Both features are now up in Spintricity, along with a lot of photos 😉
It really was a lot of fun doing these two features, and we invite other manufacturers to take advantage of this opportunity to get some up-close-and-personal exposure in Spintriicty this way.
Some of the questions in this survey were interesting, both because of the implicit assumptions and many because
Sex [typical write-in answers would be: ‘yes please’, ‘all the above’, and ‘only when I’m awake’
Age [I imagine we all expect this will be titled upward with the normal (bell) distribution centering on, oh, 35?]
The country you are from: (Please fill in) [The U.S. will be last (i.e. not many audiophiles in the U.S.), after Zimbabwe and Antarctica]
Yearly income [I imagine we all expect this will be high as well]
Education (completed) [audiophiles have usually attended some amount of school]
Your marital status typical write-in answers: ‘happily’, ‘Unhappily’, ‘Don’t remember’, and ‘hanging by a thread’
Do you have children? [I would say many have grown children – the question should differentiate this. In our society lately, the kids have parents, parents do not have kids, and the kids decide how the money is spent]
For how many years have you been in this hobby? [the transition from music lover to audiophile is a gray area. Perhaps the date of purchase of 1st system better than Bose [aka average]. But what about Bose 901’s – which I would consider to be a purchase by an audiophile. So this question really means… at which date did you self-select yourself to be a member of the audiophile hobby? For me, the answer is 10 – when I was playing with Heathkits, or 18, when I bought my first $600 stereo system]
Do you play any musical instrument? [This is an assumption only a few people make, that audiophiles typically play instruments more often than the population at large. Also, I *can* play guitar and piano. But *do* I? And how frequently do I play? Perhaps a question to ask is do you [usually] *own* a musical instrument – or do you usually have one in the house? We have 2 guitars – although one is ostensibly my daughters – and had a professional keyboard until recently]
Is your profession in any way connected to music/sound? [I do think audiophiles in general try to get closer to having music in their lives during the 9-5 grind. Whether it is writing software for a sound processor or doing websites for indie bands. But I doubt if the opposite is true – that people in the sound industry are not more likely to become audiophiles. To differentiate this – the question should add “BEFORE you became an audiophile”]
Your musical preferences
The type of music you listen to MOST: [Again, I wonder about cause and effect here – are classical music lovers more likely to become audiophiles? Or are audiophiles more likely to expand their horizons to include classical music? My guess would be that the answer is … yes to both questions. To this question I would say: all of the above [though I do not really know what ‘pop’ is].
* Classical
* Jazz
* Rock
* Pop
* Other:
Which environment do you prefer for music listening? [‘prefer’ is an interesting word here… the questions really is asking – where do you most often listen to music? I want to answer this question with how many hours per day I WANT TO BE listening to music in each area]
The amount of hours per day you listen to music IN YOUR HOME: [24]
The amount of hours per day you listen to music IN YOUR WORKPLACE: [0 (zero) if I didn’t work at home – most workplaces had gawd-awful systems when I do work outside the home. I prefer the quiet hum of the machines]
The amount of hours per day you listen to music IN YOUR CAR: [0(zero) although, like all other 6 billion people, I listen to music or news in the car 100% of the time I am in the car]
The amount of hours per day you listen to music ON PORTABLE DEVICES: [0(zero) – there is some quality of life issues to do with shutting out everything and everybody around you – and experiencing unexpected musical selections instead of music from your own playlists – that I am not willing to accept at this point. But that is just me.]
What percentage of the time that you spend listening to music is DEDICATED music listening? * (Dedicated here means that you totally immerse yourself in music with undivided attention, as opposed to casual listening when you listen to music in the background while doing something else) [Well, for all your sakes, I do NOT do DEDICATED music listening in the car. And I hope you do likewise. 🙂 This is another question where I want to say 100% (and in fact, here at Audio Federation it is close to that), but listening to music at the gym, Whole Foods, etc. is (thank goodness) not dedicated and I enjoy it but it would be too depressing to listen with full attention to music in these locations].
