2008 Competition: WIN A £3500 SYSTEM SET-UP PACKAGE From Sonority Design And The Chord Co.

We’ve been banging on about the importance of system set-up and providing a firm foundation for all your equipment for quite a while now. We even took time out at the London show to demonstrate just how musically important these things can be. Not that giving your system the full treatment could be described as cheap, not with isolation for all the key components as well as a coherent cable loom of mains and signal wiring to take into account.

Well, now, with the help of those kind people at Sonority Design and The Chord Co. you can lay your hands on enough goodies to get yourself well and truly sorted. And just to make sure that everybody gets a fair crack of the whip we’ve organized a flexible package that should add on to and upgrade almost any system.

Starting with isolation, Sonority have promised three of their standard shelves, compatible with most existing racks and enough to support a source, pre and power set-up. Got a Naim Fraim? Just opt for the Fraim specific versions. Only got a CD player and integrated amp? You’ve enough in the budget to upgrade to a pair of Ultra shelves. There are even speaker supports if the rest of your system is sitting pretty. Read the review in Issue 59 and you’ll see just how much we liked these slim-line and elegant platforms.

On the cable front, we’ve opted for Chord products, a performance benchmark around these parts since the first issue of the magazine. Again, taking our notional system, we budgeted enough to allow for two pairs of Anthem interconnects, 5m Epic speaker cables and three Power Chords, but once again the mix and measurements can be adjusted to suit, meaning that put together, the platform and cable options should accommodate most systems and set-ups.

If you want to know more then just take a look at www.chord.co.uk and www.sonoritydesign.co.uk for the full details and specs on these products – and a fuller appreciation of just what they can do for your system.

What you need to do
Of course, before you get to experience the benefits, you’ll have to win the prize. In keeping with all our other competitions, we don’t just get you to tick a box and send in your answer, safe in the knowledge that whatever you win can be dumped on Audiogon or eBay the week after it arrives. Oh no, we want the prize to go to somebody who will actually appreciate and want it. Which is why our questions require more than a little thought…

TO GET THE QUESTIONS YOU MUST HAVE A PRINTED COPY OF ISSUE 61.

Where you need to send it
Entries should be sent by e-mail (clearly headed Issue 61 Competition Entry) to accounts "at" hifiplus.com, or you can write to:
Hi-Fi+ Magazine
Cornerways House,
School Lane,
Ringwood
Hants
BH24 1LG
United Kingdom

Make sure that you include your name, address and a daytime telephone number.

COMPETITION TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Competition CLOSED and the judges decision is final.
This competition is barred to all employees of AMI (UK) Ltd, Sonority Design and The Chord Co.
Overseas entrants may be asked to pay shipping costs should they win.

Competition product websites
www.chord.co.uk
www.sonoritydesign.co.uk

Roy Gregory

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The 2007 hi-fi+ Writer competition winner

You never forget the first time... by John Mason

Everyone’s stolen at least one thing in their lives.

Whether that be sweets when you were young or the odd envelope from work when you should have known better. Me? I once stole a ticket. Not to access Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory, but for something almost as magical - my first visit to a hi-fi show.

During the early nineties, I became interested in technology. Being a poor teenager with little money to spend on magazines about it, but I was lucky and my local libraries had a good selection. I could often be found in there reading them. On one visit felt luckier still as I noticed a ticket attached to a magazine. It offered free admission to a hi-fi show. Intrigued but not really sure what a hi-fi show was, I decided I’d like to visit and find out. Believing the ticket would likely remain unused, I felt I should have it. With a sly tearing motion that could not have looked more suspicious if I had stood up on my chair and loudly announced “I’m taking this”, I eventually ripped it out and slipped it in my pocket. I felt pleased but nervous as if the library police were about to bust me like an internationally sought after criminal.

Fast forward to a few weeks later and upon arriving at the hotel near Heathrow, I handed over my ticket and entered the show. Little did I realise that once inside I would become hooked and not want to leave.

I went into the first demonstration room I came across and it was there that I experienced it. High-fidelity sound! I had never heard music sounding so good before. It blew my mind. Sure I had owned various cheap stereos passed down to me over the years. But this was much higher quality. I stood transfixed by the tune coming from the speakers, like a deer caught in headlights. The three-dimensional realism was impressive but more notable was the sheer clarity of the cymbals being hit. For the first time I was not only hearing, but also feeling something that I had only read about before.

