Michael Vronsky writes: Neil; if you were, say, a speaker designer then what would be more important to you when designing , the final subjective sound or the measurements? Oh, I’m afraid very much the sound. I don’t despise or ignore measurements which are essential in the course of designing the thing. They give you […]
Neil McCauley
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Q: Hi Neil. Some makers are extolling the virtue of seemingly unlimited amplifier power as a requirement for un-restricted system dynamics. Logical or merely smart marketing? A: Well I suppose it must depend on a number of things. Let’s take the things that it depends on. Sound pressure level – that you hear in your […]
Neil … have you experienced your system sounding different, in the same room, at different times of the day and indeed at weekends and week days? Oh very much so, yes. One of the crushing things that you feel when you need to calm you and encourage you in life for music and you go […]
Neil, regarding digital room equalisation, is it a gimmick or does it have some application in domestic situations? I have heard these things in operation and I suppose that if you are prepared to spend any time experimenting and moving loudspeakers then it’s a good shortcut to a sort of middling performance. But by and […]
Is it possible that the lack of congruency between measurement and sound quality in speaker systems is merely because there are parameters that have yet to be measured? What? Ah, oh yes, I get it …. I think. Oh yes, I believe that absolutely. I mean there was a time when harmonic distortion in amplifiers […]
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 […]
Neil, have you been surprised by the effects of different types of mains cable and IEC termination on the sound that comes from electronics driving speakers? I have been rather surprised because I don’t reckon I have anything like the acuity of some of my friends for acoustic things, I will usually arrive at conclusions; […]
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 […]
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!
Three interesting items spotted on ebay April 7th 2017 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/222435246883?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/222456800382?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/282416796480?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT Neil Please click HERE to access the entire VINTAGE archive
Three interesting items spotted on ebay April 5th 2017 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/252838562961?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/-/401301542164?roken=cUgayN http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rotel-RC-5000-Pre-Amplifier-Perfect-Working-Order-No-Reserve-/222461491729?roken=cUgayN Neil Please click HERE to access the entire VINTAGE archive
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 […]
Neil, do you have thoughts re the anticipated demise of FM radio? Yes I have. I’m very distressed by it because I’ve never heard a digital tuner that came close to the Sansui tuner that I have and I’m not saying the Sansui tuner I have is the last word, because my good friend Howard […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
You’ll have to scroll down a bit to reach the comment at http://www.hifisubjectivist.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=44759&start=14760 Worth dipping in and out occasionally if only to smell the passion. Please click HERE to access the entire Point Of View archive.
You’ll have to scroll down a bit to reach the comment at http://www.hifisubjectivist.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=44759&start=14740 Worth dipping in and out occasionally if only to smell the passion. Please click HERE to access the entire Point Of View archive.
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 […]
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 […]
The internet radio station calmradio.com Tchaikovsky 128 kbps Wonderful music via this free station.
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 […]
Neil McCauley asks Howard Popeck: So what gear did you like that you didn’t stock? Rega. Great sounding, hassle-free, great value. We got a few Planar 2 and Planar 3s traded in and they always marched out the door. We wanted to get the agency, but they always turned us away. They seemed dead miserable […]
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 […]