How big is your music collection: (please fill in numbers below CD:__, DVD:__, DVD-A:__, SACD:__, BD:__, HDD:__gb.) [This is one of the more interesting questions – because it simple and evocative. Better yet, have this be fore each year of the last 10 or 20 years. And I will add LP___ . Our answer would be approximately CD:5000, DVD 1000, DVD-A: 0, SACD: 150, BD: 8, HDD: 1 gb, LP: 1000
Are you prepared to pay / pay more for the high resolution downloads (24bit, 88.2/96/192kHz)? [This question has too many assumptions. Is this a monthly service fee? Or on top of a 99 cent download? What about buying the song in low res and then upgrading for a small fee? I think the business model used has a large impact on whether I, personally, would bother paying for any kind of download at all. And supporting electronics in the audiophile’s system is also required. The question as amended would be: would you pay a nominal amount 10% – 20% for each download to have your downloads sound better? I think the answer would be almost universally YES.].
Your preferences in audio equipment
What type is your main music system? [Have no idea how to answer this. I will say …, ‘female’]
Which type of equipment do you prefer for your main music system? * (High-end vs. mass market vs. all-in-one, etc.) [Oh boy. Well, let’s assume this questionnaire for audiophiles would have most of them preferring to have high-end gear in their main system. Many people with small homes, and those who want their decor to conform to the local norm, would want high-end all-in-one systems (i.e. BOTH. And this is a gigantic market that is wide open).
What type of amplification devices do you prefer? (OPTIONAL) [tube vrs. solid-state vrs. hybrid vrs. OTL vrs. SET vrs. large vrs small vrs….? I prefer good sounding amplification devices]
Which class of operation do you prefer? (OPTIONAL) [presumably class A versus AB, B, D, etc. I’ll let my previous answer stand]
Your buying preferences
Do you prefer to acquire components made by: [components by different manufacturers or all the same manufacturer?[ In our experience some small percentage – 10%? – would like them to all be by the same manufacturer if possible. These are often the people who want a screaming good deal and so rarely end up with these types of systems].
When you are shopping for new components, do you primarily consider produce of: [Essentially this is trying to determine people’s preference for small vrs. large manufactures. Interesting question – I think people prefer a mid-level company – though this means different things to different people. Should also ask about if people care about the age of the company.]
How many components (equipment pieces) do you buy per year? [Uh. Good question. It will really depend on where this survey is circulated. On Audiogon, expect the answers to average about 50 to 100… ;-)]
How much do you spend on audio equipment per year? [Uh. Rarely do people have an ‘audio budget’ it seems to me. They splurge in one year and then mellow out for several years.]
How much do you spend on audio accessories per year? * (accessories here mean speaker cables, interconnects, valves/tubes, vibration control devices, etc.) [ Not sure speaker cables and interconnects are ‘accessories’ since there is no music without them. This is a lot of work for the survey taker and the reliability of the data would be suspect in my estimation. With the following question and ‘num components per year’ question, one could kind of get a sense of this audiophile].
How much does your main music system cost? [Uh. Depends on the day of the year. See previous question’s answer]
Do you plan to upgrade / change any components of your sound system this year? [Uh. I would imagine most if not all audiophiles do SOMETHING each year]
If “Yes”, which component you might be buying / upgrading this year? (you may check more than one box)
* Headphones
* CD player
* DVD-player
* Blue-ray player
* iPod or other portable player
* Network media player
* Hard drive (HDD) media player
* DVR
* Amplifier / Preamplifier
* Digital-to-analogue converter (DAC) / signal processor
* HDMI home theatre processor or receiver
* Speakers / subwoofer
* Home theatre PC (HTPC)
* Audio accessories (cables, valves, etc.)
* Other:
When you are reviewing the price/quality ratio of a component you are interested/consider buying, which price/quality segment do you aim at? [This is interesting way to segment the audiophiles by buying pattern: “Lowest price while achieving acceptable quality”, “Medium price while uncommonly high in quality”, “Utmost quality regardless of the price”. I would say 90% of the people we see are of the first type. It is just that ‘acceptable quality” is awfully darn high . 🙂 ]
When choosing new equipment, how important are the following variables for making your final decision? [These questions reflect a good knowledge of the audiophile buying public, in my mind. specs, reviews, functionality [which is different from ergonomics – i.e. ability to use the functionality without cursing], build quality [not on the list], etc. A good list.]
