Geek with Family

Back on October 12 (before I had two kids) I headed up to Quintessence Audio to hear Richard Vandersteen give a talk on his version of high-end audio (hint: it involves time coherence and waveform preservation in loudspeaker design). Find below some product news, high-end audio industry health opinions, fellow audiophile observations and jokes.

Freaks [emphasis mine] and geeks

Because of the sacred sweet spot, audiophilia is a solo pursuit. The audiophiles that attended Richard Vandersteen’s talk on October 12 confirm that we (audiophiles) are all alone. These guys don’t get out much (not you, dear reader, I’m sure your social skills are top notch, like a Theta amplifier).

While discussing the devil’s audio player, Richard suggested an audience member borrow an iPod from one of his kids. By the deer-in-headlights expression on the guy’s face, you could tell he’d never done anything that would result in the production of children.

The audience mix was definitely tilted toward the winter of life. I really hope some of the audience members pushing eighty or ninety could still hear. Best of luck.

The oddest person to show up was an old lady that would lock herself in one of the listening rooms for twenty minutes at a time. She would then poke her head out and shuffle over to the next room as if Richard Vandersteen wasn’t up in front of us trying to convince an audience member that musicians are terrible judges of high-end audio equipment. At the end of the night I was sitting in the Model 5A demo sweet spot and she crept up behind me and said over the vocal jazz, “Isn’t it amazing how he [the dealer] connects all the wires?” WTF?

Continue reading Richard Vandersteen Talk at Quintessence Audio

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I have to hide all my audio and video gear. I’ve spent thousands of dollars on custom built-in cabinetry, a crown moulding valance to hide the top of my projection screen, a 400 pound armoire entertainment center and in-wall and on-wall wire and cable channels. All of these architectural and furniture investments have come at the request of my wife. Her request is simple: hide it.

Audio and video components are ugly (to my wife and probably your spouse too). Their case designs are beholden to function first (vibration and heat protection), classic science fiction second (how great would a Clear Audio and Krell system look on a Syd Mead designed star cruiser?), and branding third. All three of these design ideals appeal highly to male sensibilities (which I’m sure females can have too, I just haven’t met any). We love to see steam punk tubes, galactic empire heat sinks, and american psycho brushed aluminum knobs and buttons. A blue LED above a pre-amp’s flush power button sparkles like a diamond engagement ring. My wife doesn’t want to see any of it, all of my components are hidden away behind a blank, black wood door.

Continue reading How to Camouflage Your Hi-Fi System for Higher WAF

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Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity has a video interview (.wmv) with Hsu Research’s Dr. Poh Hsu. Hsu is the subwoofer designer behind my wonderful VTF-2 subwoofer. I’m excited to hear his thoughts on offering high performance subwoofers at an affordable price over the internet (he was one of the first).

Every time I’ve moved to a new condo or house I’ve asked the doctor where I should place the subwoofer in my new room. As far as I can test and move the sub around he’s given the right answer. Genius. (I currently have the sub as far into the left front corner as it will go because Room Equalizer Wizard showed me flatter measurements there.)

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I knew I shouldn’t have upgraded to iTunes 7.

Now when streaming music to my Airport Express from iTunes 7 it takes forever to switch to the next song and worse it will just stop playing randomly. iTunes will actually get stuck at the 0:00 of a song and when you toggle play and pause it skips to the next song still stuck at zero. I have to quit iTunes at the MacMini to get the signal back to the Airport Express. None of the dot updates have helped.

So is my PSP/Airtunes Dance Party over?

Continue reading iTunes 7 Breaks My PSP+Airtunes Setup - Airfoil to the Rescue

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Citizenkeith, a del.icio.us user with similar bookmarks to me, posted a great DIY record cleaner how to with lots of construction pictures. All you need is a wood box, air pump/vacuum, hose, crevice attachment, an old turntable platter and some other parts to hold it all together and you can remove all the grime from your records. If you’re frugal you can cobble together the whole rig for less than $40.

This project is right up my alley: cheap, easy and ugly (but functional, like my acoustic panels).

