The Audiofiles: A Musician's Hi-Fi Odyssey

I had a Sony 'boombox' when I was younger (I can't remember how old I was). I remember listening to a record of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker when I was about 8 years old. It was the first music I really loved. My paternal Grandparents bought me a cassette tape of it around the same time; I still have that. 

My Dad had an all in one music system (not sure which make) with a record player on top. There was also a record of Billy Connolly's "Wreck on Tour" (c1974?) which I listened to so many times, I knew a lot of it word for word. One of my brothers gave me a tape of Queen’s album The Works. I fell in love with Queen and went on to acquire a number of their albums. I was lucky enough to see the Queen Musical twice, and to see Brian May and Kerry Ellis perform at the Albert Hall a few years ago. When I was studying for an MA (Kingston, 2002-03), I wrote about Queens music for Highlander and Flash; and had an email reply from Brian (via the Queen Fan Club) about Highlander.

I remember first seeing a What Hi-Fi? magazine in an art class at secondary school (91-96) - which we were cutting up and using for a collage.

New Adventures in Hi-FI
The first Hi-Fi system I got was a Marantz PM44 amp. There was a Marantz CD63 CD player as well; I can't remember if it was mine or my Dads. I had a Pioneer PD-S703? CD player which was unusual as you had to put the CD in upside down. I had an Aiwa tape player (AD-F450 I believe) that cost around £100 at the time, and a NAD tuner. I had some rubbish no-name speakers, which I upgraded to some Mission 731's (maybe £150?), which were great fun.

I bought some Monitor Audio floorstanding speakers (Pictured) with some money (£400) I inherited when I was 16. I remember wanting to set them up but my parents wouldn't let me because I had to study for my GCSE’s. I used part of a pay cheque to buy a Roksan Kandy amp (£575) around 98 or 99. My parents gave me an REL subwoofer for my 18th birthday (98).

Monitor Audio Floorstanders 

When I received compensation, for injuries I suffered in a road accident it allowed me to do a major upgrade. One of the Focal speakers is worth more than both of the Monitor Audio speakers I’d owned previously! I hope they will last me a similar length of time - 18 years!

Next Hi-Fi Upgrade

I look forward to adding a separate DAC and Power Supply to the Naim components as funds permit.  The biggest upgrade for me now, would simply to have the space to appreciate them.

It's All About The Music

I’ve got lots of (mostly old, some new) LPs. I recently purchased a re-pressing of a Led Zeppelin album. I love the tangible aspect of vinyl, as well as the audio quality.  I’ve seen the Queen branded limited edition Rega turntable in this months What Hi-Fi? and it looks amazing!

When I bought the Naim system, I gave the Roksan and Pioneer to my Dad but he doesn't use them much.

Living at home, means it's often difficult to listen to music at the volume I want to, so I usually only use the Hi-Fi when he's not around (like today).  Otherwise I use my iMac.  I’ve also got some Sennheiser HD-650 headphones (last year, £300) which are a great upgrade from the pair I bought with my student overdraft back in '99 for £140.  I lived in a detached house on my own for around 7 months between October '14 and May '15. It was great to be able to listen to loud music, even relatively loud music at 3am.  I'm looking forward to being able to do so again.

A Slice of Hi-Fi Heaven at Home 
Thank You For The Music

I just shared this on my Cheeky Promo Facebook group; "I purchased some Naim Audio Hi-Fi, CD player, amp, phono stage for my existing Rega Research PH & Rega USA Planar turntable and Focal Aria 926 speakers [total cost £5000 including off-shelf prices + kind discount] from the Reading branch of Audio T last year. I received great customer service and found the staff very friendly and flexible. I appreciated one of them delivering the speakers in their own vehicle to my home address (in SW London) as I was unable to transport them myself. I'm really enjoying all of the new hi-fi."

Someone commented: "You are part of a dying breed of people who listen to music in high quality."

With most people listening on their mobile phones, or on their computers I wonder how much of the music people are actually hearing? 

What got me hooked on music? That's another story..... although the Tchaikovsky is part of it.

