the equipment from. The reason for this rant is that lately we've had a number of calls from "Installation Technicians" who were trying to configure systems they'd installed and had absolutely no idea on how to do a system set up. One guy couldn't even configure a basic speaker set up and when he rang for help, I said "have you read the manual?" to which he replied "I haven't got time for that shit". You can imagine my reply to that sort of dedication to the job!

October 19th - For the first time in a couple of weeks I decided to sit in my music room and listen to some of my DVD concerts. For the life of me I couldn't get a decent sound out of my gear even though the last time I listened it was perfect. I fiddled with the settings and sound modes but it just sounded crap! After half an hour of messing around I noticed my good wife had moved the subwoofer about 10cm further out from the cabinet - I moved it back and everything was just fine. That 10cm movement created bass standing waves which just gave a bass void around my seating position. There's a moral there, something about wives and HiFi, I just haven't quite worked it out yet.

October 13th - Well, we've been playing and listening to the Richter speakers some more and they really are great value for money. We've put some surround packages together using them along with various A/V receivers and have come up with some amazing sounding 5.1  systems from $3499 (with a RRP of $5295) using the state of the art Yamaha RX-V671. Just call for details. We have the system in store for demo. We have other combinations that really rock up to $7600!

October 6th - This really is a grubby industry. I had a call from a "customer" who was asking questions about Paradigm speakers and our pricing. It was a Melbourne number and I thought I recognised it and as we were talking I worked out it was another dealer , it's easy to tell as they never ask about shipping costs etc. so you know they're just price fishing - not to mention wasting my (sometimes) valuable time. I gave him some bullshit pricing (always upset slime bags I say). Their number incidentally is 03 9523 7145, isn't Caller ID a wonderful thing? When you find out who they are, just send them a babies dummy so they can spit it out later. I really am getting too old for stupid games!

October 5th - After many weeks of comparative listening, the guys and myself have decided to stock Richter speakers. Richter is an Australian company started in 1986 by Ralph Waters, a schoolteacher with an Audiophile Ear (ears actually as he has two of them). His first speaker was the Wizard which is now in its fourth or fifth incarnation and stays true to the original design of an "honest" speaker. Unfortunately, the same can't be said of current owner, John (Jack the Richter) Fahey. However, as John and I go back over 20 years we get along well (although after shaking hands, I always count how many fingers I have left). Considering the speakers are finished in genuine Wood Veneer, the pricing is extremely competitive. I'll make a dedicated page with price list and models (and maybe a review or two).

October 4th - The $A has crashed to around 95c US so I reckon the deals we did with some importers last month were fortuitous. We have some Definitive Technology DP7002's, 7004's and 7006's coming in that are at US pricing but it's a one off as the next lot will be at least 20% more expensive. Keep an eye on our specials page as I'm not listing them until they get into store. I'm also clearing our display Yamaha RX-A2000's at $1399 (no i-pod docks with these at this price however). These are repacked as new and have full four year warranty. I actually use one at home to drive my Paradigm Studio 100's and the sound is identical to the RX-A3000 (and, not surprisingly, the same as the new RX-A2010)

Guy calls from interstate and was unhappy with his Blu-Ray player - said the play button needed pressing more than once to get it to work so wanted to return it. Deal was, he didn't want another one but to exchange along with some speakers he purchased for another product. As he promised all the goods and packaging was as new I said OK. We sent him the new goods and he returned the Blu-Ray player (packaging was crap and there was nothing wrong with the operation - he just wasn't waiting long enough before pressing the Play button again) and the speakers he returned were marked with the packaging covered in gaffer tape. I lose big time on that as I'll have to sell them as second hand (not even as demo's). There's a moral to that story which I'm still trying to fathom!

September 27th - Back from the Yamaha factory trip. Found out why the Yamaha products are so reliable - they test every single item for every function before packaging and shipping. Absolutely amazing! The other dealers I went with tried to kill me off every night with alcohol poisoning but I fooled them, I had a liver bypass valve installed and activated it at 5.00pm every day. Nick and Mario were trying to slip me doubles of everything but I survived. Just wait until I post the photo's in the next newsletter, they'll be blood in the streets!

The boys did very well in my absence so I may well take more holidays (Joy!)

September 20th - Off to Malaysia to check out the Yamaha factory (specifically the manufacture of the new Aventage range). Back next Tuesday. Mike will get the e-mails and handle things in my absence. Because of this, the "Specials "may not be right up to date so just call the guys on 02 9651 4922 for up to date stock situations.

September 15th - Interesting comment by the importer of Rotel, HK, B&W and other brands - just click HERE to read (it's in PDF for those of you with i-Pads etc.) courtesy of The Australian (probably the least biased newspaper available). I agree with him on the basis that I'd get at least one or two people each week who have issues with either grey imports (such as Onkyo or Optoma bought via DigitalCinema et al.) or those who purchase direct from HK, the US or Singapore. Best one was the guy who bought an Onkyo direct from the US, changed the plug (illegal in itself if not a qualified electrician) and turned it on. Bang! Gerry Genius never figured that 240V beats 120V any day.

Talking of DigitalCinema, I'd like to thank Uncle Joe for the Flea Brush he sent me (in-joke).

And talking of Uncle Joe, he found some Definitive Technology SuperCube 1 subwoofers in his warehouse that I was able to shaft him on (technical term). I remember selling these at $2199 late last year and they were absolutely awesome. I now have a couple (new) that I can do for $1249, bloody amazing for a 1500 Watt, 36cm cube that'll knock the walls down (if you so desire).

Now, for all you 60's and 70's music lovers, this is the best DVD I've bought in ages
http://www.amazon.com/British-Beat-Live-Petula-Clark/dp/B000UCH6XC/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1316054562&sr=1-1
Absolutely great sonically even though the artists are showing their age a bit (aren't we all darling). I must have watched it at least 5 times (who said nostalgia was dead?)

September 7th - As part of our "I wouldn't believe it if I didn't f*&@ing see it" segment, here's a photo of a guy that just couldn't wait to get his new system home






















So, with a full 5.1 system with receiver and subwoofer, somehow this guy managed to strap everything on and in the MX-5 and drive it home! It was quite safe as he had more tie downs than an S&M dungeon but I'm not quite sure what it did for the handling.


September 5th - Addendum to the last blog. Guy with the amp that didn't sound good has actually blown his tweeters (he just doesn't know it yet). He insisted on returning the amp (less restocking fee cause there's nothing wrong with the amp and he chose it after listening to it originally in store with his own speakers). The fact that, when he got it home, it sounded fine straight up but went "dull "after a few minutes indicates that he's de-tweeted the speakers. He's in for a shock when he buys another brand of amp from another dealer!

September 1st - Spring is here and the madness has started. All through Winter we had a record sales period and no customer complaints, worries or issues. Happy, happy and much drinking. Spring arrives and so do the strange requests, questions etc. The first was the guy who brought in his speakers to test out an amplifier (a particularly good one punching out over 200 Watts per channel). It sounded fantastic with his speakers so he bought it. Next day (today, being Spring) he calls and says it doesn't sound the same at home (well Duh!, it's called room acoustics and we told him it'd sound different at home). Guy wants to swap it for a different brand. I'll do it for him and guess what? It'll sound exactly the same back at his place as the one he's returning.
Next one is an e-mail from someone with a small problem (I'll let you figure out what it is). I normally don't relay e-mails but as I'm keeping the writer anonymous, I feel I have to share this one -
 

Hi Steve.

 I came across your page whilst searching for a good supplier of loudspeakers

However, I have to disagree with your statements in the loudspeaker section.

Most ‘experts’ would agree that speakers are not the most important part of any system.

They cannot compensate for a poor input signal. As they say ‘shite in, shite out’

Also, speakers are not the primary source of what you hear. The primary source will be the input signal, e.g. the cd player, or the iPod. The speakers are the output source.

Your statements are very misleading to the beginner and not what one would expect from a ‘specialist.

Yours etc. (name deleted)

Misleading eh! well, that got up my goat a little so I replied by trying to explain that whilst the source is important, in these days of digital storage and reproduction it's the DAC's that determine how good the actual source is (assuming uncompressed source and all other things such as production values, bit rates  etc. being equal). The differences between good DAC's is far less than the differences between speakers hence my assertion on speaker/room acoustics as being the main sonic determinant (take my first paragraph as a case in point).

Noddy still disagreed with me and replied (in part) thus -

Whilst i agree that uncompressed digital is essential (i do not own an ipod or a turntable) it can also be argued that the system as a whole should be balanced. Why spend most of your money on the speakers if the amp cannot do them justice?
For this reason, to say they are the most important part is simply not valid.
Does a huge exhaust on a car make it go loads faster just because it sounds louder? No.
Most people have a budget.
That budget should be used to buy the best system they can afford, spreading the money on acoustically compatible equipment.

Oh dear, I did explain to him that in our  "Optimal System" section, I do offer advice on balanced systems at a particular budget but I think Noddy has an exhaust fixation and didn't read that bit. I didn't even bother with the amp thing as, again, in a particular price range, the difference between amplification is generally small BUT with the caveat that different amplifiers react differently with various speakers and as such we generally recommend what matches what (we do test this stuff out you know).

Hopefully, he'll go to one of Sydney's better HiFi stores and get ripped off to the extent he deserves. Sometimes it's just not worth pursuing. Thank heavens I'm only in this business to give me something to do each day (I can't retire as my wife would probably throw me out of the house each morning anyway)

I will now, however, go home and see what the Bourbon cupboard holds (Bookers Noe hopefully).

 

August 25th - New Paradigm Monitor range will be available later next month. Production has moved to China (current range are made in Canada). New models will look slightly different, sonically it's going to be tough as the current range is already regarded worldwide as the best sounding speaker for the money available. We have a few new pairs and some demo's left to clear before the new range is available. It's a great time to upgrade. Check our hifi Specials page for pricing or call me on 02 9651 4922 for pricing on our demo units.

