Has hi-fi become boring?

[Benedict_Arnold]

WHF once gave their "Gold"interconnects five stars. Apart from that, I remember Tandy with about the same fondness as my grandparents remembered ricketts, diphtheria, TB, cholera and ration cards...

 

[spiny norman]

Apart from that, I remember Tandy with about the same fondness as my grandparents remembered ricketts, diphtheria, TB, cholera and ration cards...

But always useful as a source of plugs, cables and other bits and bobs when needed for a project. Fortunately in the UK we still have Maplin for when even next-day delivery isn't soon enough.

 

[shadders]

Hi,

There are much fewer innovations compared to the 80's and 90's.

We had CD, DCC, Minidisk, MP3 proliferation, and DVD/blu-ray. There is nothing new occurring, since speaker designs, amplifier designs, etc., are just being refined. Class D seems to be the latest change, but apart from that, no major new invention.

Anyway, hifi is a dying hobby and those people that still enjoy are reducing in numbers. This forum has worldwide access, and yet we still see many of the same people posting repetitively.

Regards,

Shadders.

 

[thewinelake.]

BTW, the daleks cost upward of £270,000!!!

 

[Benedict_Arnold]

Over here there was repeat was RadioShack, but most of their stores have gone and those that are left mainly sell cellphones and accessories.
Struggling to remember when I ever needed a 6 ohm resistor myself though...

 

[steve_1979]

WHF once gave their "Gold"interconnects five stars. Apart from that, I remember Tandy with about the same fondness as my grandparents remembered ricketts, diphtheria, TB, cholera and ration cards...

My only memory of Tandy was drooling over a Commodore Amiga there when I was a kid.

 

[ID.]

BTW, the daleks cost upward of £270,000!!!

nice. i think I'd have other priorities if I had that kind of discretionary spending, but then again I've never heard them.

 

[matthewpiano]

I actually bought the Tandy Gold interconnects with my pocket money at the time. Used them between a Sony CDP-597 and Rotel RA-920AX into B&W DM302 speakers. Sounded good, but probably nothing to do with the interconnects!

 

[avole]

Hi,

There are much fewer innovations compared to the 80's and 90's.

We had CD, DCC, Minidisk, MP3 proliferation, and DVD/blu-ray. There is nothing new occurring, since speaker designs, amplifier designs, etc., are just being refined. Class D seems to be the latest change, but apart from that, no major new invention.

Anyway, hifi is a dying hobby and those people that still enjoy are reducing in numbers. This forum has worldwide access, and yet we still see many of the same people posting repetitively.

Regards,

Shadders.

Err - wifi, bluetooth, the end of the amp/CD player in favour of the smartphone?

This is one of the most exciting times to be into hifi. No more boxes, just wireless speakers and a smartphone.

 

[shadders]

Hi,

There are much fewer innovations compared to the 80's and 90's.

We had CD, DCC, Minidisk, MP3 proliferation, and DVD/blu-ray. There is nothing new occurring, since speaker designs, amplifier designs, etc., are just being refined. Class D seems to be the latest change, but apart from that, no major new invention.

Anyway, hifi is a dying hobby and those people that still enjoy are reducing in numbers. This forum has worldwide access, and yet we still see many of the same people posting repetitively.

Regards,

Shadders.

Err - wifi, bluetooth, the end of the amp/CD player in favour of the smartphone?

This is one of the most exciting times to be into hifi. No more boxes, just wireless speakers and a smartphone.

Hi,

Wifi and bluetooth are just transmission mediums, similar in use as cables (wired or optical). They provide bit perfect transmission, and should not change the sound unless there is interference or faults.

The smartphone replicates existing technology, which will be wav files (CD), or MP3. I mentioned MP3 as a new innovation.

Active speakers have been around for a while, and wireless, again is just a transmission of the existing bit rate which should be unaltered.

These are not new hifi designs, just enablers. That's my opinion I suppose.

Regards,

Shadders.

 

[satycool]

I love the way my Cyrus looks - great sound and looks fantastic. Everythiing in the photo is reycled or 2nd hand that's been fixed/touched up my myself.

 

[thewinelake.]

Surely advanced DSP use must count towards something (eg. in the B&O Beolab 90). I would guess that such technology will come to all soon. A bit like Audyssey.

 

[Romulus]

In Exeter there is a B & O shop, I decided to enter it to have a look around out of curiosity. I could hardly see any HiFi gear exept some speakers trying to look modern and space age (all very 70's). No matter how good the SQ would be from a system I could not ever purchase such a system because for me it would be so depressing and anti climax. Must be for people who want to hear music but are offended by sight of HiFi. I love my music of many genres but I also like to look at HiFi, for me its like a toy in a toy shop. I like all different types of components as long as they look good. I think the Hegel Amps really look good, elegant, handsome and well built - very Scandinavian. Then there are the Naim Amps, dark, handsome, solid with those very alluring green letters/numbers (indicators/egronomics?), they have a slightly engineer look with SAS purposeful intentions - quite sexy! If I had the money I must be HiFi dealers dream walking through the door...! However for some reason I am put off by Technics, Denon, Sony its all psychological and nothing to do with down to earth practicality.

 

[shadders]

Surely advanced DSP use must count towards something (eg. in the B&O Beolab 90). I would guess that such technology will come to all soon. A bit like Audyssey.

Hi,

Yes, the Devialet SAM?, is certainly an innovation that may spread to other manufacturers. With the prevalence of class D then more processing in an amplifier may be the next standard.

Regards,

Shadders.

 

[Andrew17321]

Surely advanced DSP use must count towards something (eg. in the B&O Beolab 90). I would guess that such technology will come to all soon. A bit like Audyssey.

Hi,

Yes, the Devialet SAM?, is certainly an innovation that may spread to other manufacturers. With the prevalence of class D then more processing in an amplifier may be the next standard.

Regards,

Shadders.

Yes, I have SAM in my Devialet Phantoms, and it has been around for more than two years. Sonos and other firms are using similar method for room correction. DSP has been common in active speakers for many years now: it is a cheap way to make speakers sound better and cut costs for manufacturers, and maybe consumers. It is certainly increasing the sound quality per £. Not really new, but at the evolutionary stage.

 

[nopiano]

Surely advanced DSP use must count towards something (eg. in the B&O Beolab 90). I would guess that such technology will come to all soon. A bit like Audyssey.

Hi,

Yes, the Devialet SAM?, is certainly an innovation that may spread to other manufacturers. With the prevalence of class D then more processing in an amplifier may be the next standard.

Regards,

Shadders.

Yes, I have SAM in my Devialet Phantoms, and it has been around for more than two years. Sonos and other firms are using similar method for room correction. DSP has been common in active speakers for many years now: it is a cheap way to make speakers sound better and cut costs for manufacturers, and maybe consumers. It is certainly increasing the sound quality per £. Not really new, but at the evolutionary stage.

Linn also have something along the lines of SAM, snappily called Space Optimisation. It seems to focus on changing the balance of the speakers to allow them to be placed in less than ideal locations that are more domestically acceptable - E.g. Against a wall. Like Dev, they measure each speaker first.