AV Adviser

5 reasons to upgrade your distributed audio system, 2

Yesterday I talked about the slow decline of the CD and how inconvenient they are in your distributed audio system.  The question is what do you listen to instead of it. 

Part 2, iTunes

iTunes has been around longer than five years but it was rare for it to be integrated into a distributed audio system back then. What people did instead was use their iPod as the music source. 

You could either just plug it into your distributed audio receiver or pre-amp or have some fancy dock.  In those early iPod days companies even made docks that were installed into the wall.  I never sold one.  I knew that the design of the iPod would change and the docks would become obsolete, leaving a big hole in your wall. 

Some customers still use this old method of plugging in their iPod.  Why bother when you can plug your computer sound directly into the distributed audio system and have access to your entire iTunes library, not just what's on your PC.  Add to it that you have better control of iTunes on the computer screen than by manipulating the iPod itself. 

iTunes even allows you to add internet stations to your iTunes which can also be distributed to your home speakers.  It's simply a matter of creating a playlist of those stations for easy access. 

It's near impossible to get a wire from your PC to the distributed audio system you say?  Apple's airport can do that wirelessly. 

As I write this I find myself thinking how primitive this audio source is compared to the ones I'll speak about next.  Stay tuned tomorrow for part 3.

If you have a question or if I may be of service email me at radiohannibal@gmail.com

John Hannibal

Great story on Sonos

I was sitting at lunch yesterday with a customer and he inquired about some sort of slick distributed music system.  I knew right away he was thinking of Sonos. 

I told him the product sells itself.  I've never had a customer dislike a Sonos system I installed.  In fact, they beam with delight and show it off to their friends.  It is just that cool.

There's a great story in last week's New York Times about Sonos and how they survived and thrived in an Apple dominated market, How Sonos Outshines Apple in Home Audio.

If you have a question or if I may be of service email me at radiohannibal@gmail.com

John Hannibal

A discussion on the best sounding stereo you ever heard

As much as I can point customers to quality audio equipment, the fact remains that the user's listening experience is subjective.  Music has as much to do with the mind as it has to do with mechanics. 

When you listen to a stereo system the sound you hear depends on the the physical environment (and I'm not speaking to the acoustics here), the music being played and your investment or attraction to the set up.  CNET's Steve Guttenberg was asked to describe the best sounding stereo system he'd ever heard.  His answer wasn't cut and dry and took into consideration these other elements of which I just spoke.  Here's the story, What's the best sounding hi-fi you ever heard?

So I've been sitting hear thinking of the best stereo I have personally ever heard.  It would have to be a set up that featured McIntosh tube amplifiers.  And I'll be the first to admit that it has to do with the blue VU meters too.  I've heard numerous such systems in store's where I've worked and at a friend's home who also had similar McIntosh tube equipment. Because of the environment of my friend's home as opposed to a store sales floor I'd go with his system.  It was rounded out with a classic Thorens turntable and a pair of Paradigm Studio 60 tower speakers. 

We listened to some choice albums from my record collection.  Again, there goes the objectivity as it was music dear to my heart.  The needle dropped and I was magically transcended to a higher place.  I heard sounds I'd never caught in the recordings on previous listens.  It was astonishing. 

I'm not discounting my own system.  I like it just fine but like all fans of quality audio I strive to upgrade the system.  Someday I will own one of those McIntosh tube amps. 

If you have a question or if I may be of service email me at radiohannibal@gmail.com

John Hannibal

 

More on Neil Young's battle against MP3s

Last week I wrote about Neil Young's talk at a conference in which he discussed the poor quality of MP3s and how he and Steve Jobs had talked about the alternatives.  The talk spurred on a great deal of internet buzz which makes me hopeful for the future of quality sound. 

After all, better quality digital files necessitate better quality equipment to play them back on.  It's such a shame that a couple of generations seem to have lost any interest in steadily improving their music systems.  It's worse that many have no idea of what they're missing. 

Anyway, here's a great story from Wired which goes into depth on Neil Young's distaste for the MP3, Why Neil Young Hates MP3 — And What You Can Do About It.  Better yet, the story explains steps you can take to improving the music you listen to.  All of which I've discussed before. 

If you have a question or if I may be of service email me at radiohannibal@gmail.com

John Hannibal

Was Steve Jobs working on a better sounding digital format?

Neil Young, a big proponent for better sounding music formats, says that Steve Jobs agreed with him and they talked of developing such a format for iTunes.  He also said that when Jobs was at home he preferred to listen to vinyl records. 