One of the discs we use for demo and testing is from local singer/guitarist Roseanna Gallo. We use it as the production values are not overdone so it's more "realistic" than most overdubbed, electronically enhanced CD's. Roseanna's voice is superb and is a great determinant of a speakers ability to reproduce female vocals. Basically a religiously themed double CD, there are some covers of classic songs (Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen, Your Song by Elton John etc.). The classics are great, Roseanna's' own compositions are terrific although for religiously challenged people such as myself, there was a slight rumbling from above as I played some of the deeper compositions (I think someone was trying to tell me something). More information and purchasing from Rosanna's website
www.rgmusic.com.au

August 18th - I was reflecting on earlier times last night (melancholy drunkenness I guess) and it's amazing how things have changed over the last 35 years. Back in the early days, a deal was done over the phone (or mainly over lunch) and that was it! No going back, no changing prices, it was a deal and you could then start selling the stock even before it arrived. These days, until the stock arrives and the invoice sighted, there's no way that could happen. I guess there's no honour amongst thieves these days (just a turn of phrase incidentally). There are some very interesting deals in the wind however but there's no point in getting you all excited until (or if) the stock actually arrives at the appropriate price.

As I was reflecting on times past (they say the young dream and the old remember) I was reminded of a time I was going to write my memoirs. Not as a money making exercise (as our former politicians seem to do) but more of a therapeutic session. I then remember reading the auto biographies of some former 1960's survivors (Billy Thorpe for instance as we opened for him at several venues and what went on there could never be written without offending many people) and noted how absolutely sanitized they were. Then I realised mine would be similarly edited as, from what I remember, we did lots of things that would shock and abhor (not to mention embarrass) many people - some well known and respected in todays society. It would also hurt many feelings of people involved. I'll pass for now then. If you want to know the kind of things that really went on in those early days of sexual freedom and rock'n'roll however, just read the autobiographies of Keith Richards or Ronnie Woods. They didn't hold back and no doubt embarrassed the hell out of many living (or at least semi living) souls.


August 11th - Just sobered up from the trip to Honolulu so I'm now almost back to normal (if there is such a thing). New model Yamaha Receivers are currently in transition so there are some great deals on the outgoing models. As the new models are sonically identical, just adding some extra connectivity, it's a great time to buy or upgrade. Just call for pricing on 02 9651 4922. The RX-A3000 is especially tempting.

There will be a new range of Paradigm Monitor speakers out soon which means great savings on current models. The new V7 series look different but, as always, sound pretty much the same (Paradigm are renown for their accuracy and clarity - that's not going to change). Again call us on 02 9651 4922 for current pricing. New models won't be available until October so there's a limited time (and limited stock) to get a deal on the V6's.

August 5th - Back from holidays so you can e-mail me again now. I'll tell you about the latest happenings in our newsletter however as there's some interesting breaking news.

July 28th - The building we used to have the store in at Eastwood caught on fire today (no, it wasn't us although the arson squad is taking a bit of interest in it). Sad really as we were there for 30 years. Dural however seems to agree with the business as we've grown by over 200% in the two and a half years since moving here (I think my stomach has grown in proportion as well). After the two highest turnover months in the stores history, I'm taking a well earned six day break so Mike will be looking after the shop and handling the e-mails. Be kind to him as he's extremely sensitive.

You'll love this one - Guy rings up and wants to know why his receiver is cutting out. I ask him what brand, he says it's a Denon. We don't sell Denon says I. Oh, I bought it from Harvey Norman but they don't know what the problem is. Turns out the guy is playing it at 0dB (virtually flat out) and after 5 minutes or so it'll just cut out. Of course the bloody thing will cut out! he's lucky the speakers haven't blown (he'd be running the receiver into distortion at that level). Another case of the big guys just selling on price without qualifying the customer. If you're buying on price alone, be damn sure you know what you want 'cause the box movers sure ain't going to help.

The newsletter will be late this month as I haven't had a chance to get it out - it'll be a July/August special.

July 21st - Interesting marketing conundrum. Should Service and Sales be totally separate entities or be viewed as partners? I ponder this as the service technician from a white goods company leaves after a visit to our domicile. Our OMEGA oven (supposedly a good brand) blew its element so the lovely wife called OMEGA and they organised for a technician to attend and fix our cooking device. They asked for the model number, which was duly given, and they were also told it was the element that needed replacement. When the serviceman arrived, he looked at the oven and said he didn't carry the spare element for that model. There's obviously a missing link in the chain here as we definitely gave the model number. The service technician said it would take at least a week to procure the correct element. Guess who'll never buy another OMEGA appliance or recommend one to anyone else? The interesting thing is that the service agent is not a division of OMEGA but a contract company and due to their miscommunication (I'm unsure where the blame lies here) they've lost many sales.

At the other end of the scale, my Audi went in for service and through no fault of their own, the service department at Pennant Hills Audi had some major issues with my car. It was a frustrating experience but when I finally picked it up I mentioned that my wife's Audi had a blown tail light, the service manager asked for her phone number and within two days called her and organised to have the tail light assembly replaced free of charge while she waited. Now, with that type of service I'd obviously recommend anyone who was going to buy an Audi to go to that particular dealership (again, even though the service department is virtually a separate entity to the sales division).

This also applies to HiFi stores and reminds me of many times in the days that we did repairs when the customer became frustrated due to our inability (due to no fault of our own) to be a able to fix a product due to lack of spares. I believe we lost many customers due to frustrating delays which was seen as a deficiency on our part hence we must be a "bad" HiFi retailer. These days we recommend certain repair centres (depending on the brand) and things run a lot more smoothly. It allows us more time to spend on customer service and set-up help.


July 16th - More warnings about "grey" importers, I had a phone call this morning from a guy who was having problems with a particular receiver (Onkyo) and wanted some technical help. I asked him why he didn't go back to the people he bought it from (a notorious Sydney based "grey" Onkyo and Optoma dealer) and he said that he did but no one was either willing (or able) to help him out. Apparently technical knowledge is not the forte of some of these guys out to make a quick buck. Having said that, I couldn't help him either but one of the staff here knew the problem and was able to sort him out. Funny thing was, the receiver he bought was more expensive from the other store, we would have been 10% cheaper. Next time he'll check out to see if the supplier has the official Onkyo dealer logo.







July 12th - Who said life was boring? One of our suppliers had a contest over the last six months to see which dealers sold the most product on a like for like basis against last year and we were one of the winners. It means I get to go to the factory in Malaysia to check out all the latest products and manufacturing expertise. Fortunately, just over the border is Singapore and the day after the factory tour is the Singapore F1 night race so it looks like I'll have to spend an extra day away from the store to satisfy my high revving urge (and considering my daily drive is a Turbo Diesel with a redline of 4500 RPM, anything revving to 17,000 has my vote).

July 7th - Well, I opened a can of worms with yesterdays blog. It turns out quite a few people have been stung by parallel importers. I had an e-mail from one poor guy who purchased an A/V receiver from a Sydney grey importer (see, I'm not biased) and he had no end of problems so he turned to the official Australian importer (who was under no real obligation to help but offered to anyway) and it turns out the serial number for that particular item actually belonged to another model altogether. Now, that means the serial numbers were stripped and changed by the exporter for reasons unknown - albeit shady - or they were changed by the guy who brought it into Australia, in which case it's a criminal offense. Keep tuned, this could get interesting!

July 6th - Whereas price plays a major part in a purchasing decision, one must look at the service aspect and supply chain as well. Two incidents in the last day highlighted this. First, a particular receiver was placed on a "once in a lifetime deal" - you know the one, it's only available at this price for one day or until stocks are sold. It was so cheap, I tried to buy one myself as it was below my normal cost. Hmm, none available which was strange given I must have been one of the first to call in and order. If we had have received it, warranty would be problematic as the warranty for most CE products are not transferrable so buying via a third party makes it tricky. It sure looked like a Kite Flying exercise to me. The second incident involved a customer bringing in a receiver which was faulty, it was purchased from a Melbourne on-line store (nothing against Melbournians mind you - my wife comes from Donvale), it was obviously a grey import as the serial number had been removed from both the unit and the packing box. This creates several problems, firstly the warranty is the retailers responsibility so it would have to be sent back to Melbourne and, more importantly, as there was no serial number, the manufacturing batch can't be ascertained and as design and componentry changes as the model runs progress, there's no way of knowing how to fix the thing without going to great lengths (not to mention things like firmware upgrades etc.) so, cheap isn't always best!


July 2nd - Being in this job with a reputation of being somewhat of an alcoholic has its advantages, Ross from Lark Distilleries in Tasmania kindly let me taste the best single malt whisky I've ever tasted (it's somewhere between the best Bourbon and best Scotch ever placed on the planet) then another customer, Peter (from the rum capitol of the Southern Hemisphere - Bundaberg) sent me a fruit cake. Now, this was no ordinary fruit cake, firstly, Peter is one of the best Fruit Cake makers in Queensland (and possibly Australia) and wins (or gets close to winning) the Fruit Cake making category in the Queensland shows, secondly, he soaks all the fruit in Bundaberg Rum before baking it into these bricks of heavenly tasting calorifically laden blocks of sustenance. The end result (last night at least) was that after eating Peters Cake and washing it down with Ross's Whisky, I was in a very sorry state. If ringing today, just be kind to me as I'm a bit fragile.

June 28th - I have to wonder about the mindset of some salespeople. We had a customer call on a price for a fairly upmarket ($3000+) A/V receiver yesterday and I gave them the best price I was able. Later that day I had a phone call from another person pricing the same unit. Most unusual to get enquiries on this particular unit twice in the same week, never mind the same day so I took down the caller ID from the phone and called it on my other phone as I had him on hold. Surprise, surprise, it was JB HiFi that answered. My devilish side got the best of me at that point so I quoted the gentleman an absolutely stupid low price which stunned him as he asked how I could do it so low. I told him it was a stocktake special and he'd better get in quick. Sometimes I just like to f#ck with other stores. Oh, we got the sale from the first caller the next day. Moral of the story - block your caller ID when on a fishing expedition.

