I'm all for the underdog

[Al ears]

It’s a fair conclusion, I watched a video where one of the UK CEO’s or equivalent was discussion the state of the hifi market and he commented that whilst the UK was okay for sales the vast majority of the production went overseas.

I’m trying to remember who it was but it was a speaker company, and it was a few years back but post covid as that was one of the topics discussed.

And it was the upmarket speakers that were amongst the most popular, not stand mounts but top of the range floor standers, from memory Hong Kong and Singapore were mentioned along with China as top destinations.

It wasn’t ATC on the video but it could have been KEF but I’m guessing.

If I can find the video I’ll update this post.

Quite odd regarding floorstanders when you consider the vast majority of room / apartment sizes in the Far East....

 

[Oxfordian]

Firstly, I want apologise if anyone feels offended by my rants. I don't want to upset genuinely nice people on this site, but vinyl is old and it doesn't sound as good as modern formats. Even if you really love vinyl and can't live without it, the sound quality can't compete with high res copies of studio recordings, IF mastered and transferred in the correct way.

I don't get a kick out of annoying people, but I really do think valve and vinyl lovers are scared of change and have closed their minds to the latest kit and don't want to give new gadgets a chance. You might want to stick to old formats, but has anyone really considered a new product being more convenient and actually giving them better sound quality? Take yourself out of your comfort zone and audition a HIFI Rose product.

IF you do this, have a thought and tell us all about it on this forum. If it sounds bollox, then tell everyone.

I think Leema are very much an underrated brand and I nearly got a trade in on my streamer to buy the Leema Quasar, but as I considered this trade in, a few new devices appeared and some of them are within my next HIFI budget.

John Darko has a NAD M66 and M23 and I think he's an expert and does know a thing or two about these products. I would love this pair, with the KEF R3 meta Darko has on the end of the NADs.

Back down to Earth and the HIFI Rose RS520 is just about obtainable, for those looking for a one box solution, with limited funds. I really want one and I'm sure the Class D sound will give me a load more detail and clarity than my Audiolab Omnia, which sounds OK, but there is little 'bite' or attack with most of the material I listen to.

To me , an underdog is a new arrival to the HIFI scene and an unknown quantity. Again (yewn) HIFI Rose are not as well established as Naim, but offer an exciting range of products and these can compete with well established Naim products and this is without 50 years of R&D and many iterations of familiar products.

Why yet again are you bashing vinyl?

I really don’t understand you, you apologise for your rants and then go on a rant.

You say you don’t want to annoy people but then rant off again about how poor you believe vinyl to be, if this isn’t annoying then I struggle to understand what is.

There is nothing wrong with listening to vinyl, it is a perfectly good medium for an excellent listening session.

As a fan of the vinyl medium I am not scared of change, I have the facility to stream and do so, it is just that for a good session of listening to music I will use vinyl as that is what I prefer to have as my source.

It would appear that you haven’t even auditioned this super streamer, or do I have that wrong? If I’m right and you haven’t auditioned it how do you know that it is as good as you believe it is?

Your persistent rants about vinyl, vinyl users, Cyrus, Naim, Linn and others are becoming incredibly tedious, and need to stop.

I have no issue with streaming, I recognise that it is here and here to stay, by all means promote your passion for the medium but for fluffing eck’s sake stop bashing vinyl and leave us to enjoy our music our way.

Thank you.

 

[Oxfordian]

Quite odd regarding floorstanders when you consider the vast majority of room / apartment sizes in the Far East....

Have you seen the size of some of these apartments, they are huge, there were pictures on a website of someone’s setup, it was a LP12/Naim combo with some big Focal speakers, no idea what the cost was but all the gear was on 4 stands of 4 shelves, there must have been about a dozen Naim units on the racks with the LP12 on top of one, the stuff was in front of a massive window with views across the city of Shanghai.

Awesome.

 

[jjbomber]

I watched a video where one of the UK CEO’s or equivalent was discussion the state of the hifi market and he commented that whilst the UK was okay for sales the vast majority of the production went overseas.

It wasn’t ATC on the video but it could have been KEF but I’m guessing.

KEF are chinese; Gold Peak in Hong Kong. Have been for the thick end of 30 years. Gold Peak own Celestion as well.

 

[Oxfordian]

KEF are chinese; Gold Peak in Hong Kong. Have been for the thick end of 30 years. Gold Peak own Celestion as well.

Wasn’t KEF then.

They have a place in Tovil, Maidstone, not far from where my son lives, I’m sure it is still open.

 

[manicm]

HiFi Rose is not an underdog pricewise, I'm still watching this review as I speak. I know it's British hifi week, but really would one be so hung up on your Naims and Cyrus's etc that you'd walk past this beauty??? All the controls so beautifully laid out - just look at the source selector.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiLxd1qgo5g

 

[bp_reid]

HiFi Rose is not an underdog pricewise, I'm still watching this review as I speak. I know it's British hifi week, but really would one be so hung up on your Naims and Cyrus's etc that you'd walk past this beauty??? All the controls so beautifully laid out - just look at the source selector.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiLxd1qgo5g

Since you asked....

Not only would I walk past it, I'd run away. It's the worst kind of cod retro, eye bleedingly fussy and no sense of proportion whatsoever. The only saving grace is it's not quite as full-on batshit steampunk as the RA180.

