I'm all for the underdog

[matthewpianist]

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 🔥

I've owned this combination. It looked fabulous and has a lot going for it, but the sound didn't convince me, mostly because those Lintons need a lot more space than I was able to give them. The best I heard the Leaks was with JBL 52L Classics - another nicely retro-styled speaker, and ideal for smaller spaces.

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

Given the massive strides in car safety over the decades, it seems daft that poor implementation of tech is adding an unnecessary hazard.

It seems there's an acknowledgement from higher places - Euro NCAP will automatically withhold a five-star safety rating from 2026 onwards for cars without manual switching for these items:

Indicators, wipers, hazards, horn and SOS.

But this still means that lights, wiper sensitivity, climate control and audio volume can still be buried in menus. These are things I want to be able to adjust without having to take my eyes off the road. Haptics have (I believe) come a long way, but the motoring press seems to be correct to me in that the move to screen for everything is more about reducing cost - not making things work better.

 

[daveh75]

It seems there's an acknowledgement from higher places - Euro NCAP will automatically withhold a five-star safety rating from 2026 onwards for cars without manual switching for these items:

Indicators, wipers, hazards, horn and SOS.

But this still means that lights, wiper sensitivity, climate control and audio volume can still be buried in menus. These are things I want to be able to adjust without having to take my eyes off the road. Haptics have (I believe) come a long way, but the motoring press seems to be correct to me in that the move to screen for everything is more about reducing cost - not making things work better.

The S. Korean and Chinese manufacturers seem to understand this i.e providing actual physical buttons/switches for essential/critical features whilst driving, and burying the stuff that isn't within the menu's of the infotainment system.

The European manufacturers and the space troll not so much

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

The European manufacturers and the space troll not so much

Tesla and (ironically given what it has done for car safety over the last few decades) Volvo were singled out.

Talking of Chinese manufacturers, I saw an Ora Funky Cat (Google it if unfamiliar - I'm honestly not making the name up) at our local Shell forecourt a few weeks ago, clearly having problems with its demisting. But anyone underestimating where Chinese cars will be in the future is making a mistake. BYD in particular seems to be moving along at great pace.

 

[JDL]

Hell, its £2500, wow that's pricey, it needs to sound a bit special at that price.

I was reading a forum for Hi Fi Rose owners recently. Many of them were experiencing problems with their brand new Rose systems and getting Zero communication, back up, help from the manufacturer.

 

[daveh75]

Talking of Chinese manufacturers, I saw an Ora Funky Cat (Google it if unfamiliar - I'm honestly not making the name up) at our local Shell forecourt a few weeks ago, clearly having problems with its demisting

It was originally called just the Ora Cat pre-launch, then they changed it to Funky Cat on launch and hove now switched to numbering their cars, so it's now known as the Ora 03.

I am wondering what it was doing on a forecourt though!

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

I am wondering what it was doing on a forecourt though!

Struggling to demist, basically!