CD Player reliability

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Anonymous

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Over the past 20 years I've purchased 5 Sony CD players and never had a problem with the mech...the last purchase was about 3 years ago and even the first player I bought is still working
 

drummerman

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He has, no doubt, a unique way to put his company into the limelight. Having said that, he's made some very interesting contributions to this forum during the short time he's been with us.

It can't be easy for a very small company to stand up against the big ones. He has in many ways a unique product that is some way ahead of its time. I can't speak for him but I would assume he also wants to protect his/their involvement or intellectual property (is that the right word JS?) on something they can't patent before the rest of the industry latches on and starts to ellbow in on whats a very neat solution. Whilst someone like beresford does it all on recommendations with no or little advertising, 'letting the product speak for itself' one has to realize that spending a hundred quid on a hifi product is for many of us worth a 'punt' whereas spending a grand or more is a bit more serious. I have'nt seen much AVI advertising other than the odd editorial or dealer product listing. I'm not exactly sure why not but in the case of the ADM9 (which I can assure you is not rubbish) its also a difficult product to review especially in a group context, which to most punters is the most informative way of making a shortlist/decision, as there are simply no other products out there to compare it to (none I know of).

He's always been outspoken and controversial. I dont necesseraly agree with everything he says but we're all big boys and girls and can make our own minds up. Personally I welcome his comments on this forum and actually wished more industry reps would take the time to appear and ruffle some feathers, advise, try to sell or whatever. It does make for interesting threads.
 

John Duncan

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drummerman:He's always been outspoken and controversial. I dont necesseraly agree with everything he says but we're all big boys and girls and can make our own minds up. Personally I welcome his comments on this forum and actually wished more industry reps would take the time to appear and ruffle some feathers, advise, try to sell or whatever. It does make for interesting threads.

Agreed - let's get Ivor on here telling us not to clean our records, I'll send him a Knosti.......
 

Thaiman

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matthewpiano:The original post by Ashley James. I've not really come across much in the way of reliability problems with CD players and I've had quite a lot of different machines of various ages and brands. Even an old Technics player I've still got works fine.

Off my collection shelf...1 Meridian 200, 3 Marantz (various), 1 Cyrus CD7q, 1 Linn Genki. and they all in 100% working order, never miss a beat.
 
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Anonymous

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Indeed, Ashley just tries too hard. I've heard from various forum members that the ADM9s are a great product and thats enough for me. I just don't appreciate a website which states that everything else is rubbish and that people who buy anything else are simply fools fooled by all that glitters.

One particularly interesting quote from the avi website re ADM9s:

"However, Hi Fi, from a magazine's perspective, is rather different, they and their readers are like children in a sweet shop. Everything is delicious and they can't wait to try it all, there's no such thing as right or wrong, it's simply a case of each change of equipment providing a different musical interpretation. Therefore it's no surprise that some of the debates on the message boards have been so acrimonious. We've done away with it all, incorporated a computer, saved space and money and produced a system that can only bettered by spending a fortune. "

So yes, don't believe Hi Fi mags ... but then wait a sec ... they stick a bit "HiFi Choice Star" when advertising the merits of their product. You can't have it both ways.

Also, not quite sure how this squares:

"Mac owners have known they can for years and that iPod Shuffles sound as just good as the best CD players made. The problem is that the audio output from a PC can be quite poor, however the digital information (provided the drivers are installed correctly) is just as good as from a Mac, it's simply the conversion to analogue that is awry."

With

"Once this situation is understood it becomes obvious why more people visit the AVI website than buy the rather marginalised Hi Fi Mags and why ADM9s have sold in such enormous quantities. Connected to an iPod Shuffle (110 million people cannot all be wrong) you can have one of the best hi fi systems made for £1045."

Not sure how the iPod shuffle benefits from the DAC in the ADM9s as iPods don't have a digital out (so that DRM'ed music can't be copied that way). I'm sure that more poeple visit the Goodmans and Alba websites than that of AVI (I wonder how many people would visit the AVI site if it cost £4 to do so).

Also I can't imagine that the sound quality from a Mac line out is going to be much different as most of the benefits are derived from attaching a dedicated external DAC.

The website just seems full of inconsistencies, unsubstantiated opinion and information which at best baffles and confuses an uninformed user and puts off anyone who actually knows how things work in reality.

AVI is going in the right direction by focusing on the digital future, I have no doubt about that. But what they are doing is not unique and the concept can be easily replicated by their competitors so building trust in the brand should be key for them (and this is much more likely to be achieved by subtlety than shouting from the rooftops that they are great and everyone else is either rubish or a fool).
 

JoelSim

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Grimaldi:

"Mac owners have known they can for years and that iPod Shuffles sound as just good as the best CD players made.

Connected to an iPod Shuffle (110 million people cannot all be wrong) you can have one of the best hi fi systems made for £1045."

Hmmm, not quite so sure about these statements. Millions of people eat at McDonalds but it doesn't mean they have the best beef in the world, it just means the vast majority of people are happy to settle for second best. I've done A/B tests on iPods and my CD playing the same tune through the same kit and there is a world of difference.
 

bigblue235

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I said in my other post (speaker cone materials thread) that Ash could do with re-writing his homepage. It's too amateurish for a company like AVI.

Don't want to turn this into an Ash-bashing thread (...or am I too late?) but he's made many comments that are debatable, and some that are downright wrong. Not good PR really.

I'm all for hearing good things about the ADM9's and I don't mind a bit of self promotion if done in the right spirit. But I don't want to hear statements about how great Macs are, I heard them all on IT forums some years ago, and they're still unproven.

And my iPod shuffle definitely doesn't sound better than my CD player
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Anonymous

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Well, thats just another claim that AVI makes that proves nothing (I was quoting from their website).
 
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Anonymous

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Maybe AVI is being funded by venture capital from Russ Andrews :p
 

bigblue235

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Grimaldi:Well, thats just another claim that AVI makes that proves nothing (I was quoting from their website).

Yeah, I know you were. I was disagreeing with AVI, rather than your good self
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Anonymous

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JoelSim:Grimaldi:

"Mac owners have known they can for years and that iPod Shuffles sound as just good as the best CD players made.

Connected to an iPod Shuffle (110 million people cannot all be wrong) you can have one of the best hi fi systems made for £1045."

Hmmm, not quite so sure about these statements. Millions of people eat at McDonalds but it doesn't mean they have the best beef in the world, it just means the vast majority of people are happy to settle for second best. I've done A/B tests on iPods and my CD playing the same tune through the same kit and there is a world of difference.

so glad someone else here has noticed this often quoted nonsense from ash. Yes, the ipod is an extremely popular portable music player but that is what it is purchased for - playing music on the go - not because it provides the best source quality music available to these 110 million consumers.

getting back to a point just raised in a recent post, do any of the ipods have a digital output? if not then why does ash even mention ipods in relation to the ADM9s? surely connecting an ipod via analogue would severly limit the resulting sound quality via the ADM9s.
before anyone gets the wrong idea, i like many people on this forum (and many of the Hi_Fi mags criticised by ash) think the ADM9s are a fantastic product and i am very keenly awaiting the ADM9 v2 to see if they have resolved the lean bass. i only disagree with ash's methods of promoting his product at the expense of other products and people.
 

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