June 25th - Sometimes you just can't win. Last month after my newsletter, I received 13 e-mails from subscribers who said I was getting too soft and I needed to get a little more "cutting"on my remarks. So, this month I gave the pseudo Audiophiles a bagging and asked them to read Ken Kantors interview in Australian HiFi magazine (his basic philosophy is, stop listening so much to the equipment and enjoy the music). This morning I get a rambling missive from some guy (probably a self proclaimed audio expert) taking offense to my views on such entities. I really don't know why they bother e-mailing me - Just "unsubscribe" to the newsletter and go read Len Wallis Audio's stuff. A melding of minds if you will. I'm always happy to get new subscribers but now, with over 4000 recipients, I know you can't please everyone.

June 23rd - Note to self, next time you write a newsletter, do it before the first half of the Bourbon bottle has disappeared down my guts. I listed the June newsletter as March 2011 and missed a hyperlink to the specials page - Bugger!

June 18th - The boys in the store have been excited lately by the arrival of the new Triangle Concerto speakers
http://www.triangle-fr.com/en/magellan/concerto/
These are monsters and come in wooden crates more fitting for transporting large vehicles (such as double decker busses). Being so efficient, they don't need much power (a couple of Watts will have your ears bleeding) and they'll fill any normal 12,000 seat stadium with ease (that'd take around 600 Watts however). I just knew the French were good for something!

June 10th - New site's up (as if you didn't notice). Don't start complaining yet as there's a lot of work to be done in the various pages and I have to stay sober enough, long enough to sort it all out. My son, Ricky, designed and wrote the site in HTML (not WYSIWYG as I used to do) so I figure he's smarter than I (sob). We've already found a few problems and had them sorted so I'd appreciate any feedback (constructive please) apart from Scott (Amber Technology) who pointed out the lack of "Onkyo" on the top GIF. Stop whinging Scotty, It'll be fixed! At least the site now works properly on i-Phone and i-Pad's!

June 8th - As I've mentioned before, I use the Shadows Final Tour as my set up disc for surround sound DVD's. It's taken me a while to find a reference disc for music but, as I was setting up my new Anthem MRX-700 (best sounding A/V receiver on the market for stereo) I ran through my extensive CD collection and found that Joe Jacksons "Rain" was by far the best recorded and produced CD I've heard (and, as I saw him play this live at the State Theatre, I can attest to the purity of the production). "Rush Across The Road" incidentally is now the track I use to set up all my stereo rigs for comparison. I know everyone has their own favourites but you really must hear the artists performing live to get a real perspective so as not to be taken in by too much post production.

June 6th - I had to take our Alexa referral link off the site as I wanted it used as feedback for improving our web presence and indeed, due to some comments we're completely redesigning the site for easier navigation and i-Phone/i-Pad integration. Then some 10 year old idiot called "dooby1" AKA Mark Dobson (obviously a love child of  Kyle Sandilands and Brian Mcfadden - if genetically possible) goes and screws it all up by posting some childish remarks. Well, congratulations Mark, if the site brings in intellectually challenged morons like you then its obviously time for a change. I'm just surprised they let Kindy Kids on the internet these days.

June 1st - It had to happen eventually as our average is one DHPY (Dickhead per Year) and I haven't had one since 2010 when a solicitor from Neutral Bay brought in an outdoor speaker that he claimed was faulty and wanted it fixed under warranty. The fact that it had been dropped with a cracked cabinet and the magnet had been forced from the back of the speaker didn't seem to faze him (NO, it's never been dropped or taken from its mounting bracket) - yeh, sure. Anyway, this years DHOY is from Avalon and sent an e-mail asking for a price on a Yamaha CD Player, I e-mailed back (on a Sunday no less) within an hour of receiving it. DHOY then e-mailed back saying that he's sent his e-mail two weeks previously and was extremely rude to me about the response time. Unfortunately he was using a Hotmail account and didn't realise that Hotmail isn't exactly about sending information at the speed of light. I can hardly wait until next year to find out who gets the 2012 DHOY award.

May 31st - So, what do you do when your best selling A/V receiver is out of stock (Yamaha's RX-A3000), well, you have to search for something at least as good as around the same price. Finding something as good (if not better) is no issue as the Anthem MRX-700 with its torroidal transformer, the best ARC (Room Calibration) available (at any price) and absolutely superb stereo performance beats the pants off every other A/V receiver under $5000. Initially there were some problems with the HDMI but now we have the new firmware, everything has been addressed and they work just great. There's a lack of gimmicks and "only" 4 HDMI inputs (I can't imagine why you'd need any more however) but its the most honest A/V Receiver available - as it should be considering Anthem is owned by Paradigm, one of the worlds best speaker manufacturers. The problem is, quality doesn't come cheap and at $2999, it's $500 more than the Yamaha. I now have the MRX-700 at home driving my Paradigm Studio 100 speakers and find that, for movies, the sound is pretty close to the Yamaha RX-A3000 (maybe the vocals are a little cleaner but not much in it) Musically however, the difference is marked (in favour of the Anthem) so if you have a good pair of stereo speakers in your kit and enjoy music, the Anthem has the definite advantage. Now, to solve the money problem. This is tricky because the Yamaha has been advertised by a pig headed dealer at just under $2000 (which we had to match and made nothing on their sales). Let's do this then, I have two rooms at home and took home a couple of the MRX-700's, one for each room, we also have a couple of demo units in store. I'm keeping one at home (naturally) so I have three units I'll do for $1990 and we'll do the full current firmware upgrade on them. This won't be an ongoing thing as we're making nothing on the deal and as soon as we're out of stock (or the Yamaha's are back in stock) then they'll be back up to our normal discount price of $2499 (still $500 off retail so stop complaining).

May 27th - I had lunch with Uncle Clive (Robertson - Broadcaster and almost Audiophile) yesterday and we had an interesting discussion on speaker placement. Clive has a couple of systems at home, one with floorstanding speakers and one using small bookshelf speakers (both Paradigm - his speaker of choice). It turns out we've had similar experiences with the sonic differences when the relative positioning of the speakers and the listener is varied by even a few centimetres. More so with the smaller bookshelf speakers than the larger ones surprisingly enough. The variation in sound is quite extreme and Clive has agreed to do some quantitative research on the subject so we can maybe help people get the most out of their audio systems. This will take some time but we should have results by the time our new web site goes up.


May 24th - I'm a fairly laid back kind of guy (the more Bourbon I drink, the more I lay) but sometimes I get really, really mad. Like today when Miss Prissy rings up and wants us to come out immediately to fix her four or five year old A/V receiver because it won't turn on. I told her that since we moved to Dural, we no longer do service calls but offered to give her the name of a company that would help. Not good enough, they paid tens of thousands of dollars for their system and one of us needs to come out and fix it. Well, I thought I'd do some sleuthing and asked if anything had been done to possibly cause the problem. It turns out they had an electrician put in a new distribution board and he reconnected the electricity supply without turning anything off first. I suspect the resulting surge could have caused the fault (although it could be a couple of other things) and expressed my view to Miss Prissy (you have to have seen Foghorn Leghorn to appreciate the nom de guerre) She then started to berate me (bad move) and told me what bad service we offered (actually, we didn't offer any service). I suggested next time she has a car accident to ring up the car dealership she purchased said vehicle from and give them a gobful. Sarcastic, yes, satisfying? - only when she slammed down the phone (note to self - buy Bourbon on the way home).

May 18th - I was just checking out some of the on-line stores to see what their return policies are. We're pretty flexible and those who have dealt with us know we act ASAP on any damaged goods or returns. As every individual sale is different, there are no hard and fast rules to follow, only customer satisfaction, hence we deal personally with every issue. I notice the majority of stores say the goods must be returned to the manufacturer, importer or importers agent to ascertain the suitability for repair or return, indeed, some stores don't even want to know you after the sale. One particular store just directs any problems to the importer - this is illegal however as the retailer or seller is responsible for any problematic issues with the products sold by that entity. Beware the stores with no physical presence (we, for instance, have a storefront and two sound lounges with demonstration facilities) - there's not much recourse when you can't find the joint!

I think if most people read through the "Terms and Conditions" of most on-line stores, they'd avoid them like the plague. That's why we don't have a shopping basket, we treat each sale individually as if you we're actually buying in the store, even though you might be interstate. I just love the store that charges you 25% of the purchase price if you change your mind after ordering - we'd be lynched if we tried that one on!


May 14th - Note to self, must be nicer to customers. Can't help myself sometimes however. Guy rings up and wants a price on some gear, I give him a great price, he procrastinates and the gear gets sold (it was on special). He rings up the next day and I work him out another deal giving him the same discounted price although I make virtually nothing on it as my buy price is a lot higher this time round. He then says thanks very much and can he come and listen to it before he makes up his mind. No says I (actually it was something a little more graphic) - if you want to start screwing me on price, I certainly don't mind but make sure you want the product before I get screwed! One of these days I'm going to start stocking Bourbon in the shop fridge for such occasions.

I've taken on board several comments about the ease (or lack of) navigation on our site and also the fact that the i-Pads and i-Pods that seem to be more frequently used for web browsing and don't support our Flash logo. I'm getting my genius son, Ricky, to redesign the site using GIF and new visuals. This just may help with the zillion dollars it's cost me to put him through Sydney Uni. for his Bachelor of Computer Science and IT! Now, if I can just stop him playing WOW for a week, it may happen.

A big thumbs up to the guys at JB HiFi in Castle Hill. We bought a new Dell computer from them yesterday which I was going to dedicate to the web site rather than share my main unit. We plugged it in and it went BANG, I called the guys and they said it was a pretty common fault on the DELL (all in one) and swapped it for an equivalent HP which is running spot on. They didn't argue or do the old "are you sure you installed it properly" thing, they made the swap easy and I really appreciate the way they handled the situation. Much better to deal with than any of the other major retailers I've dealt with.

May 12th - Very small world this. Just had a call from a guy in Adelaide who wanted to order a pair of speakers. The name sounded familiar but I just couldn't place it so I asked him if he used to live in Sydney. Turns out we were both trainee technicians with the ABC and formed a band together back in 1965, apparently he still plays drums and is active in two bands.
Scary!

As much as we try, we have very little control over the transport companies we use (specifically TNT) so it's no use getting your balls in a knot if there's a screw up because we get order out the same day in 90% of cases then its up to TNT to deliver. We're also not responsible if someone is not at the delivery address to receive the goods - everyone says they'll be some one there but the number of re-delivery fees we get indicate that it's not the case.