Sound quality (your own subjective evaluation)
1 2 3 4 5
Least important Most important
Excellent set of technical measurements
1 2 3 4 5
Least important Most important
Component being positively reviewed by specialized press and internet community
1 2 3 4 5
Least important Most important
Functionality and Ergonomics
1 2 3 4 5
Least important Most important
Aesthetics / Visual Appeal
1 2 3 4 5
Least important Most important
Price
1 2 3 4 5
Least important Most important
Reliability and longevity
1 2 3 4 5
Least important Most important
Service, afterservice, attitude to the customers
1 2 3 4 5
Least important Most important
Familiar/respected brand, company’s reputation
1 2 3 4 5
Least important Most important
Advice from a trusted friend
1 2 3 4 5
Least important Most important
The product satisfies your specific needs
1 2 3 4 5
Least important Most important
Social status / Fashion / Pride of ownership
1 2 3 4 5
Least important Most important
What new / additional features are important enough to you to make a purchasing decision? (you may choose more than one) [Well, very PC music server specific. How about NONE OF THE ABOVE?]
* enhanced network connectivity / multiroom streaming
* ability to reproduce lossless formats (flac, wave, etc.)
* ability to connect a flash drive, HDD, or an iPod
* lack of any restrictions like regional coding, or no digital output on protected disks
* ability to integrate PC
* more versatile inputs like SATA and USB slave and host interfaces
* HDMI and SPDIF inputs on a Blue-ray player to utilise its processing power for other sources like PC or HDD media players
* Other:
Are you MORE inclined to change / upgrade your equipment, when the following changes are introduced: [How about: real breakthroughs – like CRT to LCD. And anti-breakthroughs: like LP to CD. NONE is my answer]
* evolutionary / incremental changes (going from 5.1 to 7.1, from DD to DD EX, from DTS to DTS ES, etc.)
* breakthroughs / performance leaps (going from component to HDMI, from bass management to digital 5.1 acoustics correction)
Where do you usually buy equipment from: [poor old Audiogon doesn’t even make the list. 🙂 Gray dealers must be a EU thing. Here, gray dealers are slimy people who lie and cheat and narrowly avoid getting busted to make sales and then become large importers for desperate/clueless EU manufacturers :-)]
* Generic shops
* High-end salons with listening space
* Internet dealers
* Gray dealers
* Ebay
Do you usually buy new or pre-owned equipment? [Good question. This is, of course, changing – and it is the trend that is most interesting]
Perception of the brands and the market
Do you perceive mass market equipment manufacturers (big companies like Sony, Panasonic, Samsung, etc.) as: [several options to ascertain how these are perceived by audiophiles. I would say I perceive them as ‘uninterested’.]
Does the fact that a company is able to produce a statement product, that is regarded by the experts and the customers as one of the best in existence, make you more likely to purchase their less expensive products? [The answer is obviously yes. That is why Porsche etc. make the cheap knockoffs (see the new Porsche sedan? Not a knockoff for a change. Looks cool.) The problem is with “regarded by the experts and the customers”. Are these experts and customers being coerced to say this?]
There is a wide spread opinion that designing a truly great sounding component is more art than just science, and only a handful of visionary guru-like engineers can transcend from mechanical sound reproduction to a free flow of beauty and emotion. Do you agree? [Hmmmm. I wouldn’t have put Nelson Pass on this list – although he is a visionary industry leader, he is not one in the context of the question vis-a-vis transcending mechanical sound reproduction. Tells us something about the author of the survey huh? My answer is B and C. B is obviously true, and C is experientially true]
* No, this is typical audiophile superstition, arising from lack of technical knowledge and the marketing hype.
* Only to a certain degree, as a lot of practical experience is needed to complement the technical knowledge.
* Yes, it is visionary industry leaders like Hiroyasu Kondo or Nelson Pass, who advance the state of the art electronic design in music reproduction.
Based on the previous argument, do you think the competences needed to create good sounding equipment are: [this just restates the previous question differently]
How would you react if you were to find out that inside of your $20.000 Goldmund Eidos20 DVD player, 95% of all parts come from a $200 Pioneer DV-600AV? [This is a question by someone who hangs out on various forums. It really asks whether the audiophile is looking at each part and its progeny. But it is really, REALLY is asking whether this particular technique of slander works on the survey taker.]