That system left a lasting impression on me and I can still picture those speakers today. But I didn’t recognise the manufacturer. In fact I couldn’t identify most of the brands at the show. I soon realised that the best hi-fi separates weren’t necessarily made by mass market corporations. Instead, hi-fi seemed to be like a members only society featuring obscure companies (many of which were, surprisingly, British), a dictionary’s worth of terminology and possibly secret handshakes too. But it was a club that I knew I wanted to join.

As I moved from room to room through the hotel, I felt like a naughty son who had just found his dad‘s Playboy collection. Each door I stepped through was like turning the page over to reveal another naked lady while trying to discover what turned me on. Blonde or brunette? Floor-standing or bookshelf? It was aural pornography… and I liked it.

As the day progressed I started to learn more things about audio. When growing up, I had skipped vinyl and instead chosen cassette (hey, it was acceptable in the eighties!), whilst all the time aspiring to own an elusive CD player. This was my first real introduction to the record and upon listening I felt it produced a smoother sound that was easier to listen to. It sounded even smother when played through a valve amplifier -another novel concept for me and my newfangled transistor ways. I began to understand and appreciate the value of upgrading cables and of placing equipment on sturdy supports. Throughout the day I started to actively listen out for the different sound characteristics so often mentioned in reviews.

Since then I’ve visited the show each September, including the short period when it moved to Hammersmith then finally returned to Heathrow. I’ve been there during the continuous name changes and have collected all the entry stickers to prove it. Some of the most memorable time I’ve enjoyed at the shows has including Barry Fox’s fascinating lectures regarding the state of the industry plus the demonstration of a vastly expensive set up from PMC/Bryston which produced the best sound I‘ve ever heard. Over the years I have been treated to an eclectic selection of music that I might have not thought of listening to or even heard of. I’ve appreciated many of the characters from the industry, such as the cheeky chap who worked for Arcam, the slightly crazy (but undeniably passionate) guy from Nordost and all the journalists and spokespeople that I have spotted. You could call me an audiophile groupie!

The shows have often provided me with my first look at new products and introductions to fresh innovations such as multi-channel audio, high-end car stereos and the increased popularity of integrating video equipment with hi-fi. Sadly increased popularity it seems can’t be associated with the show itself, as there isn’t one this year, nor are there plans for it to continue. Thankfully the organisers of a rival show just across the road will continue to run their event, carrying on a tradition that has been gracing the area for decades (and shall hopefully continue to do so).

Some might say it was dishonest to take the ticket that got me into that show in the first place. But now hi-fi has captivated my interest and has stolen a piece of me. Until my lottery numbers roll around and I can take permanent refuge in my mansion with that PMC/Bryston system, then I shall continue to attend and enjoy hi-fi shows.

When the day of that first show drew to a close, I left with my new-found fascination, a little knowledge and a certainty that I would return again.

Which I did; The very next day; Complete with my favourite CDs.
Plus another free ticket.
Which I had stolen from a different library.

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Music Matters by Alan Sircom

Any new editor has big shoes to fill. And Roy Gregory has left some of the biggest paw prints around. It’s a daunting task, taking over a magazine from someone who was both launch editor and the person who steered it so remarkably well through its first decade. But it’s not as if he’s gone away; Roy really is ‘spending more time with his speaker cables’, and that’s not a euphemism. By returning to his first love – reviewing – he can enjoy the products without the politics.

That being said, taking on the editorship of a high-end hi-fi magazine at a time when ‘luxury’ became a dirty word might at first seem like an odd career move. In fact, it’s perhaps the prime time to do so.

Having a first public outing as Editor at the Bristol Sound & Vision Show in late February showed why. Despite endless wailing from the mass media about terminal decline in retail and similar woeful fears from manufacturers, the show performed far better than anyone expected. There were more people than last year walking the halls on at least one of the three days, and even when visitor numbers were down, they weren’t as bad as some expected. In total, sales were down by about eight per cent on last year. The only thing that was clearly absent was manufacturers; although there were key names in the business in attendance, many others were MIA.