May 11th - I mentioned a while ago about the dead marsupial we found inside a speaker (it made the entry via the rear port and stunk to high heaven), well, it seems Paradigm speakers attract smelly stuff. We had a delivery this morning of some Paradigms which smelt decidedly fishy. So fishy in fact, we had to leave them outside until the couriers came to pick them up. Apparently, they were on the same truck as a pharmaceutical delivery which comprised Fish Oil. It may be good for your guts but it does bugger all for the nose! It leaked out onto the speaker boxes and soaked in to the cardboard. Normally I'd hit the importer up for a discount then sell them off as, well, "off". Unfortunately however, the smell was just so bad that we just couldn't keep them in the store so back to the importer they went. Good luck to them.

May 7th - Onkyo importers, Amber Technology, have hit back at the "Grey" importers by offering prices via a new breed of official Onkyo on-line retailers that either match or undercut the back-door cowboys for the upmarket Onkyo A/V range. This means the public will be able to buy Onkyo products at the best prices with genuine Australia wide warranty support (not just warranty from the cowboy who sold you a unit they imported from Asia). Naturally, we're one of the official e-tailers - just go to www.ambertech.com.au for a list of the others. This won't affect the run of the mill A/V products from Harvey's, JB etc. as they already match pricing on their stocked range but can make thousands of dollars difference on the higher end stuff which they don't carry.

All we need to do now is launch our new magazine called Genius House and we'll have our Ducks all in a row.

May 5th - These gray importers are starting to get on my nerves. I normally just ignore them but when people start believing the crap they go on with and e-mail me about them, I really have better things to do with my time (like drink Bourbon). There's a mob in Melbourne advertising Paradigm on line. Trouble is, they don't have any stock, they don't have an account with the importer so any product they do supply isn't warranted by Paradigm themselves and they have the wrong model numbers listed (they're quoting Studio V7's and they're only up to Version 5). That makes them stupid as well as back door retailers. Drives me to drink (not a bad thing I guess).

May 2nd - If you need a movie to really test out your speaker system try Tron: Legacy. It's totally mindless crap (probably  why I enjoyed it so much) which nearly bottomed out my subwoofer. It certainly brought howls of protest from the rest of the household (two rooms away) as the dynamic range of the audio was just incredible. I do get the feeling however that with a lesser powered system, there may be some overdriving of speakers at medium to loud volume levels which may damage the speakers themselves so be judicious with the audio output. The 3D effects are not too shabby either making it only the second movie I've actually been able to watch all the way through without reverting to the 2D setting.

April 23rd - I need some help (humbling of me, I know) but we need feedback so potential customers can see how good or bad we are and also to give me an idea of what you think of our service (or lack of it in my case). On the bottom of the Home Page is a link to Alexa (a rankings company) which allows you to comment on our store. I'd really appreciate it if you'd take the time to write a few words on your experience with us. It doesn't matter if it's good or bad as long as it's constructive (one guy left a destructive message on how bad the web site is. I don't care about the site, just the results as that's what affects the bottom line). I'm now off to find out if I can purchase Bourbon flavoured Easter Bunnies. Unlikely but you never know!

April 20th - Always interesting when some reprobate tries to White Ant  you and it backfires. Those strange people at Digital Cinema (the ones who grey import certain brands from overseas and sell them with dubious back up) have put an ad leading to their site on our Alexa ranking page. As the more links we get is beneficial to our Google rankings, our position in Alexa has risen over 300% since the ad appeared. Thanks guy's, your stupidity is highly beneficial to our cause (making more money so I can drink Bookers Noe Bourbon instead of JD). It also backfires as, when people go to their site, they generally call me for pricing to see if we can beat them (we source all our products from the authorised Australian distributors) - we ALWAYS beat them so there's no benefit to their pay per click ad. Nothing better than the opposition boosting our sales.

Talking of sales, check out the specials page as we have some Paradigm speakers which were damaged in transit and we need to clear (full warranty, just cosmetic damage).

April 19th - Bugger of a job this. You find a bloody good speaker set up (in this case the KEF KHT3005, 5.1 Speaker System), sell a shitload of them (technical term) then the company takes the product from the importers and gives it to a different distributor who won't do the same pricing so we can no longer offer the same value for money sound. That means I have to go out and find a replacement (and I hate working). The thing about this game is that there are no "best speakers", only the best sound in a particular price range. Fortunately, Paradigm have come to the rescue with two models, the Cinema CT-110 which sounds every bit as good as the KEF's (although not as shiny) which we've managed to squeeze down to $1190 (normally $1699) and the Paradigm MilleniaOne 5.0 system which actually sounds and looks better than the KEF's. This is an interesting concept as we purchase them without a subwoofer so we can tailor the system for various room sizes and budgets. The MilleniaOne 5.1 package can vary from $1790 up to $2790 depending on the subwoofer configuration. We also found an interesting Sub/Sat system from Triangle (French company but we won't hold that against them) called the Galaxy 2 which, because of lack of exposure, hasn't moved as well as it deserves (bloody good sound) so we have a couple of systems we're clearing at $1699 (normally $2799)

Triangle Galaxy 2 5.1 Pack
The Galaxy 2 is composed of five satellite speakers associated with active subwoofer Meteor 0.1 Tc.

The satellite Galaxy 2 adopts a provision in MMR (tweeter - medium - medium) to ensure optimum energy efficiency. The aluminum enclosure gives it rigidity, thus contributing to its acoustic qualities. The speakers are supplied in standard configuration with the "free media", an accessory providing a simple implementation and fast (table leg but also wall mount).

So discreet and efficient, the Meteor 0.1 Tc eloquent displays of technical data (power, extension in the bass, dynamic capacity ...) that can reproduce the energy bands with his most explosive films to immerse you in the heart of action.
With the Galaxy 2, Triangle offers a package of powerful home theater speakers designed for flat panel displays matching last generation. A beautiful success and technical aesthetics.
Galaxy 2 Satellite Speaker
Type: Closed Satellite
Speakers:
- 25mm Tweeter
- Medium: 2 x 80 mm
Number of Channels: 2.5
Efficiency: 90 dB (2.8 V/1m)
Bandwidth: 100 - 20,000 Hz (+ / - 3 dB)
Total System Bandwidth: 35 - 20,000 Hz (+ / - 3 dB)
Rated power: 75W
Impedance: 4 ohms
Rate cuts Acute: 2500 Hz (12 dB / Oct)

Specifications
- Vertical or horizontal.
- Accessory "Free media" software.
- Hardware and cables.
- Magnetic shielding.

Dimensions (W x H x D): 150 x 270 x 100 mm - Weight: 2.5 kg

Subwoofers METEOR 0.1TC
Type: Active Subwoofer
Speakers: Severe 210mm
Bandwidth: 35-160 Hz (+ / - 3 dB)
Power amplifier: 100 W RMS
Filter cutoff frequency: 40 / 160 Hz
Phase adjustment: 0 - 180 °

Specifications:
- Infrared remote control.
- Turning self-timer.
- Inputs and low G & D.
- Direct LFE input.
- Output level.
- Phase.

Dimensions (W x H xP): 320 x 370 x 340 mm - Weight: 14.5 kg

April 16th - As a retailer, I often get asked why I don't get into more "upmarket" or boutique brands (read "Audiophile"). I've dabbled a bit with various products of that ilk but it's very hard for me both artistically and financially to justify the type of money asked for that type of equipment when the results are taken into account. It really gets to the stage where you start listening for the musical definition rather than the artistic integrity. I'm happy with a good pair of speakers and neutral amplification that will reproduce the music as I've heard it live or how the producer/artist wanted the listener to experience it.

On a professional level (as a retailer) I find the pursuers of that type of equipment to be (in general) incompatible with my personality. Invariably, before committing to a high end product, consumers want to take the gear home to play with it and return the kit if it doesn't suit. I'm afraid that goes against my psyche on so many levels. Firstly, any new gear is going to sound different to the customers existing equipment so they have to overcome the RC factor (Resistance to Change) - this means that around 50% of them will return the goods, not because it sounds worse than they expected, but because it sounds different. When I take new models home to review, I always give them a couple of weeks to get used to the sound. After that period, sometimes I find I prefer it to my reference playback gear, sometimes not.
Secondly, I'm a great believer in just buying stuff. I generally research it first and find a general opinion on whatever the purchase is (could be a car, boat, guitar or new speakers) but I rarely, if ever, test the things first. If I did that, I would have missed out on some of the joys of my life.
Take cars for instance. When I bought my Lexus IS250, I took it for a test drive first and was blown away by the interior silence, first class workmanship, superb sound system and overall feel. After a couple of months, it bored the crap out of me as it had no soul. One day, on the way to work, I saw the Audi A5 Cabrio and fell in love with the looks. Took the Lexus in the following day and drove out in the A5. What a piece of shit it felt like during my first couple of months with it. Being a Turbo Diesel it had an annoying lag on take off, it felt loose and the sound system was crap. After having it for a year, I'm in love with it, I now learn to anticipate when to take off to compensate for the lag, I've got used to the chassis, I've tweaked the sound system and the 500NM of torque at 2500RPM is intoxicating. Had I test driven it beforehand, I wouldn't have bought it and would have missed out on my current pride and joy.
As they say in the Nike ad. - Just do it.

Now, all you "upmarket" people, don't despair as the rest of the staff here don't share my views, in fact Nick (who has rejoined us after a 3 year hiatus) is a self confessed "Audiophile" so, if you want to talk about that type of gear, just ask for him. Mike's not far behind with a $20,000+ Home Theatre system in a room he built himself (with the help of other family members) and Craig is also partial to expensive audio goodies. I guess I'm just an ordinary guy!