Rupert Cheek, Musician, Music Lover and Promoter

If you would like your Hi-Fi system to be featured in our blog and newsletter, please contact phil(dot)paterson(at)audio-t(dot).co.uk or simply reply to the eClub newsletter. Every customer system featured will receive a £50 credit towards your next Hi-Fi purchase.

N.B. You don't have to write and essay and there are half a dozen questions that we'll ask you. You don't even have to write the article yourself!

A Hi-Fi Widow's Search For The True 'Audiofilly'

The day the new iPhone6 went on sale, a photo depicting the scene outside Apple’s Covent Garden store made the rounds on social media. Its caption: “There is literally not a single woman in this iPhone6 queue”. I remember thinking at the time, that’s nothing compared to the wall-to-wall ‘Y-fronts’ you get at a Bristol Show. I’d say it’s an eye-opener for any female who’s never had a close encounter of the nerd kind before.

But as the next show approaches, I do wonder why it is so male-dominated. You do see women there if you stare hard enough in a Where’s Wally? kind of way, although it’s often a wife or girlfriend wearing a far-away expression which comes from hours spent traipsing around hi-fi shops with their blokes.

It’s not that we girls don’t love music. A quick Google search suggests we buy CDs, attend concerts and listen to music in roughly equal measures. And considering women are supposed to have a better hearing range than men, you’d think we’d be the ones scrabbling, Dawn of the Dead style, through the doors of the Bristol Marriott on Sound and Vision weekend.

Hi-fi has featured strongly throughout my life, from the years I flat-shared with a fellow student who blew almost his entire grant on a top range system, to the two decades I’ve been married to an audiophile. Yet when my husband goes all geek on me about his latest Audio T purchase, my general response (after wondering whether we need to take out a second mortgage to pay for it), is still: “Er. It doesn’t sound all that different from your old one.”

 

‘Holy grail’
While it would be easy to put it down to the differences in the sexes, I don’t count myself as a typical girly-girl. I have a degree in chemistry, I know my way around a bass guitar rig pretty well and shoes and handbags leave me cold.

But I feel sure there are true ‘audiofillies’ out there, women whose knees go weak at the roundness of a sub-woofer and who can reel off its specs as efficiently as any male enthusiast. And in my quest to find one, I meet Serena Lesley. Serena has spent serious money building the sound she wants.

“Open, but forgiving,” she says. “Relaxed and not too much detail, or else it’s too spiky and brittle.” It’s like hearing a fine wine being described.Serena doesn’t have a technical or musical background. Her understanding has been racked up by trial and error, reading and learning from reviews, acquiring a knowledge which has taught her how to make tweaks for the best sound using blobs of blu tack or halved squash balls under the hardware.

“You understand from experience the importance of everything that your music needs to go through before it hits your ears,” she says, “and your 'holy grail' is a completely transparent-sounding interconnect, though you know that they're like unicorns, so you end up with one which colours the sound in a way which compliments your room, your stands and your separates and which allows you to feel more, rather than less, connected to the music.” Her explanations sound fascinating, well-informed and rather poetic and I’m beginning to understand why she devotes so much energy to her hi-fi.

“It’s a quality of life thing,” Serena tells me. “It inspires emotion, evokes memory, changes your mood. You can’t get this kind of emotional response from the clock radio in your bedroom.” And there’s another peculiarity. We women are meant, by nature, to be emotional creatures, so why aren’t we spending more time, money and effort building systems of our own?

‘Marketed differently’

"Serena has spent serious money building the sound she wants."Serena admits she’s never met another female audiophile quite like herself, but she believes there are many more women who appreciate good hi-fi than is evident.

“Perhaps if the perception of hi-fi as a hobby becomes less gender-specific, less driven by the technicalities and is marketed slightly differently, then society will stop assuming that it is generally not a 'female' interest,” she says. “And the women who love listening to high-quality music reproduction in their homes will become more visible, driving further female interest in this area.

“After all, the driving force of hi-fi as a passion is to get closer to the art which is music. Badly-reproduced art cannot inspire emotion, cannot draw you in, cannot fill you with wonder, cannot fully communicate what the artist means to convey. Good hi-fi brings you that experience as fully as is possible. And there's absolutely nothing gender-specific about that.”

