Audio Federation - high-end audio blog

May 17, 2012 by Michael

Speaking of the Munich Show

HIGH END® 2012
HIGH END 2012

Increasing visitors

The HIGH END closed its gates af-ter four successful days. There were many beaming faces at Europe’s largest trade fair for premium con-sumer electronics. The trade fair de-lighted the roughly 15,000 visitors with a wide array of innovative products and numerous musical per-formances, which were celebrated by the exhibitors with a great deal of enthusiasm and high product quality. The HIGH END presented itself again as the impressive stage for a great number of innovations and a broad range of presentation topics on the technology stage, along with an extensive musical event programme.

Over the course of the years the show has developed into an ideal, central meeting point for experts. Nearly 4,500 of the visitors were professional trade visitors, but it also offers an optimal showcase for the industry – for all of Europe as well as from the rest of the world.

More exhibitors every year

A total of 366 exhibitors, with 52% of them international, presented a wide product range at the HIGH END. This range extended from puristic, purely analogue music sys-tems with vinyl and gleaming vac-uum tubes to modern, digital high-end systems with audio streamers, multi-channel amplifiers, tiny MP3 players and huge 3D televisions, presented on over 20,000 square meters of floor space. Compared to the previous year, the number of exhibiting companies increased this year by 9%. The proportion of for-eign exhibitors also grew by 11%, so that foreign exhibitors made up 52% of the total number.

They came from a total of 33 coun-tries. We were able to observe a steadily growing number of exhibi-tors from Europe, a significant in-crease in the number of exhibitors from the USA and an increase in the Asian exhibitors due to develop-ments on the market. The impor-tance of this show is also made clear by the fact that many of the exhibitors travelled several thou-sand kilometres to spend four days in Munich, presenting their new products and establishing contacts.

Enormous media presence

With 483 accredited journalists from throughout the world, the HIGH END 2012 was able to set a new media record. The international trade and daily media, television stations and radio broadcasters dis-seminate the topic of premium con-sumer electronics and the presence of the HIGH END trade fair throughout the world. Almost every second journalist came to Munich from outside of Germany. The countries in Europe had the highest representation, but more and more media representatives from Asia and America are reporting on the HIGH END.

HIGH END® 2013

See you in Munich?

The HIGH END 2013 will be held at the MOC Munich from May 9th to 12th. As always, the first day will be open only for the trade by pre-registration. We hope to see you next year in Munich.

May 17, 2012 by Michael

Newport 2012 Show

Shows… so many shows. Just had Munich and now The Newport Show is coming right up…

“The Most Prestigious Dealers & Installers in Southern California and the Most Exclusive manufacturers from around the world.

THIS YEAR:
TWICE THE EXHIBITS, TWICE THE ENTERTAINMENT & TWICE THE FUN!

T.H.E. LIFESTYLES SHOW returns to Newport …
including the most prestigious products in
High-End Fine Audio and Home Theater
Continuous Live Entertainment ♪ Wine Tasting ♪ Cigars
Classic Car Show ♪ NEW THIS YEAR: Gourmet Food Trucks ♪ …and more!
There is nothing like it ON THE PLANET!”

So there you have it.

May 2, 2012 by Michael

CDs now going out of style, and going on sale. Whoopie!

These CDs are from less than $2 to $3 each when you buy the box sets. All at amazon.

Living Stereo 60 CD Collection Box Living Stereo 60 CD Collection Box [Audio CD]
Price: $173.92

Mercury Living Presence Boxed Set Mercury Living Presence Boxed Set [Audio CD]
Price: $95.57

The Decca Sound The Decca Sound [Audio CD]
Price: $128.38

in High-end Audio HiFi and Stereo / Music / News 0 comments

May 1, 2012 by Michael

Questions for Distributors to ask Manufacturers

We came up with a list. Trying to be exhaustive here, so please let us know of we missed something.

Some of these questions are a little delicate – but it is better to know the answers before hand, before misconceptions and unwarranted assumptions eventually get everyone’s knickers in a twist, isn’t it?

1. Does the manufacturer (M) sell directly to customers in this country?
2. If so, will they agree to pay the distributor (D) the amount over best export that they sell the products for?
3. How important do they see shows being?
4. How many shows per year do they want to show at ?
5. What type of systems do they want to show [percentages each for statement level systems, midline, and entry level]
6. Who staffs shows? [just the D, or does the M send staff / themselves]
7. Do they expect to sell things at shows?
8. If so, who gets the profits: how are they divided up between the exhibitor, the D, the M, and the local dealer[if any]?
9. Who pays for shows: Shipping? Fees?
10. Does the M plan to advertise: online? print? To what extent / frequency?
11 If so, who pays?
12. Is there a repair center in this country?
13. Who pays for repairs? Warranty? Off-warranty? Shipping? Parts? Labor?
14. How are prices determined? Does the D set them? Are they set by the M? Are they the same world-wide?
15. How was the line previously represented in this country?
a. Did they sell direct at discounts? Did they raise the price more than 10% above the price elsewhere in the world? [i.e. does the dealer population now hate this brand?]
b. Did they setup dealers? How many? What quality?
c. What did the M like about the previous D? Not like? Why did they let them go? How long were they distributor? What quality of distributor are they?
16. Does the M expect the dealer network to be expanded? How important is this? What quality of dealers do they want – does it matter? How many / year?
17. What are the targets for the top line revenue growth? YoY? In 5 years?
18. How long is the lead time for products? entry level? midlevel? statement level?
19. Is there a M rep here in the country we are supposed to work with?
20. Numbers: what were sales like last year? The previous year? Both worldwide and here.
21. What has been the best selling products? What does M want to be the best selling?
22. What kind of marketing has the M been doing? The previous D? Are any changes foreseen?