Young talked about this at a technology conference in California on Tuesday.  He said the format would be lossless, containing 100% of the original data, instead the poor sampling rate of an mp3.  It would mean far fewer songs on a portable device and the download would take a long time.  The reward would be a much richer music listening experience. 

The Wall Street Journal's tech writer Walt Mossberg confirmed Young's comments.  He said that Jobs was surprised "that people traded quality, to the extent they had, for convenience or price". 

Here's the story from the Huffington Post, Neil Young: Steve Jobs Listened To Vinyl.

If you have a question or if I may be of service email me at radiohannibal@gmail.com

John Hannibal

Macworld shows interconnectivity with home audio and video

Lately I've been showing how Apple's operating system is being integrated into home audio and video products the same way Microsoft's internet explorer has been for years.  It's nice to get confirmation on this trend from someone else. 

The popular tech insider site, Gigaom, writes about this melding of Mac's iOS and home theater as seen at Macworld 2012, Macworld | iWorld 2012 highlights for home theater nuts and audiophiles.  In the story are topics I've discussed in recent months like Epson's projector and digital to analog converters (DACs).  It's really not surprising and mirrors the fact that Apple has overtaken Microsoft in revenues during the past year. 

If you have a question or if I may be of service email me at radiohannibal@gmail.com

John Hannibal

Bang & Olufsen introduce "affordable" line up of products

Bang & Olufsen, the Danish audio video company whose products are pieces of art with a price tag to match, have introduced a new line of "affordable" components called B&O Play.  Most will find their affordable line still a bit steep in price. 

The first product to launch in the new subbrand is the Beolit 12 Airplay.  It's designed after a transistor radio they produced in the 1970s.  It looks gorgeous with loads of power and is even retro in the fact that it only plays in mono. 

The Airplay in the name is a giveaway.  Yes, it syncs with Apple's Airplay as well as having a mini input to plug in a device that might not be on a network.  It's also quite portable and can play off the battery for about eight hours. 

When I first heard about the piece I was thrilled that I might be able to afford something from B&O.  Actually I do have a great B&O turntable but I bought that used.  Then I looked at the price tag of $800.  I guess affordable is a subjective term. 

Here's another write up on the Beolit 12 Airplay from the New York Times, Bang & Olufsen’s Homage to Its Past.

If you have a question or if I may be of service email me at radiohannibal@gmail.com

John Hannibal

 Edit (1.30.12):  I got an email from Jon Erikson of B&O "The BeoLit 12 plays in Stereo.  It has a left and right driver and does have left and right imaging."  I apologize.  I got my info from the New York Times who stated that it was mono.

A Look At Noise Cancelling Headphones

I'm in the market for a new pair of headphones.  And I'm talking headphones not earbuds. 

For earbuds I've resorted to buying the Best Buy brand which run $5.00.  I'm just tired of shelling out $20 for a decent, not great, pair of earbuds and having them short out within a few months.  Besides I don't use earbuds other than for yardwork and outdoor bike rides.  Folks that live in large cities and use public transportation use headphones much more than the rest of us. 

I fly quite a bit, and I end up looking at those business travelers with a bit of envy.  They sit there so comfy and uninterupted with their noise cancelling headphones.  I want a pair. 

Bose has been the leader in this category for some time.  Now other manufactures are moving in to take a piece of this market.  The New York Time's David Pogue reviews a number of these headsets this week, Headphones to Shut Out the World.

It's these type of reviews that you and I must rely upon.  Gone are the days when you could go to a store and try out the various makes and models yourself.  These stores are far and few between anymore.  Most independent retailers have cut inventory, presenting scenes with one of each type of product.  There's no more line up of similar products for you to demo. 

I actually have no real problem with this sort of thing.  I'm a fan of critics and reviewers.  For many years I've relied on music reviews to influence my album purchases.  I read what the critics say before I go see a movie.  Why shouldn't I rely on knowledgeable people to steer me toward the right audio or video purchase?

If you have a question or if I may be of service email me at radiohannibal@gmail.com

John Hannibal

A Passionate Plea To Invest In Good Sound

I've directed my readers to Bob Lefsetz Letter in the past.  His predominant subject is the music industry.  It's a bit of inside baseball, always with his strong and passionate opinions tossed in.  It's great reading.

Yesterday he wrote about Sound Quality.  It's just the kind of passionate plea everyone in my industry should be making.  This letter should be passed around today to everyone who's at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.  Then they should all go back to their corner of the country, nay world, and preach the same. 