So why are people still buying hi-fi in a recession? Several things spring to mind. One of the first things to happen in a recession is that public displays of wealth become vulgar; wearing an expensive suit, driving a top-of-the-range car, and having a five-figure watch hanging off your wrist all begin to look offensive when the news is full of lay-offs and hardship. So, you internalise your luxury purchases and an expensive audio system might be seen as less vulgar than a big chunk o’ bling.

Also, until about a year ago, what money we had was spent on doing up today’s house for tomorrow’s purchase. That all ended when easy mortgages went away. So now, we’ve gone all ‘nesty’ – instead of spending time and energy to move every two or three years, we are putting down roots and making our homes a nicer place to live. And that means better listening facilities.

In recessions, people tend to need cheering up. This is why, in the worst years of the 1930s, sales of radio sets and record players and cinema attendance were all almost ‘Depression Proof’. If you aren’t as likely to go out so much of an evening (because it’s a cost that soon mounts up, with nothing to show for it) then you are likely to spend a bit more on your home entertainment complex.

We also have savings that are doing nothing (those of us who have savings, at least). We will all cling to our nest-eggs in tough times, but to find that nest-egg barely growing over the next year or two is going to be very, very frustrating. Better to put it to good use than watch it stagnate. Once again, high quality hi-fi, with its long lifespan, reputation for build and reliability and high entertainment value, wins out.

It’s worth remembering that some of the most important changes to hi-fi occurred during economic downturns, and some of our biggest and best products and brands popped up when stock market was on its knees. CD was launched at a time when the worldwide economy was at one of its lowest points of the tail end of the last century. Mark Levinson’s No 30 CD transport and No 31 DAC (perhaps the first grand CD statement from the high-end community) arrived during the worst downturn of the 1990s and the ‘Black Monday’ stock market crash of 1987 ultimately did little to stem the tide of Linn and Naim systems sold during this time. Brands like Krell, Wilson Audio and even Monster Cable were founded at times when the words ‘economy’ and ‘boom’ were never spoken of together.

Despite better than expected results at the Bristol Show, 2009 is going to be a tough year all round. Those that survive tough times do so not simply by belt-tightening, but through enterprise, innovation, products that deserve to survive and good ol’ fashioned hard work – this applies as much to countries as it does to individuals. Unfortunately, there will be those who do all that and still fail, but such failures will be less common than those who spend the next year or so clinging to last year’s strategy. The single worst thing anyone can do right now is to do nothing.

It’s that ethos that meant jumping at the chance when the post of editor came up. And it’s that ethos that means Hi-Fi Plus will change, in part to reflect the changes that are taking place in the hi-fi industry. So, as the audiophile landscape moves beyond the physical disc as music carrier, we will be there finding the best ways to download, the best places to find high-quality music and the best ways to replay that music.

We should first try and separate the changes to the way we will be listening to music over the coming years from the key changes in world economies (if such a thing is possible). Irrespective of the actual value of the system, tomorrow’s hi-fi will feature – with increasing importance – music found from sources other than traditional CD and LP. In fact, tomorrow’s systems will make little or no distinction how the music got to them; CD, downloads from the internet, streamed data… they are all files to be handled and turned into music. We won’t abandon CD (we won’t abandon LP either), but we will find a way to welcome new music sources to our systems without compromise.

I believe Hi-Fi Plus needs to stick to the three ‘R’s; realism, relevance and responsiblity. The magazine has a commanding reputation for finding the fascinating new and exciting products that few people have ever heard of; this will continue, but we must provide reviews of products that are at least available on Earth. There’s no sense in parading a series of products that are only sold on the other side of the world, or where the waiting list stretches into the 23rd Century. Sometimes, the best products are the hidden gems, but there comes a point where they are so unrealistically hidden as to render the product, the review and even the magazine itself almost impossibly elitist.

Closely connected to this is a degree of relevance. We believe the average Hi-Fi Plus reader (if there is such a thing) buys products on a bell-curve, centred around the £5,000 mark. While we all love to ogle over products costing as much as a private jet, the magazine recognises that not many people buy products in the £10,000+ band. If we were to concentrate too heavily on £50,000 loudspeakers or £80,000 amplifiers, we would be doing our readers a disservice. Similarly, if we were to focus on products costing less than £1,000, we would be understating what most of us actually buy, own, use and love. This is not to say we will not be ignoring these ends of the audiophile spectrum, but simply that the magazine’s central focus is returning to the sort of hi-fi that’s relevant for most readers.