Michael Fremer hosts another informative record cleaning article, “Zen and the Art of Record Cleaning Made Difficult”.

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Michael Fremer, of Stereophile mag and 21st Century Vinyl DVD fame, sent me this The Business article, "Vinyl Turns the Tables on CDs" printed back in May. The Business's Tony Glover says:

According to music industy figures, sales of vinyl records have soared sixfold between 2001 and 2005. Virgin Megastores reports that vinyl singles of new releases from artists like Arctic Monkeys, the Raconteurs and Pete Doherty now outsell CDs by more than two to one.

So, the question is: Do you have a turntable?

No? Well all the cool kids have one. If you're short on cash and can forsake your next iPod purchase, why not consider the new Rega P1 turntable for only $350 (the "only" is relative to turntable pricing scales, where you can easily spend a couple thousand dollars to tens of thousands).

Continue reading Join the Vinyl LP Resurgence with the Rega P1 Turntable

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Since all of my hi-fi, home theater and video game magazine subscriptions have run out, mail-order catalogs are my only reading material. Out of the pounds of catalog paper we get every day (you try using credit cards, e-commerce, buying a house, and having babies and see how many mailing lists you get on), Uncommon Goods caught my eye. Their cover features 45 RPM record label key chains.

Inside they sell this great lamp:

Tube Lamp: With its Bakelite black box, toggle switch, mirror top, dimmer knob (a factory replacement for a Fender Telecaster guitar) and bulbs that evoke the vacuum tubes of high-end amplifiers, this lamp was designed as a tribute to high-end audio amplifiers. Illuminate your home with the minimalist design and retro style of this creation from scientist-turned-artist Nik Willmore. Made in New York City. Uses nine standard 25W bulbs, included. $195

Too expensive for me but cool and a great idea for a DIY/Ikea scavenging project.

Note: We had a new addition (baby boy) to the family last Wednesday, so posting may be more sporadic than normal.

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I am a streaming, losslessly compressed, digital audio playback evangelist. I believe you can improve upon the data that's trapped on your CD collection by ripping it to a hard drive and then playing it back through an affordable remote network device, like the Apple Airport Express or the Slim Devices Squeezebox 3. My advocacy for this method of musical enjoyment is tame and assertive when compared to Slim Devices' forum.

Continue reading Slim Devices Threatens High End Audio Establishment

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You may have guessed by now that I own very few jazz or classical music albums. Anime soundtracks featuring Yoko Kano compositions dominate my catalog, but I’m always wary of the CD’s fidelity (it’s hard to tell if your buying a Taiwanese bootleg or the Japanese original). The original Broadway recording of West Side Story is the one non-anime album I have (recommended by some audio magazine a few years ago as a great recording, so I can trust it to reveal system change benefits).

With my six acoustic panels in place I sat in my sweet spot Saturday morning to listen to the Broadway soundtrack. I was curious if the panels would clarify the soundstage of complicated recordings like an orchestra and a musical theater cast.

Continue reading DIY Acoustic Panels Reveal Depth and Clarity in Orchestral Recordings

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My Vandersteen 1c loudspeakers deliver as accurate an audio signal as you can get for under $1000. The 1c’s accomplish this through the combination of their flat frequency response down to 40 Hz, time aligned high quality drivers, phase correct cross over design and diffraction free, baffleless exterior. Since I am relatively ignorant of how you could invent these loudspeaker technical features, I’m excited to hear Richard Vandersteen speak at Quintessence Audio next Thursday.

As audiophiles, we buy our favorite high end home audio components based on a mysterious mix of subjective critical listening, technical measurements and the underlying philosophy and prowess of the manufacturer’s designers. The critical listening is usually only possible after you’ve made your investment and convinced yourself it was a good idea. Measurements are important and it’s essential that you understand all those charts in Stereophile reviews, but I’m the only person I know who gets excited by a step response graph. The most interesting product a small high end manufacturer can offer is their thoughts.

Continue reading What Everybody Ought to Know About Vandersteen Audio

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