Some ‘experts’ on forums said that the Podium’s lacked real bottom end. True or false. Complete rubbish. They had terrific bass. The point is that for some of these forum nutters, if it isn’t a Linn Isobaric type of bass, then it’s no good. Bonkers. There are in my view a few reasons for not […]
Howard Popeck
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Howard Popeck writes: Here I am on this hot evening earlier this week, going back to work after feeding my cats and as is usual with me, despite being on the track for fast weight loss, I feel hungry. So where do I go, in fact where does anyone go at a time like this […]
Dear me. What a miserable day last Friday was. Too much paper work. Either that or I’m just plain inefficient. Probably the latter. Not only do I feel like Tony Hancock, when I glance in the mirror I look like him too. S**t! Gloom relieved by some very kind emails. Now receiving at least 20 […]
Originally published here in 2009 Howard Popeck writes: I was in a particularly foul mood when CV emailed me this question a while back. My choice of language as shown here is not necessarily what I might use today. However, I stand by every word regarding the sentiment. Channa Vithana asked: Can you give an […]
Note from Editor in Chief McCauley … As far as we can tell here, no other online hi-fi / music magazine EVER publishes audited data like this. SESSIONS 20,665 PAGE VIEWS 55,855 AVERAGE SESSION DURATION 54s
Hi Howard. Well thanks for the kind words not to sure how I have done that. Here are some of the things I really enjoy about the site; it’s relaxed and open nature. It’s aimed at people who enjoy music first and foremost and has none of that petty minded personality clashes which often are […]
Howard Popeck: Recent very positive experiences with the Benchmark DAC-1 pre and the Manley Steelhead have caused me to re-evaluate the necessity of preamps. On only very rare occasions have I ever heard a consistent and noticeable sonic improvement (predominantly bass depth and control, ambience and extreme top end detail) achieved by the inclusion of […]
Editor-in-chief Neil McCauley in conversation with Howard Popeck: Only one of the designers we’ve discussed so far, and only superficially at that, were valve-men. Why is that? Partly ‘cos I’m intolerant of the hassles associated with valves. Bear in mind I’m talking about this from a retail perspective. This isn’t a comment … not […]
FROM OUR ARCHIVES Well, hello again – and thank you to the thousands of you who each month follow my daily column here. Now then … Overview There is in my view a major disconnect between the audiophile magazines and their readers. It’s an understandable one but in my view an important one – and […]
Out of my thousands of vinyl pressings the thought struck me that it might be interest, for me and perhaps for some of you to try and list my favourite 100. A big task, but not an unpleasant one. But for sanity’s sake I have to set a few limits. First, an era restriction. So, […]
Howard Popeck … irst encountered this phenomena as a retailer in 1976, and off and off subsequently. Or, more accurately, I first encountered my own incorrect belief re this quite early on. As I learned more about how to achieve meaningful demonstrations for my customers, after a timely intervention, I came to realise I was […]
Originally published here in 2015 Howard Popeck writes: If when considering buying a piece of new audio equipment, the maker made it unequivocally clear that the unexpired portion of the original warranty would be underwritten by them i.e. transferable to the second owner, would this have a positive influence on your decision re that brand? […]
Editor McCauley in conversation with Howard Popeck: Yes. But can you expand on this a bit? Okay. In my direct personal experience many of the finest amplifier designers are first and foremost gifted in their field and are not entrepreneurs through choice. They become entrepreneurs through force of circumstance i.e. there was no other intelligent […]
Howard Popeck writes: One of the emerging trends I’m seeing is customer desire to have people like me build their systems for them so they don’t have to do the work. Possibly the era of the pre-made system is coming back into vogue? If so, then good! A few of the many emails to me […]
Howard Popeck writes: Following a frankly disturbing demonstration courtesy of Musical Fidelity at a recording studio recently I’m now listening to music via my £18k system in a totally different and increasingly unflattering light. Some of my cherished preconceptions have been overturned. Moreover I foresee implications for how the public and dealers might in future […]
Hi Howard. What’s your part in the Musical Fidelity story. And what do you think of their current offers? Thanks. Ronnie Hmm. Interesting question. Thank you. In a nutshell … It’s all too easy to associate the brand with the man (or woman) behind the brand. Easy, but unproductive. The point being that currently, and […]
Howard Popeck writes: In the course of dumping the majority of my audio magazine collection, while retaining the occasional review of something I might buy in the future I noticed something odd. Or rather I was reminded of something I’d known for years and forgotten, namely that unlike their US counterparts, UK magazines do not […]
First published in June 2008 Interesting day, yesterday. Got my first (of many I hope) Benchmark DAC-1 preamp. Looked good straight out of the box., Can it be as good as Ken Kessler said in Hi-Fi News recently? Err, yes, and then some! Hooked it up to my North Star 192 Transport (Philips PRO2 […]
Howard Popeck: Douglas Adams was one of our most gracious, humorous, gentle and fun customers at Subjective Audio. Coincidental with him getting a “serious” advance from his publishers for Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, he commissioned me to put together “almost” the best system money could buy. It was, apart from the turntable, a full […]
Gentlemen; other than the Yamaha NS1000, have the Japanese every built credible loudspeakers? I guess you are speaking historically, right? Well, yes, they did. Sony in fact. In the very early 1980s they released the SSG1 Series 2. It wasn’t cheap. Around £200 from memory, which was a small fortune then. However … This isn’t […]
The idea that a power distribution strip, even a heavily built one like the LAT can make a difference to the sound, let alone an improvement is ridiculous. Where’s the science behind the claims? LAT power distribution block have in my experience always made a positive difference. The degree of improvement, in terms of background […]
Regarding the inventor. How did their interest in music reproduction start? During my high school days, pop music industry was rapidly booming and I was, like other teenagers, very obsessed with it. Yes, it was eighties. The first thing I did when I returned from school was to turn on the radio and listen to […]
Hello Philippe. How did your interest in music reproduction start? It started when I was very young! First, listening to my father’s big valve radio and then to his mono record player (I lightened the phono cartridge…) In 1970, I bought a turntable, the Braun PS500 – the best in Europe! It cost me four […]
Preliminary note: We’ve been both amazed and delighted by our readership’s positive response to our series of interviews with innovative small, intellectually agile makers from outside of the traditional countries associated with state-of-the-art audio / stereo. In particular our series on newly emergent French makers. Today we turn our attention to Polish organisations you might […]