Similarly, we shall be considering the relevance of the products under test, not simply for their price tags. This relevance is dynamic – a year or two ago, downloaded music files would have been entirely irrelevant to a high-end hi-fi magazine; a year from now, failing to include such music would make the magazine just as irrelevant.

That leads to responsibility, and this cuts all ways. A magazine needs to be responsible in terms of product selection, choosing the right reviewer for the task, ensuring the reviewer is not too strongly biased in favour of (or against) the product under test and produce reviews that adhere to that well-known Fox News trademark – Fair and Balanced. Only we mean it. In fairness, in common with the broad spectrum of UK hi-fi magazines, Hi-Fi Plus has a team of reviewers who already fit those profiles.

This is a fascinating and exciting time to make a magazine about hi-fi. It’s like one big leap into the unknown; we don’t know how the hi-fi industry will look in a year’s time. But, between us, we’ll find out.

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ANGER MANAGEMENT

You may know me. Perhaps I sold you your last amplifier, or maybe I repaired it, designed it, built it, reviewed it or was its public relations officer. I’m not telling.

I’ve got something to get off my chest. Everyone’s all worked up about putting music on PC, but I think for no good reason apart from convenience. In truth, I just can’t get on with what we are all being told is the next phase in hi-fi.

I’m not unbending, but I demand good performance from my hi-fi. I have a good turntable and CD player. Both get a lot of use and I get a lot from them. And, while I recognise that people are starting to retire their CD collections in order to burn them onto computers or music servers, it’s not for me. And that’s not because I don’t understand the concept or even fear the rise of computers. It’s just that I think hi-fi reproduction and computers don’t mix.

Oh, I’ve done the listening. As much as I could stomach. I’ve used PCs and Macs, both direct into amps and with a DAC in the chain. I’ve used them wired and wireless, on their own or with separate NAS boxes and terabytes of storage. And I’ve played with different software. Yes, Exact Audio Copy and Foobar2000 sound as good as everyone claim, but they are next to impossible to use in my opinion. Easier to use software like Apple’s iTunes just doesn’t sound as good to my ears. And then there’s the big downside to me – you need to have a screen and a keyboard in the system. They can’t be doing good things to the mains. Whenever I’ve put anything with a hard disk drive and a LCD screen in the system, the sound of everything in that system takes a nose-dive. Just the presence of the computer in the signal chain seems to do bad things to the sound.

If that’s the price of progress, it’s too expensive for me.

There are some big benefits to these systems, I grant you. Having every single album you’ve ever owned in one machine is nice, but I have no problems with walking over to the CD collection, finding an album and then walking back to the CD player. It’s like exercise for couch potatoes like me.

It’s not just about ripping CDs, say the computer fanatics. It’s about downloading high-res music files, they say. Problem is high-resolution music has limited appeal for most buyers and those who are high-res converts already have SACD players and collections. The same reservations about people ripping CD apply here, except that ripping a SACD is impossible, so you need to have a SACD player and a high-resolution media player.

We in the business know that CDs and CD players are not selling in the same numbers they were five or ten years ago. But this might be that the younger generation are simply moving away from CD to downloaded music. These people will grow into hi-fi in time (hopefully) and the servers and computer systems that will drive them to proper stereo systems have possibly not been invented yet. The people we are currently trying to sell music servers to are still happy with CD.

Maybe I am painting everyone in my own colours, but I find it hard to believe that people like me (who have spent the last few decades perfectly comfortable with CD) should suddenly make the switch to computer audio just because we can. Isn’t more likely that people who want to upgrade their CD players will continue to want to upgrade their CD players instead of switching over to a computer?

The continued rise of the DAC and the increased interest in streamers and servers suggest I’m in the minority here. Or maybe I’m just the voice of the silent majority. I’d just hate to see all this development go to waste… just as I’d hate to see the end of the CD player for no good reason.

The author’s opinions do not necessarily represent the opinions of the magazine, its editor or its publishers. But if you feel strongly about hi-fi, why not pen your own Anger Management column? Please send your 700 word rant to editor at hifiplus.com. Your identity will remain a closely guarded secret.

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