Experts have been telling us for years that we’re wired up differently. There’s plenty of documentation and debate about the fundamental differences between the genders, some of it informative, some quite laughable (Anyone remember John Gray’s Men are From Mars, Women are from Venus?)

I can’t deny that my husband disappears into his listening cave from time to time just to sit and enjoy his music, while I’m more likely to treat my tranny as audial wallpaper while multi-tasking at several other things.

Perhaps ‘WAGS’ like me are a lost cause, but I think there are many other women out there who merely need to be ‘shown a starting point from which to grow an interest’, as Serena puts it.

And let’s face it, from the retailer’s point of view, we are a huge untapped market, so maybe marketeers need to take a deeper look into our psyche, find out how to hook us, press our buttons without getting too tech-ey about the buttons themselves. Maybe then, we’ll see many more women enthusing about the finer points of a high-end amp or speaker and eventually, a greater gender balance at future Bristol Shows.

Guest Author Journalist & Blogger: Clare Banks 

Harman Kardon HK3770 Stereo Network Receiver - Exclusive to Audio T

We are pleased to announce that Harmon Kardon are joining the Audio T fold in the form of a terrific stereo receiver complete with USB/Optical Digital/Co-axial Digital and analogue inputs; including a MM Turntable stage and priced keenly at £429. Here it is emerging from its box.

If the large number of audio connections were not enough it also has an ethernet connection to access Intenet radio using the Vtuner interface as well as streaming from your Computers or NAS drives on your home network. To complete the remarkable level of connectivity it also has Bluetooth capability allowing almost any sound to be streamed from your mobile devices as well.

Here are front and rear views - It definitely looks better from the front!

Whilst the HK-3770 is supplied with a standard remote control it is also possible to download the Harman Remote app to your Android or Apple device for complete control over your network - see below

The receiver is equipped with Bluetooth connectivity meaning it can stream wirelessly from your similarly equipped mobile device. As you can see below on the left once the two devices are paired ( a simple task) you can stream fom your spotify app for example.

Using a third party DLNA/UPNP control app I was easily able to select my music stored on a Network drive and play it back - As shown in the picture below right.

The receiver has plenty of power sounding effortless at fairly high playback volumes and has a full low frequency extension with a warmth to vocals often missing on components at this price level. Overall it is a great listen and you quickly become engrossed in the music and forget the equipment altogether which in my view is what it is all about!

Harman have a great product in the HK 3770 marrying a simple 2 channel receiver with the latest in connectivity - A rare combination currently.

You can read the AV Forums Review here

Roxy Music said that Love is the Drug, but we say Music is….

Give life back to music, is the first track from Daft Punk's latest album, Random Access Memories and this title sums up in a nutshell what good Hi-Fi can do to your music collection.

This is even more obvious when you listen to the studio master of the recording on a music streaming service such as Qobuz. or a direct high resolution download (HRD) from Linn Records, Bowers & Wilkins Society of Sound or Naim Label.

What does Hi-Fi or High Fidelity really mean these days? Well we believe it has always been to faithfully reproduce the likeness of the original sound, whether it be music, speech or noises using electronic home audio equipment, namely a combination of: amplifiers (digital or valve) sources: CD Players, Streamers, Record Players; Digital to Analogue Converters (DAC's) and loudspeakers: passive or *active (*amplifier built in) stand mount monitors or floorstanding.

While Hi-Fi alone won't usually improve the quality of a substandard recording - garbage in garbage out! - however, when good quality recordings are played using Hi-Fi equipment, it brings the listener closer to the music and more faithfully presents the music as the artist and producer intended it to sound when it was recorded, mixed and mastered.

On The Stage Stock Photo By George Stojkovic
Regardless of the format, CD, vinyl, tape, digital file, we know that hearing more of the music is a thrilling experience. Being able to hear vocals more clearly, individual instruments being played (separation) and the sound they make (timbre) revealing greater insight and depth into a recording can add hugely to the enjoyment and will often induce goosebumps! Listening to music is known to release serotonin, the brain's feel good drug, and as music lovers this is our drug of choice!

You see, at Audio T we are all first and foremost music enthusiasts. Two-channel stereo Hi-Fi is just a means of getting the most enjoyment from our hobby. Audiophiles, music lovers or music junkies, whatever the moniker, we get our highs from music!