April 14th - Never Bullshit a Bullshitter (that should be obvious) and as chief BS of this outfit, I'm the one not to BS to. I was after a 15 metre HDMI cable for a job which had to have 1.4 spec. (it needed the ARC). We had some in stock from a particular company which weren't labeled as to the spec. so I phoned the supplier and asked what version the cable was and was told by a very assured person that it was 1.3a because the limit on length for 1.4 was (wait for it) - 4.8 metres. Now, I'm not sure how he arrived at that piece of information but as we had previously installed a system with a 15 metre 1.4a (the only difference between 1.4 and 1.4a is that 1.4a does 1080p @ 60Hz) cable and it worked just fine. Needless to say, we won't be buying any product from that particular supplier again (note to self - check in mirror to make sure "TIWKCUF" isn't tattooed on forehead)

April 12th - I'm really glad we got out of the TV panel business (we still sell lots of Optoma Projectors but that's a different story) - I get updated wholesale price lists on Panasonic and Samsung panels each month and the model life of the latest panels is about as long as a bottle of Bookers Noe Bourbon in my liquor cabinet. I can't figure out why a perfectly good panel is superseded after two to three months. I just feel sorry for all those stores who get caught with discontinued stock as the mark up on panels is abysmal at best.

I'd get two or three e-mails each day for pricing on various products. Quite often, because of the volatile nature of my purchasing from wholesalers, I really can't hard copy the pricing in a return e-mail as the price may change within an extremely small time frame. In those cases I ask the e-mailer to phone me to discuss the prices (and obviously the timeline). Over 80% of those people never call. It makes one wonder if they've already purchased from another dealer and just want to find out if they've been ripped off or if they're just too lazy to pick up the phone - beats me!

April 11th - Onkyo have just released some Mini/Micro systems, not something we usually get involved in but these sound exceptionally good. I can't find any local links so I've linked to the overseas sites. We have the CS-545 (retail $999), CSV-645 (Retail $1299) and the CS-1045 (retail $1999). Pricing hasn't been totally finalised so call us on 02 9651 4922 for the latest update. The CS-1045 can be purchased with or without the speakers so you can upgrade if you wish (the amplifier is a high grade unit capable of driving speakers up to $2000 and beyond)

If you ever go to Port Stephens, make sure you visit the Bowling Club and grab a dozen Oysters Kilpatrick. Being a Common Sewer of such delicacies, I can recommend them as being up there with the best of them (at bargain prices).

April 7th - Just spent the last couple of days at Port Stephens, met up with one of the owners of Apollo HiFi (Mel Chillari) and his lovely wife Vicky. Mel also owns a Liquor store. I don't remember much about the time up there except the resultant throbbing head. Mel has a magnificent wine collection (or did until I raided it).

Mike (store manager) finally got his Home Theatre room set up at home and used the Paradigm PBK-1 kit to set up his subwoofer. Apparently it makes an enormous difference and really smoothes out the  frequencies and dead spots in the room. Looks like I'll have to go Paradigm in my rumpus room and give the PBK-1 a run (I already use the Paradigm Studio 100's as my main speakers there). I'll let you know how I go.

April 2nd. Obviously I didn't blog yesterday as you wouldn't have believed anything I said!
If you haven't seen the TV series "The Walking Dead" yet, I suggest you grab a copy and watch it (not alone however)
http://www.amazon.com/Walking-Dead-Season-One/dp/B0049P1VHS/ref=zg_bs_163450_15
Quite confronting and some of the "dead" people in it are extremely reminiscent of actual beings (imagine a street full of David Richards' shuffling towards you)

We had another customer this week with an Onkyo receiver which he thought was faulty so brought it in for warranty. It turns out he purchased it from a store which gets them from overseas and resells them here. When we found that out we directed him back to said store as I really didn't see how we could help (it turns out that he couldn't pick up AM radio properly which isn't surprising as most of the overseas models use different AM stepping frequencies). I was feeling quite magnanimous that day so I didn't even give him a "I told you so". Do yourself a favour, when purchasing any product from an on-line or "shifty" store, check that the products are supplied via the authorised Australian importer. OK, so maybe we're a little "shifty" but all our products are genuine imports!

March 31st - Don't you just love customers who bullshit! We had a guy in yesterday to buy a pair of reasonably expensive speakers, he loved the demo so I worked out a shit hot price (technical term) for him. He then went outside and made a phone call and said he could buy the same speakers for $500 less at another store. Untrusting bastard that I am, I phoned the nominated store and told them I was ready to buy these speakers today if they could match the price I'd given to our potential customer. They couldn't get within $1000 of our price. We let the customer walk (and I hope he keeps walking).

I discovered many years ago that there's very little loyalty within this (or virtually any) industry these days. I remember when Panasonic and I started doing business back in 1981, they we're just starting out in HiFi and TV in Australia and needed specialist stores to back them. This was pre-Harvey Norman and their predatory ilk. We we're doing respectable figures with them until around the late '90's when they split the sales departments into Majors (JB, Retravision etc) and Specialists (us and my fellow ne're-do-wells) - all of a sudden, our buy prices were 10 - 20% higher and we just couldn't compete. So we were used to build up the brand then spat out the other end. Sony did the same thing to us. It gets worse, Panasonic just announced it has outsourced all it's NSW sales staff so all the sales guys have been shafted. The only big Japanese company I'm aware of that has any loyalty is Yamaha, they look after the dealers who are loyal to them - no wonder they hold over 35% of the worlds A/V audio market, they know how to manage people, not just stock and intangibles. Along with Onkyo, they also have a greater rapport with consumers and offer some of the best back up service in the business.

And you wonder why I drink!

March 30th - Well, I finally set up my new system at home (new speakers actually), much as I loved my Martin Logan Vista's (Electrostatic Hybrids), my preferred listening position is semi horizontal (reduced to fully horizontal after a half bottle of Bourbon) and about a metre to the right of the right hand speaker. This unfortunately meant that the superb sound staging and openness of the Vista's were wasted. They're now back in store for sale at $4490 pair with full five year warranty (normal Retail price is $7990). I'm now using a pair of Paradigm Studio 100's which, whilst not as good if perfect listening positioning is taken into account, sound way better from my wayward position as, having a conventional tweeter, the horizontal and vertical dispersion is around 100' - I'm now a happy drunk! The other improvement is my new computer which stores and transmits my digitised collection. I now have a 3.2GHz i7-960 processor, 120GB SSD, a couple of Terabyte storage drives and 12 GB DDR111 RAM. It fairly screams along and no more stuttering through my Sonos delivery system.

March 29th - We just received the new Optoma HD67 3D capable Projector - at our red hot discount price of $1275. As a stand alone projector it's amazing (even though "only" 720p) - add the 3D convertor box ($599 including a pair of 3D glasses) and the fun starts. Quite amazing assuming you have Resident Evil Afterlife - it adds quite another dimension to Milla Jovovich (nudge, nudge, wink, wink). Forget those woosy cartoon movies!
Sometimes we come up with tricky situations which require more in-depth involvement than is first apparent. A good customer of mine whom I've known for over 30 years was having problems with his amplifier cutting out, we sold him a new amp. Problem kept occurring, changed the amp for a more powerful one, problem kept occurring. Brought his speakers in (Bose 601 II - probably the last decent speaker Bose ever made) - no problems in store. Changed amp for a more powerful one. Problem still there. It was only after we found out that the system is in the lounge room and the customer was listening in the kitchen - over 10 metres away, he has a hearing problem (two hearing aids) and likes loud music that we figured he needed new speakers (Paradigm Monitor 11's actually) which could handle sustained loud music and offer an 8 Ohm load rather than 4 Ohms to the amp that we finally solved the problem. Whew!

March 28th - I was at the fish markets yesterday (no jokes please) and as I was waiting for my lunch, there was a particularly obnoxious man next to me who was so rude to the sales staff I would have told him to bugger off (I guess most people in the retail industry aren't as forthright as I however). Bobby Boofhead (I'm sure that was his name) ordered take away fish and chips, when it came to him in a nicely thermally insulated cardboard box he absolutely went off his tits (yes, he did have a substantial pair to match his bloated abdomen). Apparently, he told the lady behind the counter that he lived 10 minutes away so wanted the fish and chips wrapped in aluminium foil to keep the heat in. The poor sales lady then had to re wrap the food in said foil. Boofhead no doubt wondered why the food was cold when he got it home. He probably went to the same school as the guy with the Banana Plugs (see march 26th blog) as no one told Boofhead about thermal conductivity! It seems like ours isn't the only industry plagued by ill informed, low iQ, sub-primates (sorry David, I wasn't specifically referring to you).

March 26th - Sometimes I worry about this industry and the bullshit that pervades the "audiophile" community. This morning I had some guy prattling on about how the sound from his speakers was better when using Banana Plugs rather than direct wiring. Now, I know it's been around 35 years since my time at the Sydney Institute of Technology when I scraped though getting my Metallurgy degree and even longer since my stint as a trainee technician with the ABC but I'm pretty sure I stand on good scientific ground when I say the guy is full of crap. In my typical condescending manner I appropriately berated him, obviously he ignored my jibes about him failing science at Kindy as he then went on to convey the relative merits of various "Power Conditioners". Give me a f#@*ing break!
Guy's like that should spend more time listening to the music and artistry than trying to differentiate 0.05% THD due to a variation of eutectic boundaries from the fact that some Chinese factories use more carbon in the steel which is then manufactured into 240V plugs.
I'll bet he's never sat down and actually enjoyed a concert or artist as he's always be listening for faults. It drives me to drink - which incidentally leads me to an episode I had the other night with a bottle of Bookers Noe Bourbon. Someone e-mailed me and said it was the best they'd drunk so I should try it. Well, he was right on that front, it tasted absolutely superb. It wasn't until the next day however as I was nursing the worst hangover in history, that I read the label on the bottle which informed me I'd been imbibing 127 proof liquor (around 67% pure alcohol) - it took me around a week to sober up.

March 25th - Two channel fans can really buy up some bargains at the moment with the importer of Dussan products (the company who make Red Rose electronics for Mark Levinson) having to clear some warehouse space. One of their amps (the V8i) which bears a striking resemblance to Mark Levinsons Red Rose Affirmation amplifier (retailing at $7000 in the US) is on sale currently at $2499. It weighs in at 41 kgs and can output 500 Watts into a 4 Ohm load (you could probably use the bastard as a welder at a pinch). Other specials pertaining to Dussun are on the HiFi Bargains page.