* I would be furious – what a rip off!
* I would trust engineers from Goldmund – they probably picked the best player in the mass market and then substantially improved it.
Are you aware that the following mass market manufacturers are making efforts to produce equipment to audiophile standards? Put a mark next to the product that you are aware of or at least heard about. [Hmmm. Audiophile standards are different for different people. A similar question might be… if a manufacture were to do what is listed below, would you consider them to be developing high-end audio equipment? My answer: NO (just reading what is written here and not hearing any of this stuff)].
* Pioneer G-Clef series of stereo amplifiers which Pioneer positions as truly high-end products; Pioneer home theatre receivers and car amplifiers that use the famous B&O ICE technology.
* Philips MCD908 DVD valve micro system, which has ribbon high frequency drivers, valve preamplification stage coupled to a class D amplifier, and upscaling HDMI output.
If you are unaware of the products from the previous question, what is likely to be the cause? [Uh, not advertised on Spintricity?]
* Not advertized in the right places
* Not reviewed by right authority
* Other:
As an example of brand perception, do you perceive Sony PRIMARILY as: *
Do you consider Sony audio products to possess enough differentiation to make it stand out in the market on quality, or functions, or price? [Not interested in Sony-specific questions]
If a company is traditionally perceived as a strong player in a certain market (even if it doesn’t consider it strategic any more), does the fact that it produces non-differentiated (too generic or inferior) products for that market, undermine its reputation as a brand, and make you less likely to buy their products in other market segments? [I do think brand-identity is important. And so do many other people. I can’t imagine this would help a brand unless they advertise it as helping get the guy who can’t afford it into the hobby].
Companies tend to claim that they know best what their customers need or want, and provide the market with the best solutions. However, clients often think otherwise. Do you usually find the wanted features and the needed solutions in the products in this market? [Generic question. How about the real issue with their being so much stuff – no one knows everything that is out there – much less had a chance to use it].
Do you feel that when getting new products to market the companies are often pursuing their own strategies rather than trying to satisfy the actually existing customer needs? If you think so, please elaborate on that shortly in the box below (or just write YES). If you do not think so, leave the box blank.
What sources do you use to get the industry news, find out about new products, trustworthy independent reviews, and other relevant information? (you may mark more than one) [He left a few sites out :-)]
* Audiophile publications (Stereophile and the like)
* More mass market oriented publications (What HiFi? and the like)
* Audiophile websites (6moons.com, audioreviews.com, etc.)
* Generic web sites (Cnet, TrustedReviews, etc.)
* Audiophile and specialised forums (Head-Fi.org, AudioAsylum, etc.)
* Other:
Do you think that the market capacity is underutilized?
If the mass market audio-visual companies like Sony or Phillips were to come back to audiophile market, do you think it would have a positive effect on the MARKET? [I think it would indeed help. Money would trickle up if there were lots of new audiophiles in the marketplace – assuming that ultra high-end audio buyers are 10% of the audiophile community – the larger the community the better].
* Yes (It will make for a more competitive marketplace, with better quality, more features, and more adequate prices).
* No (It will mean price wars, lower margins for companies, lack of R&D budgets, cost cutting, falling quality and increasing commoditisation).
If the mass market audio-visual companies like Sony or Phillips were to come back to audiophile market, do you think it would have a positive effect on these COMPANIES? [I think so. Improve their profile, give them bragging rights, excite their customer base, etc.]
* Yes (They will develop new competencies that will give a quality boost to all their product lines).
* No (They do not have the necessary competences and knowledge of customer needs. Both are expensive and difficult to develop. Given the small market size, they will suffer financial losses).
* Other:
In High End Audio, a large part of the market is preowned equipment. This creates often unwanted demand for servicing the legacy products. Are you more likely to buy equipment from a company that continues to service their equipment after 10 or even 30 years after the warrantee expired? [Well, everyone who is conscious will answer YES – even tho many act as if they believe NO].
* No (Quality of sound is the most important factor, while quality of service won’t affect my decision much).
* Yes (It is an indication of both product reliability and the attitude to customers).