Psychedelic Guitar Stock Photo By dan
If you are a music lover old or new, why not bring some of your music along - we're always interested in listening and learning about new artists and hearing their music replayed on some great sounding quality Hi-Fi. This is what we do and love. Locate your nearest store here.

We can guarantee that you will always remember the first time you hear your favourite music played on quality Hi-Fi, simply because it sounds better and it reveals more of the music! 

As Andrew Everard the Audio Editor for Gramophone says: "In the end it's all about the music", and we wholeheartedly agree with that!

Quick Quiz - Can you name the artists from these track and album?

1. Listen to the Music 
2. Pop Music
3. Thank you for the Music
4. Hyper Music
5. Lost in Music 
6. Play that Funky Music White Boy
7. Music for the Masses 

The Naim Unitiserve - A Ripping Good Yarn!

Over time we have all largely accepted that the most important part of the HiFi system is the source. If we fail to retrieve the musical information from the medium being played then it cannot be regained later in the Hi-Fi chain - The old Rubbish In - Rubbish Out saying applies here. This remains true across all sources including  Vinyl, Cd, Radio and of course the current crop of Streamers and dictates that we plough a significant proportion of our budget into the relevant player.

We are in the case of streamers however, overlooking the fact that if you are ripping your CD collection for the purposes of streaming then your lovely new shiny streamer is not really the source! In many cases you will be using a few hundred pounds worth of computer rammed with noisy power supplies etc etc to feed your streamer that may have cost thousands of pounds!

This is where the Naim Unitiserve below comes into play, fitted with a large 2Tb hard drive and engineered to simply get the most from your Compact Discs and more.

There are many people who say digital music is just ones and zeros and it will always sound the same! However after a weekend with the Unitiserve it is very apparent even on my £500 Marantz streamer that this is simply untrue. Having compared it to WAV format rips obtained using Exact Audio Copy and dbpoweramp programs for example the Naim was always better without exception, with the musical image better focussed with greater energy and for want of a better description more evenly "lit" with no one instrument or performer being highlighted or left in the shadows. My wife, a natural cynic by the way! prefered the Naim rip EVERY time without being able to see what was being played.

If you are a computer-phobe then it is good news as well! For the majority of the time it is simply a case of pop a CD in and wait for it to pop back out 5 or so minutes later. You can of course use the Desktop Client to rename discs, create regular backups and add other content to stream if you desire. There are some screen shots below showing just some of the myriad of options available. An iPad app is available to directly play from the Unitiserve's digital output or better still control one of the Naim streamers over your computer network.

 

 

To sum up you have the benefits of storing your CDs in the uncompressed (mathematically or otherwise) WAV format yet retaining Artist, Album and Track information not usually available with this format when streaming, ease of use especially if you dislike computers and quite possibly the best sounding rips I have heard. Nobody wants to have to re-rip their music when they upgrade their Hi-Fi systems so if your streamer is or is likely to be in the £500 or above category I would suggest a Naim Unitiserve is mandatory to get the best from your investment. You are better spending £2220 on the Unitiserve and £750 on a streamer than £3000 on a streamer to play from your computer in my view, plus upgrading the streamer eventually will not require your entire CD collection to be copied again.

I was contemplating upgrading my streamer shortly but now realise I must in fact upgrade my music collection first and purchase a Unitiserve!

Don't take my word for it though, why not contact one of our Branches Here and listen for yourself!

You can see more about the Unitiserve on our site Here and over at Naim Here

Audio T Swindon Wax Lyrical About The New Cyrus Lyric 09...

We in Swindon are pleased to announce the arrival of the amazing NEW Cyrus Lyric 09 All-In-One Hi-Fi system.

On receiving the new Cyrus Lyric, The first thing we noticed was the change to the outer packaging... This is NOT your usual Cyrus fair!
 
After sliding off the top of the outer packaging we were then greeted by a rather nicely presented remote control in its own little cloth bag and Lyric Starter Kit which contains all the accessories needed to get you up and running.

 
After removing this top layer containing the Starter Kit and remote control, We were then faced with this!...