March 7th - I see the Plagiarist-of-the-Year is up to his old tricks (he has something to do with a couple of on-line industry blogs) where his hatred of Amber Technology (importers of Onkyo amongst many other brands) has clouded his already skewed view of "truth". For a start, Amber did not retrench 6 staff, three of them left on their own accord, you may also try correcting the fact about the ACCC investigation - it NEVER happened. It appears that when you're extremely unpopular in the industry and have no friends (without an agenda), you have way too much time on your hands to mull over what sensationalistic rubbish to come out with next (and I should know - I have enough detractors of my own).

Queen fans (and I don't mean the type who are pissed about not getting a wedding invite) really must go and see the tribute band Killer Queen
http://www.killerqueen.com.au/main.html
These guys are freaks, John Blunt, who plays Freddie Mercury, is absolutely sensational. I saw Queen live in Australia in the 80's (twice on consecutive nights) and this guy is a dead set ringer for Freddie (not now of course as he'd be horizontal). The guitarist, Anthony Smith, is technically brilliant and does Brian May (if you'll excuse the double-entendre) spot on. I saw them at North Sydney Leagues last Saturday and left the show wanting more (unusual for me as I have the attention span of a goldfish). They're playing the clubs around Sydney at the moment and if you're into music and theatrics, get out and see them.

February 28th - Sometimes you just can't win! A couple of newsletters ago, I was accused of being vicious and petty with my comments, I moderated my comments in the last one (apart from a little crap I put on the new KEF importers) and was blasted from pillar to post for being too nice. OK, I'm collecting venom as I sit here contemplating the meaning of life (#42) so expect a bit more nastiness in future (I'm an equal opportunity person, I dislike everyone equally).
Not much doing last night so I listened to my collection of music stored on my hard drive via my Sonos system. Must have got a bug though as half the tracks had disappeared from the "album" and inserted themselves as "unknown" in the menu. This upset me so much I opened a second bottle of Evans and Tate Chardonnay. Not feeling real good today and not looking forward to ripping all my CD's again (a three day job if I remember rightly).

Time to change my main system again at home (I do this once every month so I can get a good balance and variation of different speaker set ups). This means I now have another pair of Martin Logan Vista Electrostatics for sale (around 20 hours use, so not even broken in yet - full 5 year warranty applies). I have the matching Matinee centre (probably one of the best centre speakers I've heard). I'll do the Vista's and Matinee for $6500 (retail $10,500)

February 24th - Nothing to do with HiFi but in today's paper it was noted that two medical investigations strengthened the argument that modest daily consumption of alcohol is good for you as it increases levels of "good" cholesterol. Brought a tear to my eye it did. Must go home now as my medicine awaits in the Jim Beam Small Batch bottle.

February 17th - No updates until now 'cause I've been on holidays to Honolulu with the lovely Noelene (wife of many years). We stayed at the Trump Hotel. That guy really knows how to "wow" you. How about three 50" LCD TV's scattered around a one bedroom apartment! Mind you, at Sears, they we're selling 50" Sharp LED/LCD's at $598 so it's not a great deal of investment.
Benihanas of Tokyo Teppenyaki at the Hilton tried to poison me on the last night but copious amounts of alcohol made sure that no organism (beneficial or otherwise) could possibly survive in my gut for more than a few hours.

Scott and the boys at Amber Technology also had a go at poisoning me at The Meat and Wine Company in Parramatta, they failed in the poisoning department (the produce was superb), the company (four Amber guy's and my guy's) was great but the service and presentation was as bad as any restaurant I've been to in 45 years. There was a slight communication problem (the majority of staff didn't speak english) and the steak, which started out as the best raw produce I've encountered, was cooked to perfection then served covered with a sweet sticky glaze on a cold cast iron platter which, within 2 minutes, drew all the heat out of said steak and left it a cold uninviting glob. Pity really, great potential.

I notice that David Richards (Plagiarist of the Year according to Media Watch) has gone even more bitter and twisted crapping on about Amber Technology on his largely unread websites (the only reason he quotes large hit figures for visitors is that he sends his newsletter to every man and his dog who inadvertently signed up). Having a good insider view of Amber's operations, I can guarantee you that there's no profiteering as Richards keeps trying to imply. He'd be better off reporting on industry innovations than negative comments but I guess when you're that paranoid and sensationalistic it's a way of life (can't sue me on this one David - had it cleared by the lawyers as it's only an opinion)

Now we have new KEF importers, the deals on our favourite Sub/Sat system have dried up so the KHT 3005SE is now over $2000. We've searched for a replacement and found the new Paradigm Millenia One ($1990)
http://www.paradigm.com/index.php?option=com_mtree&task=listcats&cat_id=181&Itemid=2

This system kills the 3005's sonically although it is more expensive. Interestingly enough, it sells without a subwoofer so we can match it up with the best subwoofer for the room. We have found the Paradigm SE subwoofer matches perfectly however
http://www.paradigm.com/index.php?option=com_mtree&task=listcats&cat_id=113&Itemid=2
The sub sells for $999 but as a package with the Millenia 5.0 system for $2490.


January 22nd - Absolutely nothing to do with HiFi but I'm EXCITED! I finally found the launch control sequence to get my Audi off the line quickly. Problem is that it's a 3.0 litre turbo diesel which doesn't come on boost until 1500 - 2000 revs. hesitates off the line and I get dragged off by Hyundai Getz and other assorted wind up Dinky Toys. After much playing around I discovered that by turning off the ESP, putting the transmission into "sports mode", one foot on the brake and  flattening the accelerator, the motor revs to 2500RPM and stays there until you release the brake at which time the silver streak takes off like a Harvey Norman customer who's been charged $300 for a 1 metre HDMI cable (in-joke). It's not quite as fast to 100kph as my 900cc Yammie (3.8 seconds) but I reckon its not far off 5.5 seconds. Who said the Germans were staid?

January 15th - It's with great sadness that I read about the passing of Colin Whatmough, one of the pioneers of Australian Speaker design and manufacture. Being 60 years of age, far too young to be taken from us. I'm sure all those in the industry and who have had the pleasure of listening to Colin's speakers will miss one of the HiFi industries gentlemen.

January 12th - I notice Gerry Harvey (Australian Small Business Destroyer of 2010) has backed away from his attack regarding on-line GST omissions for goods under $1000 due to the tremendous backlash from the public. Good job too, he should stick to doing what he knows best - ripping off wholesalers and selling finance (wow, no interest for 3 years, just don't mention the fees and charges).

Interesting subject however. I needed to buy a digital SLR for my daughter (she's doing marketing and arts at Uni so needs one for the course), having done the two year diploma in photography at Sydney Technical College (as it was known back then) I had a fair idea of what was needed so I went on the 'net (as one does) and hunted out the model I considered most suitable. I then checked pricing and found the on-line stores (with no bricks and mortar presence) to be by far the cheapest. I just didn't feel comfortable about buying from a faceless entity however so called a place which had an actual shop front with real salespeople to ask them about the camera I wanted. It turned out during our conversation that the unit I had chosen was lacking a vital function for my daughters particular application and ended up choosing a different model. I gave them the order over the phone and had it delivered to work so I had no physical interaction but the knowledgeable salesperson saved me a lot of strife. I was happy to pay an extra 20% over the on-line sites for the same product for piece of mind and the expertise offered.

I mention this as we had a customer call up for advice on a particular A/V receiver, we spent quite some time over the phone over a period of several days discussing his needs. We suggested a particular model and offered a good price to which he agreed and said he's pick up the following day but he never showed. The next week he called and said he'd purchased the same receiver on-line because he got it $50 cheaper (on a $1500 sale) but could we please explain how to connect everything as he couldn't get it working and the place he bought it from couldn't (or wouldn't) help. You really don't need much of an imagination to guess my reply.

January 8th - I have always said there are no good or bad speakers, only the best sounding speaker for the money. This leads to confusing reviews as each review has to be looked at in the context of price vs. performance. I currently have a pair of Martin Logan Vista electrostatic hybrids at home and, in the room I have them operating in, they are the best speaker I've heard under $10,000. I marvel at their transparency and immediacy for any music (be it heavy rock or jazz to classical) and the soundstaging for movies is just to die for. The problem is, the current retail price is nearly A$8000 pair whereas in the US you're paying around $4200 pair. The Paradigm Studio 100's however are pretty close in terms of sonic excitement (maybe just not quite as open) but we can sell those for under $3900 a pair and in the US they're $3000 pair so there's a fair disparity in terms of "real" cost. Quite frankly, if it was my hard earned (and not loaners from the store) I'd choose the Paradigms all day long. The Vista's are probably worth $1000 to $1500 more but certainly they are not $4000 better speaker. Shame really as they deserve a wider market.

January 4th - I noticed that a number of retailers joined forces to put out a full page advertisement in the daily papers regarding on-line retailing. The argument is that if you buy products from overseas and that product is under A$1000 then it's not subject to 10% GST hence the "playing field" is not level. The main instigator in this push for a "level playing field" is Gerry Harvey. This would be hilarious if it wasn't so tragic. Gerry forces wholesalers to meet his terms when his stores buy products and screws them to a point where many of them would prefer not to deal with him, it's only the exposure he gives their products that swings the supply in his favour. That means that small business (read - specialist retail stores) can't compete on most products, hence the reduction in specialist HiFi stores in Sydney by over 75% in the last 10 years. Those of us remaining have had to find a niche in the marketplace that Harvey's and their ilk can't fill. If Gerry Harvey wants a level playing field, maybe he should start in his own backyard and save the jobs of thousands of small Australian businesses he's destroyed with his predatory pricing.

December 22nd - Haven't updated for a while as we've been flat out like a lizard drinking. Calmed down a bit today however. Sent newsletter out yesterday, upset at least three people (not bad for me) but had more "subscribes" than "unsubscribes" so, all in all, a positive result. One guy didn't like my language, obviously never met me in person - I say it as I see it.

 We just received some proper (as distinct from Ikea) Cinema seating, these are configurable (i.e. you can attach as many together as you like along with dividers with cup holders etc.)
http://www.oceanicdistribution.com/
Click on the link for more info and call me on 02 9651 4922 for pricing. There's an incredible choice of colours and the leather is excellent quality. Only downside is delivery time as they're made to order, expect around 12 - 14 weeks.