Do you think, that with advent of faster networks, high bitrate downloads, and better formats like the Blue Ray uncompressed audio, the audiophile community and market are likely to grow? [See trickle up prediction 2 questions up].
* Most certainly. More and more people are enjoying better quality digital radio, lossless satellite broadcasts, Blue ray music, etc. It is only natural, and is called Progress.
* No, the majority has trouble telling a low bitrate MP3 from the standard CD sound. The few who want something better will remain the few.
[OK. A long post. Now I must do something besides sit here in this chair. Like post some more photos of the Studio Electric T3 speakers on Spintricity :-)]
[A post on the linkedIn board was by a student who is performing a survey – you might find it interesting]
Survey for my academic research on audiophile market – please share your opinion by replying the questions.
Hello,
I am an audiophile and an MBA student who is writing his dissertation project on the audiophile equipment market. It is a non-commercial academic research project (not sponsored by any company) aimed to analyse the market and its main trends, and to convey the views of the real customers to the companies in the market.
Here I ask all fellow audiophiles to spend some of their time to fill out my survey. Here is the link:
It is hopefully going to be helpful not only to the companies but to all people in our hobby. This market is under-researched, and companies at times may become quite delusional about the target customers, their views and needs. Please ask your audiophile friends to complete this survey too.
I decided to offer a prize of 100 pounds or $200, paid via PayPal, to stimulate the participants (provided they give some means of communicating with them in the survey). I will randomly determine the winner on 20th Sept. 2009. The personal info will remain private and will not be used anywhere again.
[After some criticisms – aren’t audiophiles the friendliest people? – he posted further comments about his survey]
Thank you for your comments, and especially for filling in the lengthy survey, which I must admit may be a bit confusing.
I am not a professional researcher, in fact this is my first ‘research’ in the last 12 years, and even back then it was based on experimental observations rather than surveys. I accept all criticisms, some questions may be biased somehow towards the research focus.
Also, Sony and Phillips were picked just as examples of mass market companies in this project, which is not commercial and not sponsored by any company. However, I am interested to find out why the big companies that were present in this market before (for example Sony ES or Pioneer Elite series) and were making equipment that was often competitive (and would stay in Stereophile Recommended Components for years), abandoned this market. I am wondering if this decision actually contributed to eroding differentiation in their mass market product lines, which in turn contributed to the increasing commoditization of consumer electronics market. Some companies even abandoned the traditional mass market in favour of less commoditized market segments with lower competitive pressure (Kenwood moving to marine and car media products, for example).
I can’t help but wonder, given their R&D abilities, powerful supply chains and enormous production facilities, why wouldn’t they (big companies) come up with something like (just as example) the battery-powered amps Red Wine Audio is selling at $3k, making it 6-channel and priced under $1k. I am not suggesting that they come and kill all speicialized companies (which will never happen), but for goodness sake, the whole market exists because the big guys are making really bad sounding equipment. So probably they are lacking some critical competences to be competitive in this respect, the reason hiding in the organizational culture, anti-economies of scale, their strategy formulation, etc.
As for the higher end of high end. The majority of components sold in the market are in the medium range of $1800-5000 per component, and bringing into the survey ultra high-end (like Avantgarde Acoustic, MBL, etc.) selling in very limited quantities, would only unnecessarily lengthen the survey, as they do not statistically represent the market. Turntables and iPods… I wonder just how representative are those… As for the iPod, I know a good deal of audiophiles in a number of countries, and dare I say, only three of them own the device, and would not even connect it to their main systems. I have multiterabyte media archives, and space is still always short – why would I even connect a 8 to 32Gb device to my system? It is inferior in every respect to a good music server, be it a custom built computer, or a good hdd/network media device. I can’t imagine a good reason to even want an iPod unless I walk a lot or ride a bus regularly. Some of the audiophiles I know own turntables (not a big fraction though), but the major part of their music collection are CDs. I know only very few die-hard vinyl fans, who would not listen to a good digital source. Of course, I understand that personal experience is not a sound base for scientific judgement, but it can at least provide some hints.
In this survey for obvious reasons I have to use non-probability sampling, which is not a good thing research-wise. If I offset it even further by including variables which are not very representative of the population, stretching the distribution extremes – nothing meaningful will come out.