Yet another cloth (with pull string) bag. Now, just as this was starting to feel like a pass the parcel birthday game, which you never ever won, we felt that that we were getting close to the prize within! And this time instead of wishing the music to stop, so we could eagerly rip another layer from the parcel, we couldn't wait for the music to start! On opening the bag we were faced with the stunning Cyrus Lyric 09.


This truly is a one box wonder! Not only does it house all the usual suspects such as CD, Internet radio, DAB & FM radio, it also supports Bluetooth and a staggering 170 watt per channel amplifier (into 8 Ohms).

As you would expect from streaming equipment today, it can also be operated using the Cadence app from Cyrus if the nice new dedicated learning remote supplied just doesn't do it for you. 

We have lived with the Lyric for a few days now and are blown away by the build quality and how good it sounds.

If you are looking at down-sizing your Hi-Fi but upgrading it at the same time or you're just looking for a one box does all solution for another room without sacrificing sound quality then the new Lyric 09 could well be for you!

Come and have a listen for yourself! 

To book your demo, give us a call or e-mail us on:  swindon@audio-t.co.uk Tel: 01793 538222 

What Hi-Fi? Visit & Tour of £1M Test Facilities

Earlier this summer, we went to meet with the What Hi-FI? team to see their £1M state of the art test facilities, where they test and review the latest and greatest consumer Hi-Fi products.

 

What Hi-Fi? are extremely supportive and are the main media partner of the Audio T Sound & Vision Bristol Show, the UK's No1 Hi-FI show and the defacto place to be if you're a manufacturer or an enthusiast!

What H-Fi? give the Bristol show extensive coverage in the magazine and online in the run up to, during and after the event and are ever present at the show providing live demonstrations of cutting edge Hi-Fi technology as well as offering great prizes for the show competition. 

Jerry Lewin, Audio T's CFO and Hi-Fi industry veteran, film lover and serial gigger (tell us about the Stones at Glasto Jezza!) had never seen the test facilities before (*Ed. I already made the visit having been involved in a WHF reader test) so it was an opportunity to review the review facilities, so to speak and see where the plethora of equipment is put through its paces.  

There are six testing rooms, the main four being: Hi-Fi, Home Cinema/AV, TV and MP3, which is a small room for testing ermmmmmmm MP3 players, mini and all in one systems, headphones and phones etc. You can read more about the facilities here Though I have been reliably informed that this is due for a bit of makeover. 

Andy Clough Projecting himself in the Main AV Test Room

We will be running a competition in July and four lucky Audio T customers will win a trip to WHF to see the test facilities, and a three month FREE subscription to the electronic or print version of the magazine. 

Our visit was very informative and productive. The upshot of this is that we will be further raising our profile by making use of several What HiFi? services including the weekly e-mail service when we need to communicate major sales, special offers, promotions and events. We will also be joining the What Hi-Fi? Shop, so that anyone searching for products through What HiFI? will see the premium Hi-Fi products that are avialable in store and online. 

We look forward to our continued associatiion with What Hi-Fi? and continuing to bringing the best in Hi-Fi to Audio T customers old and new. 

Passing the test? Phil (Ed) and Andy talking HiFi

Arcam rBlink Bluetooth DAC Sounds Blinkin Good!

We have been mightily impressed with how good Arcam's baby rBlink Bluetooth wireless DAC sounds!

We have our diminutive box set wired into our Heed Obelisk Si Integrated & X2Power Supply connected to a pair of Spendor SA1 Loudspeakers. We use our iPad mini and iPod Touch to stream the music to the rBlink.

The DAC has excellent detail retrieval and doesn't sound too digital or harsh. It has a warmth to the presentation offering a sound akin to a good analogue turntable. It's impressive and offers a true Hi-Fi audiophile sound with the added convenience of allowing you to be able to control your music from the comfort of your armchair using any device that has Bluetooth.

It's simple to set up too! Just turn on Bluetooth on your phone / tablet and with one press of a button on the R-Blink you are connected.

It's even converted our very own Farid Beheshti who like Jon Finch is a died in the wool analogue Hi-Fi purist. It's that good it has converted Farid to the digital world and he has just bought the rBlink and a shiny new iPad mini!