December 13th - there's a bit of a shitfight going on in regards to pricing with the Yamaha Avantage range of receivers - the two stores who are offering stupid prices remind me of the guy who was caught drilling a hole in a coconut then having sex with it (i.e. they're fucking nuts) - Not one to be put off by stupidity, we'll match any genuine advertised price on the RX-A3000 (not the morons who parallel import of course as they can't offer any decent warranty or technical support). Offer applies whilst we have existing stocks.

December 7th - It's now official, KEF have appointed a new distributor. Amber Technology, who have been importing and distributing KEF for longer than I can remember, have now relinquished the product as from January 31st. The new importer is rumoured to be Uncle Joe (Audio Connection, Kedcorp, Advance Audio or one of his many other companies). This could be interesting as Joe is a HiFi retailer as well as an importer, I'm the largest domestic KEF retailer in Australia, do you see a conflict of interest here? I sure do, fancy trying to sell against a store who's owner actually imports the products (and paying around 35% less than I can get it for). It's going to be interesting to see what happens. The other factor is that the new KEF iQ series (to be released in February 2011) is nowhere near as good as the current "Classic" iQ range having a recessed mid-range and is overly "boomy". The new "T" series which is an adjunct to the excellent KHT systems is also a bit of a dud with the sound being "tinny". Maybe not such a great loss for Amber after all.

One more thing, if you're a Coffee lover like me, try getting some from James at baybeans Some of the best tasting coffee available and you don't even have to get off your bum to get any as they ship Australia wide (for a small fee)

December 1st - After two days of playing with the new Anthem receivers the results are in - the MRX-700 is still the best sounding receiver under $3000 (specials not withstanding) and we're doing them at $2690. The MRX-500 is going at $1990 and, although not quite as good sonically, you'd need really good speakers to be able to differentiate. Certainly, if you're not afraid of the looks, the Anthem would be the choice of the Audio purest.

November 29th - The Anthem A/V Receivers have finally arrived, first the good news, they're one of the best sounding A/V receivers for the money we've ever tested (the guys in store reckon they were hearing bits of the movie soundtrack they never heard from other A/V receivers). Now the bad news, they're as ugly as a hat full of arseholes, they come with "Dolby Volume Adjustment" turned "on" by default which makes them sound like crap until you turn it off and they need a firmware upgrade as the HDMI handshake is intermittent. So, if it's the sound you're after, the MRX-700 is absolutely superb once set up correctly, whatever you do though, don't buy one yet unless you're sure the dealer knows what he's doing and has updated the firmware. Oh, the other issue is that to use the room correction system, you have to use the RS-232 port - better get those adaptors out (sometime I wonder what world the Canadians live in)

November 19th - Sorry about the delay in updating but we've migrated to a new site and we've had some gremlins. Most have been fixed but we're still tweaking (so to speak). The strong Aussie Dollar has filtered down with some products but don't hold your breath (apart from TV's) as most of the importers buy forward cover if buying in US$. One major problem is that a lot of importers changed to buying in Yuan (RMB) which is actually appreciating against the A$ so some prices have actually risen (Paradigms Chinese sourced products for instance have gone up around 15% as of November 1st).

My latest system in the Theatre Room at home is a pair of Martin Logan Vista mains with a Matinee Centre, expensive ($8000 mains and $2700 centre) but, if sitting in the sweet spot, possibly as good a sound as I've heard in that particular room. The Definitive Technology SuperCube 2 is currently doing the woofing and more than adequate for my 5.5 X 9 metre room. Receiver is the new Yamaha RX-A3000 which took a while to set up correctly (note to self - read manual in future) but now does a superb job for both movies and music. It'll be interesting to see if the Anthem MRX-500 can do any better (taking one home next week). Current source is the Cambridge Audio 650BD which is a modified Oppo and can be multizoned for Blu-Ray (total cost for multizoned unit $990, $849 if multizoned only for DVD). I'll keep you up to date on the Anthem thingy.

October 30th - I now know why I didn't get an invite from Yamaha to join them at the Sound and Image Awards last week (I couldn't attend anyway as I had front row seats for the Chicago Concert) - The Yamaha YST-SW515 received a "Highly Commended Award" and the thought of me rolling on the floor in total hysterics must have worried the powers that be. It's not that its a bad sub woofer (I used one at home in my music room for two years) its just that it has been around for over 5 years and, whereas it is probably one of the best sub woofers available under $1000, there are at least 15 other sub woofers between $1000 and $2000 that absolutely cream it in terms of musicality, overall output and ease of placement that I have personally tested at home! and to give the RX-V667 a "Highly Commended Award" for an A/V receiver under $2000 is absolutely ludicrous as Yamaha's own RX-V1067 is light years ahead sonic ally, visually and in terms of connectivity yet still only retails for $1699. It's no wonder the attendance for the Awards has been dwindling for the past few years (Panasonic didn't even send a representative to pick up their awards) - come on guy's, get the act together and maybe have a system of voting from members of the industry who have a wider view of what's out there. At least they probably got it right giving the Yamaha RX-A3000 Best Receiver of the Year $2000 - $4000.

Talking of Speakers (which I wasn't but will now) I've been testing the new range of Motion speakers from Martin Logan which I mentioned a few blog's ago. Given their compact size and realistic pricing (you can get a 5.0 set up for as little as $2000 using the smaller floor standers) they make up one of the best sounding packages around - I now have a full Motion package in my Rumpus Room (using the larger Motion 12 floor standers) with a Definitive Technology SuperCube 2 Subwoofer and the results are simply amazing given the modest outlay. There are certainly better systems available but not many given the price! Next week I'm taking home the Electrostatic range to see if they're suitable in a Home Theatre environment. I'll keep you informed on that one (way higher price range however). I'm now running the Yamaha RX-A3000 receiver in that room. Initially I was disappointed as it sounded different to my RX-V3900 (more "in your face" and not as mellow) although with a little tweaking I now have it sounding a little better than the 3900 - the separation and soundstaging has improved (to around the same extent that the 3900 trumps the 3800). We now have the full Yamaha Aventage range in stock. Interestingly enough, I'm using the RX-A2000 in my music room and straight out of the box, it sounded better than the 3000. At $1990 it may well be the pick of the new range as the RX-A1000 is only slightly better than the RX-V1067.

 

Last night we (my lovely wife and I) were lucky enough to get front row seats for Peter Frampton, America and Chicago. Certainly one of the most diverse concerts I've heard and proof that old groups are sounding better today than ever. The first thing I did this morning was put on the Blu-Ray Chicago concert recorded a year or so ago and compared my experience last night with a couple of speakers we had in store. The most realistic and closest to the concert were, believe it or not, the Martin Logan SOURCE speakers (see paragraph below). As long as you don't mind the lack of vertical dispersion, they're absolutely amazing.

 

October 14th - Well, the missus has up and left for Japan for a week leaving me to run Chez Neil. Years ago I might have thought about frequenting the local pubs but at my age I just explore the taste of various Bourbons and watch TV. It's that mode which enticed me to watch a DVD concert I've had for a few weeks. It's called  "Rolling Stone Hall of Fame 25th Anniversary Concerts" which was filmed over two nights at Madison Square Gardens. I have literally hundreds of DVD and Blu-Ray concerts but this is by far the best I've ever had the pleasure of watching. It's an emotional ride with groups doing things you'd never dream of (imagine Metallica as the backing band for Lou Reed). I actually went quite teary during some of the songs as there was genuine emotion being shown during some performances. I'm not sure if it's available locally as I bought mine from Amazom.com but it's an absolute blast with some of the best sound I've ever heard from either a studio or live concert and the picture quality is such that it makes wonder why anyone would bother with Blu-Ray. Now get off your bums and go get it!

 

October 9th - Is honesty the best policy? That depends on whether you're buying or selling I guess. Guy rings up to buy a particular sub woofer, I could have just taken the money and sent the sub to him and he'd have probably been happy. The trouble was, the sub woofer he wanted didn't suit the rest of his system or room dimensions. I told him the sub wasn't ideal and offered an alternative which would have been a good 30% better albeit for an extra $49 (not much over a $1100 sale). Unfortunately (for both of us) he thought I was trying to put him down by suggesting all his research was incorrect. The trouble is, I've tried the sub woofers in my own home with similar dimensions to his and had first hand knowledge of their capabilities. He ummed and ahhed over my suggestion then hung up. My dilemma is, next time, do I just sell the client what he thinks he wants (even if it doesn't suit) or do I tell it like it is and risk the sale? - Bugger it, I'll take the money and run! (that is, of course, unless you'd like my opinion - you'll have to ask from now on however).

I'm not sure why PC magazines are now in the business of reviewing A/V equipment. The latest Australian PC User magazine did a test on a number of Blu-Ray players and got it wrong every which way. For a start, they gave the Kogan a good wrap - you have to be kidding, we had three units go faulty on us in succession, maybe they were lucky and got one that worked, anyway, they should have checked out the Forums, they'd soon find reliability issues are a problem with that brand. The review on the Samsung BD-C6900 then claimed it was region locked for DVD (which it is) and they couldn't find a hack on line (and this is a PC magazine) - I have the Samsung at home and found the hack in 2 seconds just by typing "region hack BD-C6900" into Google (if they did a search, this is the first thing that comes up - http://www.videohelp.com/dvdhacks/samsung-bd-c6900/10895 ). To their credit however, they compared the picture quality but didn't comment on the sound quality (a factor mainly determined by the A/V receivers DAC's). If I want information on A/V equipment, I'll buy Sound and Image Magazine or troll through whirlpool.net.au or dtvforum.com.au - Having said all that, PC User is the best PC magazine to read if you want the good gear on computers.

