Q: So Howard, you’ve from time to time mentioned, in the context of receivers, the “good old days”. What does that mean? In the “good old days” the electronics for a hi fi system was all in one box that usually included a power amp, preamp and radio tuner. They were very convenient. Q: Convenient, […]
Neil McCauley
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This is the next in an occasional series of recorded brief conversations between Howard and myself during snatched time between deadlines and other time issues. Neil: Howard? Howard: Yes! (faking irritability) N: it’s that time again! (faking sarcasm) H: Oh …… good (faking sarcasm) N: So, whatever happened to tone controls? You know, the bass […]
Neil McCauley asks Howard Popeck: What were the best reproduced sounds you ever heard in the early days? Not easy to answer. Depends on one’s definition of best. If you take just listenability i.e. the customer’s sound is so good right now that I’m not going to unpack my demo gear, then it would have […]
Here’s my Sunday pick of the music group sites that you might find interesting. Just click on the title or titles of your choice. Neil Blues Music #1: Jazz #1 Opera #1 Music – new releases coming soon Intelligent, articulate musicians with interesting things to say I will be revising the list from time to […]
Neil McCauley / editor in chief – my point of view: Overview Yesterday I received an email reminding me that one of the best means of evaluating equipment is fatigue. Yes, I know that sounds counterintuitive but I guess we’ve all experienced our system’s sounding so good that we could listen for hours. And we […]
The CD from Joan Armatrading: “Into The Blues” Damn good it is too! Earlier today was Suzanne Vega’s “99.9F” CD. All of it. Twice! Terrific!
Hmm. Okay So anyway, a little while later were ushered into the listening room and were confronted by man-sized monoliths we later came to know as The Apogee, from Apogee. And a pair of the previously mechanically buzzing power amps, powered up with the preamp at max without a source playing and mechanically silent. Seeing […]
So no, we aren’t coming to the end. Not yet. (Long pause) Okay. I used to sell the Albarry monoblocs. Damn fine sound. Clever designer. Still sounds good today. Not a hero as such but worthy of an honourable mention. Then whoever designed the A&R A60. A truly great product. In its way a classic. […]
Editor McCauley in conversation with Howard Popeck: So there are more figureheads than gifted designers. Is that what you’re saying? Not quite like that. In my direct personal experience I’ve met more figureheads than gifted designers. But that’s not to say that my experiences are representative of the entire industry. One has to take into […]
The internet radio station calmradio.com Tchaikovsky 128 kbps Wonderful music via this free station.
Neil McCauley / editor in chief Why no images? Because the test review that follows here are of a pre-production pair in casework that doesn’t properly represent the finished product which, so we are told, should be available in early March 2017. Priced, including VAT @ £4.6k per pair. A bit of history Please note […]
Neil McCauley / editor in chief There’s an old saying that you can judge a person by the company they keep. It’s a truism and a cliché but that doesn’t mean it’s incorrect. Applied to the hi-fi industry, you can make a reasonable stab at the true nature (behind the carefully crafted façade) of the […]
Neil McCauley asks Howard Popeck Howard, Historically, what did you mean by ‘accidental magic’? Well …….. a combination of equipment that previously you’d not encountered and which sounds right immediately. Unusual combinations. Amps and speakers that just by chance sound magical together – even though the makers probably hadn’t used each other’s equipment. That kinda […]
Arguably CJ and AR are natural rivals in the valve/tube market. They’ve been around for many (in audiophile terms at least) years and so there are plenty of items available on the used market. The accepted places to look online are eBay and Audiogon. Sellers on eBay specify a minimum selling price. Sometimes they’ll be […]
It seems to us that small innovative British makers really don’t receive much editorial coverage in the paper magazines. It’s easy to speculate why this might be. Possibly those that are marginalised suffer because they don’t have a marketing / advertising budget. Our suspicions though are that: The interests of the ‘big boys’ i.e. those […]
Richard who? A reader has just pointed out that we’ve been name-checked by a Mr. Richard Dunn (above, apparently. Yes – your guess is as good as ours and probably better) of NVA. On his site he writes “Many are trying Pig, Wigwam, Hi-Fi Answers, numerous blogs, they will all lose credibility and finally fail. […]
Q: Hello Neil. I saw your piece re great British HiFi makers, the really small ones that get marginalised. I notice you have never published anything about Mr. Richard Dunn’s little outfit NVA. Also, did you really tell a colleague editor that your thought the acronym NVA really should mean ‘Not Very Advanced’? Thank you […]
http://hifisubjectivist.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=45189 starts as follows: This forum room is going to go through *yet another* spate of attacks by the look of it, so perhaps it is time to make its purpose plain. The purpose is to shine a light on the bullshit, conmen, egotists et al who populate this industry and are also trying to […]
Bear with me on this please; first – a little background. I bought my wife a watch online. She took it to a jeweler to pay to have the strap adjusted and she got mildly scolded for buying online. How could they tell just by looking at it wasn’t clear, but they knew – and […]
If you are selling from home and a potential buyer wants to visit to see/hear the item, then you might want to consider my safety tips: 1. When a person phones, gently quiz them on what they know about the brand. If they know little, then ask them how the came to select it. If […]
Gentlemen. Are you strong advocates of thin-walled speaker cabinets that vibrate in a predictable way, rather than massively inert cabinets? Interesting. we took a poll here of many of our contributors. There is a sort of common view here. In summary – as a group, albeit with many uncommon listening experiences between us we believe […]
Mr Editor McCauley – are we simply preaching to the converted and the cynical? Is social media, in this market a waste of time and money in terms of profit-generation? We asked contributing editor Howard Popeck to respond, and he did. An interesting and highly relevant rhetorical question. My answer is that yes we are […]
I’m still knocked out by The Jayhawks “Tomorrow The Green Grass” . If you love gentle but far from bland country-rock, you really should get this. I got mine off eBay for £3.70 plus postage. Some tracks are indescribably beautiful. Neil McCauley
Previously Not only is the Editor’s decision final, but … His decision is not up for debate or interpretation. Let me explain. Years ago it was not uncommon for a reviewer to act as a talent scout for a magazine. He / she might have spotted a new maker and/or new technology at a show […]