Drop by have a cuppa with us and be converted!

Introducing Libratone, Funky Sizzling Danish Portable Wireless Loudspeakers.......

We like the sound of these very quirky but extremely fine sounding wireless loudspeakers.

Sizes, shapes to fit in with your home furnishings. Works with airplay... and allows you to stream your tunes to the Zipp or any other Libratone speaker from your computer, mobile phone or tablet.

To quote a famous Danish beer commercial, probably the finest wireless loudspeakers in the world........

Libratone Product Family from Libratone on Vimeo.

What's DAC All About?

At Audio T we are amazed at how much a decent digital to analogue converter (DAC) can make to the resulting sound quality of music and film.

The DAC is a clever micro chip that converts analogue signals such as speech or in this case a music recording or a film soundtrack into a digital signal that can be amplified and then sent to your loudspeakers.

Your CD player, in car players, iPod, and some extent newer digital amplifiers often have DAC's built in however these vary greatly and are often of low quality. 

An audiophile grade dedicated and purpose built DAC can make a huge difference to the resulting sonic output and overall sound quality! 

At Audio T we have a wide range of DAC's that suit different applications and are designed to enhance your listening pleasure. 

Why not come in and hear the difference it can make to your Hi-Fi or Home Cinema system.
 
Here are some of the Hi-Fi brands we have available in store for for you to listen to: Rega DAC, Audioquest Dragonfly DAC, Naim DAC's Arcam DAC's, Audiolab DAC's, Chord DAC's

We would always suggest you contact your local store and check availability before travelling. 

If you're interested in the technicalities then you can read more on Wikipedia 

*Image reproduced courtesy of Texas Instruments.

Long Live The Independent Hi-Fi Retailer!

Mr Alan Gillies has won Letter of the Month in the June edition of Hi-Fi choice for bringing into sharp focus the value of the independent Hi-Fi retailer.

We thank him wholeheartedly for recounting his experience when he visited Ian, Gavin and Andy at our Preston store and taking the time to write to Hi-Fi Choice and bring this issue to the fore!

We would also like to give mention to Lee Dunkley the Editor for giving this topic some much deserved coverage.

You can read Mr Gillies letter and what he has to say here

The Vinyl Revival?

Well, we've been seeing sales of turntables increase in our stores for some time, but according to this report in the Guardian sales of vinyl records and turntables are on the rise.

If you've not heard how good vinyl sounds we suggest visiting one of our stores and asking for a listen, and we know that you'll be amazed at the sound.

We have a range of great sounding turntnables to suit your budget.

Audio T

The New Wharfedale Diamond 100's Punch Well Above Their Weight

Warmth without loss of detail, and exceptional good for long listening periods is how we would describe the new Wharfedale Diamonds.

We thought the last generation of loudspeakers were very good, but the new generation has taken a huge leap in peformance and have redefined the sound you can get for your money.

Regrdless of the model 121, 122, 155 we have found them to be very well balanced and musical.

The smaller standmounts offer impressive base extension for such small cabinets and becuase they are portedat the bottom offer great flexibility of placement, so can be placed up against a wall or in open space. The added bonus is also they work tremendously well in a home cinema set up, particularly when using the matching centre's.

They seem to work on pretty much every amplifier that we have paired them with and we have tried Heed, Naim, Arcam and Rega and all sound top notch.

We believe they offer exceptional value for money as entry level loudspeaker and if you are looking for new standmouts or floorstanders they should be high on your audition list.

We recommend them unreservedly, come and listen and hear for yourself.

 Jon, Farid & Audio Phil

New Musical Fidelity EB50 In Ear Headphones Available for Demonstration

We have Musical Fidelity's brand new in ear EB50 headphones available for demonstration in store.

We have a listening station so you can try them out with your phone or mp3 player before you buy!

If you're intending to spend just shy of £150 on a pair of headphones you need to be sure that they are comfortable and fit well and most importantly sound great before you part with your hard earned cash.

If you're looking for a pair of audiophile quality in ear headphones that sound great when you're out and about on your bike, at the gym or errr......whatever you're up to come in and and have a listen.

Don't take our word for it either. See the video and read the review here

Jon, Farid & Audio Phil