Lefsetz says, "if you’re listening to hard rock or acoustic music on earbuds, anything but Top Forty dreck, you’re gonna be predisposed to think it sucks. Because you’ve got to feel the music. And almost nobody has enough power to generate that kind of oomph, only distortion."  He talks about the difference of listening to music, even if it is just an mp3 or stream, on crappy PC speakers compared to a great stereo system.  

I have my PC soundcard running into an NAD 7240 receiver (used as a preamp) and into an NAD 2400 amplifier.  Hooked up to the amp are quite massive McIntosh XR6 speakers.  And that's just in my office. I can run that internet and PC sound throughout my home on equally good amps and speakers. 

I don't commute by public transportation or live in a big city so the only time I use earbuds is at the airport, on planes or while doing yardwork.  There's no way I'm going to listen to music that way while in my home.

Lefsetz discusses the move in our industry to an almost complete focus on home theater and surround sound.  We've all but forgotten about stereo.  Shame on us. Though if you're a regular reader you know I champion the two channel system. 

He mentions that good sound doesn't come cheap and talks of how one used to aspire to good stereo equipment.  "Instead of unloading our dough on electronic gadgets from phones to tablets, everybody saved up for a stereo, there were chains developed just to cater to this market. And there still are stereo shops, but if you’ve ever been to one your jaw will drop at the price. You’ve got to be rich to afford stereo today".  

Now granted a good stereo system isn't exactly cheap but it's well in reach of many that wouldn't consider themselves rich.  It's just a matter of allocating some money each month to the cause.  Wouldn't it make sense to get the most out of the money you shell out to your internet provider every month?  In the long run an investment on good sound pays off rewardingly in listening to music the way it should and needs to be heard. 

My favorite take away from Lefsetz story is when he equates HDTV to good sound, and I'm going to put this in bold letters.  "And just like HDTV was sold by word of mouth, people insisting their friends come over to see it, if we had hi-res audio playable on hi-res units, the scene would burgeon."

I have high res audio and anytime someone new comes to visit I make sure to sit them down and demonstrate just how good music can sound.  Each and every time they are astonished.  And, yes, sometimes I'll convince them to upgrade their system.   

What Lefsetz is talking about by saying "if we had" is that we need more bandwidth for better sound quality.  SACDs are still being produced though it's a very niche market, much more prevalent in Japan than here in the US.  And blu-ray discs offer high-res sound though there aren't too many music-centric releases.  Neil Young's massive Archives I comes to mind.  And there's high-res digital downloads available from small companies as well but we need iTunes to offer something better.  The bottom line is that we need more high-res material.

Good sound can still be attained even without more high-res sound.  There's digital to analog converters that'll take an mp3 and make it sound better.  And, again, even an mp3 or streamed music off the net will sound so much better through a good amp and speakers.  

After reading Lefsetz letter I'm even more committed to helping people achieve great audio.  After all a burgeoning scene would be great for everyone.

If you have a question or if I may be of service email me at radiohannibal@gmail.com

John Hannibal

 

 

 

Tube Amplifiers, A Closer Look

You hear audiophiles always preaching about how much better a tube amplifier sounds than a solid state amp.  You'll get descriptives like warmer or less harsh and more natural sounding.  So is it true?  And if so, why?

Before transistors (solid state) came about in the 1950s amplifiers were always made of tubes.  The easier assembly and cheaper cost made solid state the leader by the end of the 1960s and by the end of the 1970s there were very few amplifiers being made with tubes.  Here's a lesson on tubes from wikipedia.

In the 1990s tube amplifiers started to make a resurgence.  I had a friend who, in the late 90s, would travel the country tracking down old school movie theaters that were closing and buy the Western Electric amplifiers used in the theater sound system.  He'd then sell them on eBay to the highest bidder which usually was to someone in the Pacific Rim.  The Asian market was and still is much more hungry for tube amplifiers. 

Companies like McIntosh began introducing tube amplifiers once more.  They carry a much bigger price tag than a solid state amp, but the beauty is that they don't depreciate in value.  In fact, sometimes they gain value over the years.  That's rare for any electronics equipment. 

Personally, I have a Sherwood 2 channel tube amp and a matching separate radio tuner.  I also have a couple of tube guitar amps, a Fender Vibro Champ and a Melody King.  Indeed, all three would sell for more today than they did when they were new. 

Yesterday we looked at how a turntable is made.  Discovery's How It's Made also did a piece on how a vacuum tube is made.  Again, this is pretty neat.