Suitability of Products

1. Does the general appearance of the products appeal to the typical buyer in this country. If not, will they appeal to any buyers at all in this country?
2. Is the performance competitive at the price?
3. How is the packaging? Will each product sold need to be re-boxed by the distributor to withstand the slings and arrows of our reportedly worse-in-world shippers?
4. How is the reliability?
a. Will each product need to be opened and tested before shipping to customer to prevent an above average rate of DOA sales?
b. Are there spurious failures in the field?
c. Are the products small enough to be shipped when the fail? Or will there have to be on-site repairs?
d. Is there at least one repair center in the country?
e. If so, do the people at the repair center know their stuff? Do they respond in reasonable time? Are they suitable pleasant to customers? Do they keep the product clean – or leave it a filthy mess?
5. How heavy/large are the products? Will they be a pain to warehouse? To send to and setup at shows?
6. Are the products UL / CE inspected?
7. Does the product ‘work well with others’ in actual systems that people may have? If an amp, can it drive real speakers? If a speaker, can it be driven by real amps?
8.

Hmmmm.. not all of these appear to be in the English language, but hopefully you get the gist.

in High-end Audio HiFi and Stereo / How-to / Philosophy 0 comments

May 1, 2012 by Michael

Benjamin Grosvenor

Benjamin Grosvenor is a young pianist that people are going on about. He does seem to be pretty good, from an ‘I sometimes like emotion in my music’ point of view, but, for me, there is a funny dichotomy between his appearance and what I hear coming out of the piano. Perhaps it is because he has no panache, no flair, no uber level of apparent sophistication?

Pianist Benjamin Grosvenor plays Brahms Hungarian Dance No. 5 at the First NIght of the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, London.

in High-end Audio HiFi and Stereo / Music 0 comments

April 15, 2012 by Michael

The fun and the frustration

This hobby can be so much fun.

There is the music. Lots of great music. Tons of great music.

There is the pure wonderful exhilaration of hearing a little deeper into our favorite songs when we tweak the system a little or get a new component.

There is the joy of self-discovery as we learn more about our personal tastes and how we are so unique but also the same.

There is the geeky fun of playing with the cool-ass gear.

…… This is so excellent.

Then there are the frustrations.

The dealers or press who convince you to buy something you later find out they misrepresented.

The distributor who gives your friend 40% off while you pay full retail.

The forums deleting your favorite threads for some reason maybe because, well, it *is* Tuesday. The forums that convince you to hate dealers, or hate people with expensive systems, or hate people who like/dislike tubes, LPs, CDs, cables, rap, opera, country, and on and on.

The sites whose underlying philosophy is that audiophiles are marks, or can’t be trusted, or must be treated like children, or that we shouldn’t be allowed to talk to each other or about whatever the heck we want to talk about who cares if we are a little off topic.

…….This is so, so, so freaking mucked up.

OK.

So, yeah, some dealers and press are always just so danged bored. And there are those who, face it, are just way too excited about everything [:-)].

And some distributors are too all-knowing like they think they are Yoda or something.

And some… well, really, a lot… of manufacturers spend all their time in their lab and never get out and hear what everyone else is doing and, well, really just don’t get out much.

But that is just because we are all… just… plain… nuts.

And that is so cool.

So. Do you see the disconnect?

There is this layer of… unpleasantness… between the audiophile nuts and the industry nuts trying to get together and be their nutty selves.

So, in a somewhat self-serving [in so many ways] conclusion, it is now time for us to see what we can do about this unpleasant middle layer.

in High-end Audio HiFi and Stereo / News / Sounding Off 0 comments

March 24, 2012 by Michael

AWOL

First, working like a fiend on a top secret project 😉

Then a family emergency.

Then Neli’s PC’s hard disc starts telling her it is about ready to stop its spinning days forever… so she borrows my drive that has all the CES photos on it.

And THAT is what March has been like. But nice temperatures though. Very nice…

in High-end Audio HiFi and Stereo / News 0 comments

March 24, 2012 by Michael

Vintage Voltage Expo – Denver – Tomorrow March 25th

Vintage Voltage Expo March 25, 2012 Ramada Plaza Convention Center, Northglenn CO

Dear friends and fans of vintage audio, radio, music gear and electronics,

The 6th annual Vintage Voltage Expo is TOMORROW – SUNDAY – March 25!
Dealers Tables are SOLD OUT! Scroll to bottom of email for the List of Vendors coming in from all over the region!
Scroll down for event schedule, directions, and more!

Visit our website!