Can’t decide if this is a good thing or a *snore* thing.
On the plus side:
On the other hand:
But then again:
Last year, Stereophile was ‘sponsoring’ the Montreal Show. What happened to that? Perhaps it not being in the U.S. was an issue?
I guess the primary disconnect I see is holding an expensive show in an area of the country just not known for their extravagant lifestyle.
If possible we will cover the show in Spintricity – but I’d much rather see Stereophile support, say, Lone Star Audio Fest, move it to March, which is in another warm state but where people are known to be passionate [and sometimes even about high-end audio :-)]. Or Chicago. Or San Francisco. Or New York City.
People talk about shows drawing attendance from the local population… but they, in my mind, typically rely heavily on the energy being provided by out-of-towners. If that is true, then the out-of-towners might like to have other things to do in the city. Makes boring-ass Denver [hey, we live here] a bad choice, and right by the L.A. Airport not so good either. But Las Vegas and Manhattan are great. Then again, audiophiles willing to fly to a show probably only care about high-end audio and wouldn’t care if the show were held in Juno Alaska on New Years Eve.
Anyway, at least they are not holding it on a Sunday during the football playoffs 😉
Audio Expo North America LLC launched website www.axpona.com August 15, 2009 for the upcoming “AXPONA” Audio Show sponsored by Stereophile Magazine www.stereophile.com.
The event will be held in Jacksonville, Florida March 4-7, 2010 at the Wyndham Jacksonville Riverwalk Hotel.
Manufacturers and Audio Retailers are responding positively to attending Axpona. Only a limited amount of larger premium exhibit rooms are available. Early reservations are recommended.
Thousands of audio enthusiasts are being notified personally in addition to the print and internet advertising campaign ongoing through show time. Everyone states “it’s time for an East Coast show”! This will be “THE” Audiophile weekend retreat of 2010!
Your consideration of Axpona as a segment of your 2010 advertising campaign is appreciated.
Visit www.axpona.com for details and contact information.
Sincerely,
Steve Davis
Marketing Director
Audio Expo North America LLC
877-246-3892
steve@axpona.com
Not much warmer down there than here. Brrrrr…. what a cold rainy summer.
And now Twitter is down, the new Firefox browser is dying left and right, and Facebook as stupifyingly clumsy GUI as ever. Technology – how I love thee (when you are so kind that you actually work).
We did get to Indian Market in Santa Fe, where we heard lots of live unamplified music (of a more professional variety than that we hear on Boulder’s Pearl Street Mall every night we care to brave the elements [rain]) and an amplified set by someone who we thought was R. Carlos Nakai but now think it is someone else who we have not been able to identify.
Photos and observations on Spintricity.
Salon Son & Image, the unique consumer electronics show in Canada is moving.
August, 2009 – The Montreal based SSI are very excited to welcome you March 25, 26, 27 and 28, 2010 to our new location at the Hilton Montreal Bonaventure. A beautiful exterior garden surrounds a unique penthouse-style hotel having guest rooms all on the same floor, allowing our visitors to easily find their way while eliminating wasted time in elevators. The rooms, with windows that open to the outside, will certainly be more comfortable to exhibitors and visitors alike. Their contemporary design facilitates a luxurious décor, and their size is perfect for listening rooms. Moreover, the fact that they have reinforced concrete walls ensures a sound quality that was noticeably absent in recent years.
The long corridors of the Bonaventure Hilton allow us to distribute exhibitor rooms over a greater area in an intelligent way. This will virtually eliminate noise travel between neighbouring suites when the doors of the rooms remain open to ensure a smooth flow of traffic.
The large halls are all on a single floor just below that of the rooms, greatly simplifying the comings and goings of visitors. This also allows them to conveniently visit their favourite exhibitors more than once.
The layout allows each room and each hall to be a prime location. Visitors will save significant time moving around, without missing a single exhibitor.
Another very important improvement is that the receiving and shipping of goods will now happen indoors. Cold weather and lack of space will be a thing of the past, thanks to the huge loading dock inside Place Bonaventure.
And a piece of good news – as the SSI dates overlap those of the 150,000-visitor National Home Show which will be taking place at Place Bonaventure, we can take advantage of this traffic to attract new visitors.