 

[twinkletoes]

HiFi Rose is not an underdog pricewise, I'm still watching this review as I speak. I know it's British hifi week, but really would one be so hung up on your Naims and Cyrus's etc that you'd walk past this beauty??? All the controls so beautifully laid out - just look at the source selector.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiLxd1qgo5g

Beauty is very much a personal outlook. Its marmite.
Personally the industrial design of most hifi leaves a lot be desired. But I wouldn’t be drawn to it no.

I don’t like rip offs if I wanted to buy into niagra, one would. Though I don’t think I could afford a volume knob from that brand.

There is a charm to luxman, acuphase , audio note and chord because they do there own thing. And that’s why they standout. Others don’t like to shout and keep things really simple rega amps for example

I don’t think there are any hifi underdogs but there are certainly brands that people look over for what ever reason. Technics springs to mind with amplifiers

 

[manicm]

Since you Asked....

Not only would I walk past it, I'd run away. It's the worst kind of cod retro, eye bleedingly fussy and no sense of proportion whatsoever. The only saving grace is it's not quite as full-on batshit steampunk as the RA180.

It's all subjective. I happen to like it. Subjectively too, I disagree with you saying it's fussy. Many here want tone controls - you don't need an app to access them.

I would like to see a deeper or more substantial critique. I don't find it retro at all. The Cyrus i9-XR - identically priced, can also be called retro as it's the same basic design for over 20 years.

 

[jjbomber]

HiFi Rose is not an underdog pricewise, I'm still watching this review as I speak. I know it's British hifi week, but really would one be so hung up on your Naims and Cyrus's etc that you'd walk past this beauty??? All the controls so beautifully laid out - just look at the source selector.

Beautiful looking, as anyone with £3,000 spare will tell you. However I do wish they'd add a headphone output to their amplifiers.

 

[Gray]

....full-on batshit steampunk

😆

 

[manicm]

😆

He described it well, but I had no problem with the steampunk design. And obviously he was not familiar with Nakamichi cassette decks.

 

[Oxfordian]

HiFi Rose is not an underdog pricewise, I'm still watching this review as I speak. I know it's British hifi week, but really would one be so hung up on your Naims and Cyrus's etc that you'd walk past this beauty??? All the controls so beautifully laid out - just look at the source selector.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiLxd1qgo5g

I'm a minimalist, I am not a fan of buttons on a unit, the less any unit has the more it's initial look would appeal to me.

For that reason I am interested in the New Classic range from Naim and I like the new DSM's from Linn especially as their displays go off after it has been used and is only reactivated when you approach the unit. Hegel's design approach also meets with my approval.

My current set up is a case in point, my amp has two knobs, one selects the other is volume, the display can be turned off, the CD player has 7 buttons, on plus 6 functions which are so small you can hardly see them

This unit from Rose would be my worse nightmare, it doesn't seem to have any style, everything seems to have been found in a lot of assorted parts bins then cobbled together to create this look which to me is not appealing.

If Rose want some ideas on a multi button with a visual display design have a look at how the like of Yamaha, Accuphase and Luxman implement their displays.

Design is very very subjective, some like the big box with visual displays and lots of buttons whilst others prefer the more minimal approach (that would be me).

So sorry, but this look from Rose is not for me.

 

[nopiano]

Wasn’t KEF then.

They have a place in Tovil, Maidstone, not far from where my son lives, I’m sure it is still open.

Tovil is where KEF are based. They are owned by an Asian holding company, but the Reference series are all made in the UK. I think most of the others are manufactured in China. My mark one LS50 Black Series certainly were.

 

[Gray]

I think most of the others are manufactured in China.

Yes, the wording tells the story:

2 out of 3 for the UK.

 

[skinnypuppy71]

I love a underdog....njc audio, brilliant kit, personalised service and designed and built in the UK....I just wish the guys would give us a nice wee half width power amp to make their range a system.

 

[daveh75]

HiFi Rose is not an underdog pricewise, I'm still watching this review as I speak. I know it's British hifi week, but really would one be so hung up on your Naims and Cyrus's etc that you'd walk past this beauty??? All the controls so beautifully laid out - just look at the source selector.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiLxd1qgo5g

That is fugly...Reminiscent of Crown/Behringer Pro amps and has no place in a domestic setting!

 

[DougK1]

Have to agree that amp is fugly. Fortunately their streamers are far more pleasing on the eye. Henley Audio are the importers and there appear to be a substantial amount of dealers now... I even have a stockist in my little town.

 

[manicm]

Have to agree that amp is fugly. Fortunately their streamers are far more pleasing on the eye. Henley Audio are the importers and there appear to be a substantial amount of dealers now... I even have a stockist in my little town.

I'm actually less a fan of their full width screen streamers.

 

[manicm]

That is fugly...Reminiscent of Crown/Behringer Pro amps and has no place in a domestic setting!

I feel the same about the overtly retro Luxman amps.

 

[nopiano]

Yes, the wording tells the story:
View attachment 6288
2 out of 3 for the UK.

And…

 

[Revolutions]

I feel the same about the overtly retro Luxman amps.

This made me think about the Leak 130 / wharfdale Linton combo. Wish I had a spare room & spare cash to grab that ridiculously styled pair 🔥

 

[The_Lecht_Rocks]

subscribing.

 

[Oxfordian]

And…

View attachment 6289

Thanks for this, there's no doubt about KEF anymore.

 

[Freddy58]

but I really do think valve and vinyl lovers are scared of change and have closed their minds to the latest kit and don't want to give new gadgets a chance

That’s pretty insulting actually. I could elaborate but ironically it seems to me that your mind is closed to the choices people make, and why they make them.