Note to Dealers:
Load-in is 8 – 11 am
The hard core Early Bird buyers get in at 10 am, so try to be mostly set up by then.
Load in through the East doors.
Tear-down is 4pm. No early packing ( unless you sell out, which has happened…)

Events:
– Colorado Radio Collectors Club Annual Show – all day! Don’t miss this spectacular display – with some of the most gorgeous original and restored vintage radios ( and more! ) in the state! These guys really BRING IT …. They’ll be awarding prizes in several categories! More info at www.radioace.com !

– Miss Modernism Meet & Greet – 11 – 11:30. Miss Modernism is crowned each August at our Denver Modernism Show, and she is ALLLL about the retro! This year’s Miss Modernism, Atomic Gracie, is a true delight, and a great talent ( keep reading….)

– Atomic Gracie on Electric Violin – 12 noon, our own Miss Modernism, will do an amazing electronic violin performance. We guarantee it’s not like anything you’ve ever seen! This is the talent that won her the Miss Modernism crown.

– Elton John Birthday Party – 2pm (Yes, it will be Elton’s 65th birthday that day!) We’ll have a custom-made BIRTHDAY CAKE and Elton John Music piped in! Enjoy a piece of cake and some great Elton tunes, hand-picked by your show hostess ( who used to sign her papers in school, “Dana John.” LOL )

Concert is free to all Vintage Voltage attendees. $5 cover is the admission to the Expo.
visit www.atomicgracie.net

LIKE US ON FACEBOOK! Be part of the year-round community.

General show info follows. See you THIS SUNDAY, March 25!
– Dana
See ALL of my 2012 shows at www.danacain.com !
Antique book show, antique toy show, Modernism Show and more!

___________________________________________

Classic Gear for Audio, Radio, Music and TV

This Sunday

March 25, 2012

Ramada Plaza Convention Center

I-25 at 120th Ave, Northglenn/Denver
11am – 4pm*
*Note – New Hours!
(Early Bird admission: 10 am)

Winner:
Westword’s BEST OF DENVER: BEST VINTAGE ELECTRONICS

Loads of Vendors from Around the Region Selling:

vintage electronics – old school audio gear – tube amps – antique radios – transistor radios – speakers – turntables – vintage LPs & 45s – hi-fi – synthesizers – stereos – 8-tracks – electric guitars – amps – vintage TVs – ham radio – commercial equipment – video games – parts – and MORE!

DIRECTIONS:

From Denver: Head north on I-25. Exit at 120th Ave. (exit 223) – go east to first street where you can make a right. est. time – 10 minutes

From northern Colo/Wyoming: Head south on I-25 to 120th Ave. (exit 223). Go east under highway, turn right at first street.

From Boulder: Head east on US 36. Take CO-121 exit toward US-287. Jig left onto Wadsworth, following signs for CO-121/CO-128E. Turn slight left to take US-287 ramp & merge onto CO 128-E. CO 128 is the same as 120th Ave. Continue east, go under I-25 and turn right at first street. est. time: 20 minutes

— All kinds of cool old electronics and music stuff! —

It’s like a:

– Antique Radio Swap Meet

– Vintage Audio Convention

– Record Collector’s Show

– Used Electronics Flea Market

– and a Vintage Guitar Show

ALL IN ONE!

Bring a FRIEND and come on down! It’s Guys’ Day Out!

COLORADO RADIO CLUB:
The Colorado Radio Collectors Club (CRC) will be hosting their big annual show within our show! Don’t miss this chance to see LOADS of the best radios in the STATE! Big Radios, Little Radios, Old Radios and Even OLDER Radios! This is a REALLY GREAT bunch of guys! For more info on the club, visit www.radioace.com

VINTAGE VOLTAGE EXPO

Admission: $5.
Kids under 12 Free.
CRC members FREE.

Early birds ( 10 – 11am) $10.
(if you want first crack at this stuff!)

Vendors
Most of our vendors don’t have shops, so this is a unique opportunity to see A TON OF STUFF that has never been offered for sale to the public! We’ll have over 100 tables – LOADED! Here’s the list ( in no particular order…)

Johnny Johnson
Sound Hounds
Vacuum Tube Supplies
Howard Howarth
The Tesla Society
Record Rails
Fred Bantin
Bryce Hall
Robert Matthews
Recycled Audio
Peter Glen
Home Audio Sound
Vinyljones
Calcu-Type
Charles Brett Radio & More
GP Audio
AGL Productions
Unccle Teddy’s
High County Rockin’ Records
Vinylcology
Phat Cat Records
Michael Barrett
Alec Mielinkowski
Peter Crowl
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Selznick
Myron West
Vintage Audio Rescue
Cal Warnecke
Go Green Recycling
Jeff’s Junk
Dave Boyle
Gold Sound
Marty Phillips
Lynn Hunt
DB’s Restorations
Robert Groschen
KAS Audio
Charles Waynick
GAS Audio
Radios-N-Stuff
Bill Miller
Galaxie 65
Michael Hawk
Standin’ Records
Tim Schulz
John Davenport
Chris Perez
Scott Dantonio
Alpine Pioneer
Chris Hoffauer
Bob Benson