Such an investment on our part during an uncertain economic situation is further proof of our comprehensive dedication to the promotion of the audio-video industry in Quebec and in Canada.
For more information please contact : Sarah Tremblay, Director Salon Son & Image, 2054 De Salaberry, St-Bruno, Qc J3V 4N6, Ph : 450-441-5989, Cell : 514-267-6231 stremblay@salonsonimage.com ; www.salonsonimage.com
… though maybe not exactly a shootout as perhaps more a tasters test.
We performed the test on the downstairs system – the distance between the EMMlabs DCC2 DAC/preamp and the Audio Note Kegon amps was close enough [barely] for the 1 meter cables to reach.
We heard the TEO Audio MHD-1 “Standard” Liquid Cable interconnects, the Stealth INDRA with the newer connectors, the Audio Note U.K. PALLAS, Nordost VALHALLA and Jorma Design PRIME. Before this whole thing started we had the Nordost ODIN cables on the system for a few weeks.
There were all RCA cables. The TEO, PALLAS and PRIME were warm – the VALHALLA and INDRA hadn’t been used for a month or so.
We just leave the cables in place, and it looks so cool to see them all lying there. Kind of like having multiple tonearms, you can just “turn off, un hook, hook up, and turn on” to switch to a different sound entirely.
A long report will be forthcoming, I think, and the TEO and PALLAS writeups will be in the magazine.
The TEO speaker cable
The short and sweet is that the TEO is indeed liquid sounding – very much reminding me of an MBL sound or a clear-sounding CARDAS. The sound is round, and more forward/room pressurizing than the other cables in its price range. This is a sound that ‘comes to you’ rather than you having to ‘go to it’ – i.e. it doesn’t require your brain to work as hard as other cables in this broad price category do – not the last word in transparency, soundstaging and inner detail [which are all closely related], but you can just sit back and enjoy the music. Personally, I like them.
There are a lot of people we know who insist on this kind of sound – many are good friends who happen to be Canadians. Interestingly TEO is also manufactured in Canada [not to suggest there is a Canadian ‘sound’ but… well, is there one? And is this it?].
Another TEO interconnect (the PDL)
Oh, prices: $2500 for the TEO, about $4K for the VALHALLA and PALLAS, about $6K for the INDRA and about $10K for the PRIME all for 1 meter RCA interconnects.
The PALLAS, although considered a small signal cable for the backs of turntables and digital transports, performed perfectly in this large signal position between the preamp and amp. Sounded just like itself.
The PALLAS has one of the most evenly distributed soundstages and with an uncanny ability to keep separate and distinct the disparate threads of the music. The timbre and frequency response is very, very even up and down the range.
It does not have quite the blackness of background nor the uber resolution of the PRIME [not to mention the ODIN] but this is one of my favorite cables and I put it at a close 3rd place behind the other two. If you look at the relative price of this cable – you will know why we are so EMPHATIC about people taking a closer look.
Here is the announcement:
As you can see from the map, it is indeed closer…
This would probably save me about an hour a day, figuring it takes about 45 -50 minutes to walk from the Venetian to the Alexis Park, and only about 15 minutes to the Flamingo… But getting to the rooms in the Flamingo will take some amount of time, whereas at the Alexis you were just there.
Room setup will take longer, since at the Alexis Park you could more or less drive up to your room and unload. Dreyage and union issues at the Flamingo could be as bad as at the Venetian – which would cause people to decide the might as well exhibit at CES at the Venetian instead of THE SHOW this year. Then again, if the Flamingo actually WANTS US THERE, as opposed to the Venetian hating our guts and not letting us audiophile trash use the bathroom facilities, then maybe everyone will instead move over the the Flamingo.
Anyway, lots of unknowns at this point, I’m sure we’ll all learn more soon.
We are on Twitter at:
http://twitter.com/spintricity
This will allow us to keep people up to date about Spintricity more frequently than here on the blog – and it will be more broadly focused as well.
We are also on FaceBook at:
Spintricity’s Group on FaceBook
We also have a Page over there – but the FaceBook software is so buggy, it is still kind of mucked up. Eventually we should be able to have each Spintricity article appear over there simultaneously [more or less] with its publication in the magazine.