October 7th - I really am trying to like 3D TV, after all, its the buzz and everyone seems to want it (and the associated A/V receivers with 1.4a). I have a problem however. The 3D picture from both LED/LCD and Plasma is just crap! I tried to watch the football grand final in 3D but after two minutes I just had to take off the glasses and revert to plain old 2D. The picture in 3D was blurry, the depth of field way too shallow and the 30% drop in brightness just killed the whole experience. The other aspect of 1.4a is the audio return channel from the TV to the appropriate receiver. I finally managed to get it operational (both the Onkyo TX-NR808 and new Yamaha RX-A2000 gave me grief) but the sound, for some reason, just wasn't as good as when connected via digital optical. I think the whole thing is a crock of shit. The only reason to buy a 3D TV is that they are bloody good 2D TV's. (and I've tried the Samsung LED/LCD as well as the Panasonic Plasma).

 

September 22nd - Now the good news on the Yamaha's. The Aventage range (1000, 2000 and 3000) will come with a four year warranty (used to be 2 years) and a 12 month replacement (after inspection from an authorised repair centre) - new for old for old if the unit fails due to a manufacturing defect within the first 12 months. The other good news is that they have dropped the RRP to $2499 for the RX-A3000 with the 2000 at $2199 and the 1000 at $1799.

September 21st - Official pricing on the new Yamaha receivers came out today - bad news, the RX-A1000 is $1699, RX-A2000 $2199 and RX-A3000 $2699, all a little higher than anticipated. More bad news, these models are for specialist stores only precluding JB's, Harvey's etc which is no big deal except Yamaha are not offering their supporting specialist stores any discounts for bulk purchases. That means you'll be paying pretty close to retail on those models. It also means, with the latest price reductions from Onkyo, that Yamaha may lose its market position as the best Value for Money A/V receiver available. I'm taking a 3000 home to replace my RX-V3900 and will be using an Onkyo TX-NR808 in my second room as comparison, I'll post the results after a few days fiddling. The 808 also retails for $2699 but with Onkyo's aggressive pricing can be had for under $2000 (call us on 02 9651 4922 for exact price). I'm still waiting for the i-Pad app to be released for the Sonos controller (the i-Phone is a little smaller than my eye's like and the buttons too small to press after about 7 Bourbons). Incidentally, both the Yamaha 3000 and Onkyo 808 can be controlled via their web app.

September 9th - The problem with reading about Hi Fi and TV in the mass media (Newspapers, not necessarily magazines) is that the authors are generally not au fait with technology at anything beyond a basic level. That was demonstrated by a piece in a Sydney daily which quoted that well known waste of space, Ruslan Kogan, as saying that many people buy TV's too big for their rooms. He was quoted (or misquoted) as saying that one should sit back three times the size of the screen. Well DUH! does he mean the width, diagonal, height?. The actual answer is you should be three to four times the screen height back to experience the true cinematic experience but Mr. I Sell Everything Cheap-on-Line says that you should be at least 3 metres from a 40" screen (can't work out the maths on that one no matter which way you work it) since if you were any closer you'd be more likely to notice flaws! Well, naturally if you buy a piece of crap TV, you're certainly going to notice flaws because they're inherent in the cheap piece of rubbish you just bought. If, however, you purchased a recognised quality brand (Samsung, Sony, Panasonic, Sharp etc) then even at 1 metre there would be no flaws (unless you're unlucky enough to get a dead pixel - not common these days). I suggest the writer of the article (whom I've never heard of before) either checks the facts before quoting self indulgent and promoting box movers such as Kogan or goes on to reviewing restaurants (or whatever) and leave the technical stuff to the experts.

September 3rd - My favourite way of listening to music is by using the Sonos wireless system as, when using an external DAC such as the DacMagic, you end up with a source equal to any good $1500 CD Player (assuming you've stored your music as non compressed .WAV or FLACK), the problem has always been the controllers, the early ones were big and clumsy, the new S200 controllers have short battery life and are a bit fiddly so when the free i-Phone controller app was released, everything was pretty good except the battery life was still ordinary if you leave the thone app on continuously (as I do) - I've just had news that there will be a new Sonos app for the i-Pad which will give plenty of battery life and a screen big enough for my old eyes to see properly. The app is in final Beta now an should be available in two weeks.

August 27th - Had a ripper the other day. Guy comes in to demo the Paradigm Signature 8's (all the way from Newcastle) and proceeds to see how loud the things played. We we're using a 225 Watt per channel amp (8 Ohms, 10 - 50,000 Hz) and the speakers have an efficiency rating of 92dB (room - 1 Watt at 1 metre) with a power rating of 250 Watts so unless the amp was driven into distortion, there was no way any damage could occur. He was playing so loud that we couldn't hear the phone ring outside the room with the door closed. Kevin went in and asked him to turn it down, the guy got shitty about that and left in a huff (a huff, incidentally, is not a new brand of Chinese vehicle). We went into the room to clean things up and found he'd blown the tweeter! That means a potential maximum SPL of 117dB before distortion, that's the equivalent of an unmuffled chain saw at 1 metre or a jet plane going over your head at 150 metres and on the threshold of pain. Upon reflection, I figure the guy was sent in from another dealer just to piss me off, he was deaf or just plain stupid. The long and short of it is that I hope he never buys anything off us as he's the type who would get the gear home, blow the shit out of it (technical term) then claim warranty (and, of course, make a stink when told it wasn't a warranty issue). And you thought selling Hi Fi was boring!

We're also lucky the new importers of Paradigm are understanding and are supplying a new tweeter free of charge otherwise I'd be up for a couple of hundred dollars.

August 17th - In my never ending search for the perfect live concert, I was anticipating a night of much enjoyment last Friday night at the Opera House for "Let it Be" a night of Beatles music performed by some of Australia's best musicians (not necessarily the singers). The problem was two fold, firstly, the third row back from the stage was not the ideal seating position as the sound we heard was a mixture of fofold backnd Front of House speakers and, whereas the musicians were superb, some of the singing was as off as a bucket of prawns in the sun. Jack Jones was an absolute riot and certainly the highlight, Jon Stevens proved he still had it, unfortunately John Waters lost it some time ago and poor old Doug came out rocking in the wrong key once or twice. I suspect the people further back had a more enjoyable experience as the sound mix would have been better, personally, I reckon a good tribute show at Norths leagues would have been better - in fact the previous week we went to see the Dusty Springfield show at Norths with Sheena Crouch and Demi Hines which turned out to be one of the more enjoyable concerts of the year.

Sunday night was a blast also, I was tuning my sound system in the media room and decided to have a relaxing bottle of Shiraz whilst listening to a variety of music (I set up a play list via my Sonos) and watching the Moto GP on my new Samsung 7000 series TV. As Joe Jackson was telling me about a guy called Jamie G (Joe is one of the few guys I might have turned for), the Rochford Longitude Shiraz kicked in and Jorge Lorenzo showed the way around Brno I thought - things don't get much better than this, and indeed, until my headache hit me the following morning, I was right.

On Monday, after finishing my e-mail chores, I trolled the Forums (as is my wont) and realised how lucky I am that e no longer sell TV's. Some guy told of his disappointment with a Samsung LED side lit LCD as it had light bleed from the edge so he returned it to the store, took another one home, had the same problem, took it back again and swapped it with yet another unit only to find they all did the same thing so demanded a refund. Now, having one of those TV's and understanding a little about physics, of course a side lit LCD will get light bleed from the edge (well DUH!), it's only evident when there's no picture or the scene is totally monochromatic. To notice it and let it worry you, given the absolutely superb cinematic experience of the picture, you'd have to be a right wanker, I just pity the poor salesman who had to deal with him!

 

August 4th - Finally, the first decent A/V receiver with 1.4a. We received stocks of the Onkyo TX-NR808 today - initial in-store impressions are so good I'm taking one home as I believe it's as good as my Yamaha RX-V3900 with lots more options and goodies. Retail on these are $2699, were doing the first batch at a much better price (just to get the ball rolling - so to speak) but only for the first few then our normal discount price will be $2249 - you'll have to call us on 02 9651 4922 for the price however otherwise scott will have my testicles in a vice (ooch).

I had a phone call from a certain Agency wanting to confirm that a certain "person" had admitted to recording telephone conversations without notifying the other party. Apparently a jail able offence when used for malicious purposes. This one could be very interesting. No names but I'll certainly let you know the visiting hours if it gets to that as the person involved doesn't have many (if any) friends. Oh, and I had to reveal that it was indeed the case.

July 31st - We certainly sorted the wheat from the chaff in this months newsletter. On our page linking in, I gave the recipients the option of agreeing not to sue or be mean to me or, if they didn't agree, to bugger off and click on the unsubscribe link. Interesting statistics followed (I have 3620 authenticated subscribers to the newsletter) - I had five "unsubscribes" (not counting those who changed addresses) so we obviously got rid of the few humourless souls who managed to sneak past my patented "Fuckwit Filter" (note to self - must tweak) but we received over 25 "subscribes" so we had a net gain. Hmm, must learn to be more obnoxious.

Now, I'm fairly apolitical, even with election looming (my late father-in-law, Lou Marks, was the Chairman of Australian National Railways and always said his masters were the government of the day as they were all from the same mold - sorry, mould) but I have to admit to a fair degree of apprehension regarding the upcoming voting chaos. If, as I suspect, around 50% of the population vote Labor (or should that be Labour?) then their preferences will go to the Greens (for those overseas, the Greens are a bunch of left wing tree huggers). This normally wouldn't worry me except that the word is, they're so into "conservation" and "climate" that they'll put a hefty tax on any copper wire with an oxygen content of greater than 0.0007% (to be called the OFT or Oxygen Free Tax). This, of course, is to ensure there is adequate oxygen available for any endangered species who may be oxygen deprived. After all, we can't have any substantial amount of oxygen tied up in copper now, can we? All this means is that us mere mortals who use "normal" speaker wire will be slugged an extra 300% for the price of our speaker wire and interconnects whilst the "Audiophiles" who believe in totally oxygen free copper will still get their cables and interconnects OFT free. This is a travesty of monumental proportion and just can't be allowed to happen. Just ensure your local member (no, not THAT member you fool) is aware of the tax and realises the financial implications to us plebs.

July 27th - There's some good news in the two channel stereo amp market with Anthem now selling the powerhouseINT.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 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 Hi Fi 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 Hi Fi 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 Hi Fi 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 Hi Fi, 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 Hi Fi 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.

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?

 

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 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 Hi Fi 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" Hi Fi. 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 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