Vinyl vs CD

Growing up in the eighties I remeber listening to music record players and had always though they were the coolest thing. The world now has moved on to CD’s, and rightfully so but you can’t beat the sound of vinyl spinning on a table and amplified by a needle. I am currently considering purchasing my very first Record player but of course it won’t be standard issue. Even though vinyls seems extinct to most some of us still have that concerning ear.

Since CD’s and soon mp3’s, rule the world it is now become a form of expression when you own a record player. Today though there are alot of options to choose from and the sky is the limiy for price. Each unit offers better needles, tables, mechanics, materials and so on.

I am not an expert on record players and am hoping that someone out there is able to reccommend a specific manufacturere and what experiences they have had

Where to Find Hi Fi Gear

The province of BC doesn’t hold a lot of choices when deciding where to go for purchasing and sampling hi fi gear. Our neighbors across the border have a lot more to offer. This is not news. Things are more available in the US but that does not make them better, just a little harder to get. Sometimes it can actually be cheaper. Two our three years ago our CAD dollar was stronger than the US and when purchasing items that were more costly (like cars) you were able to save quite a bundle. I myself had bought a Rotel 5 channel amp and even with duty, was able to save $400 dollars. Things have now come down again and we are back to buying in Canada. My recommendation is not to worry about the dealer but buy the professional that is helping you. The Hi Fi Center on seymour street is the obvious choice but there is also Commercial Electronics on burrard st and Westminster Audio in Richmond.

Commercial electronics on Burrard are specialist in Bang and Olufsen. The Hi Fi Center has been the location I bought my main gear from, because of one person in particular. Gregg Colombo. He is not only knowledgeable but knows what customer service is. I won’t self promote more than that but he is worth talking to. The Hi Fi Center store is much better looking than their awful website, even though I don’t see why there is a small golf put green in the middle of the upper level display area? I don’t want to promote or advertise for any of these locations but look forward to a much more descriptive review of my experiences at HI Fi Center in the next week.

That pretty much sums it up. There had been more stores over the years but are no longer around. So you can kinda say the market is shrinking and the choices are limited but either way you look at it if you are serious about Hi Fi you should research and find what best suits your needs.

2 Channel vs 5.1

7 Series - 2 Channel

When first entering the world of hi fidelity I had asuumed that what I needed to buy would be 5.1. Meaning 5 speakers including the subwoofer. looking back now I don’t think it was necessary from the start. Almost all CD’s or MP3’s are recorded in 2 chanel (left and right). The only time you would really want 5.1 ( left, right, rear left, rear right, subwoofer) is for movies and DVD Audio. For the specific listner you can buy music that is recorded 0n DVD. This offers uncompressed music because DVD can hold more information so there is more detail in your music. Movies are about the only time you would want 5.1. Background sound, planes flying behind you ,voices in your ear. That kind of thing. This is also not neceassary. Investing in a high end pair of 2 channel speakers and subwoofer you can achieve resluts that are similar to surround sound. The natural listening position is from the front. Sound is facing you and can be thrown in different directions regardless of how many speakers you have. Ever listen to your favorite music on a real good pair of headphones and found that you really got the feeling of being there? That’s 2 channel. Most movies, including bluray  come equiped with both 2 and 5 channel sound options. As long we we have 2 ears we will lways have 2 channels.

Dave Mathews Band (Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King)

Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King

The latest from Dave Mathews Band. This CD was released June 2, 2009 and is a contrubute to Grux (sax). There are unreleased songs and my favorite “funny the way its” a real instrumental work of art! I have been a fan of Dave Mathews since their “Crash” album. All the music on this album is sets a tone of hope and you can really feel the loss of Grux in the band has saden the notes of the instruments. Unlike my last review on Diana Krall this album is well worth getting. We will miss you Grux.

Diana Krall (Live in Rio) Blu Ray

I have listened to this disc from begining to end including the extras and I am dissapointed. I think this was originally designed for DVD and then transported to Blu Ray. The blacks are real fuzzy and the distant focus is blurry. The actual performance is good and the audio is really clean but it is hard to become engrossed with the performance when every third song begins with a poor attempt to capture Rio with low quality panaroma video as the song begins. I have to say that this performance comes across as a better than average vacation video. At the start of  the performance of “The Boy from Ipanema” there is a panaroma of one the beaches and you can actually hear the tripod sounds as it rotates, as if a novice was doing it. The extras are just not worth mentioning. Save your money and buy the DVD if you can’t decide, or if you are just looking for a great Blu Ray disk concert performance get Dave Mathews and Tim Reynolds Live at Radio City. Dave knows how to make a good DVD and Blu Ray.

Zepplin Speaker Review

This unit when working, see “B&W Zeeplin customer service” post, is awesome. I currently use this unit to play sound from my DVD player in my bedroom and to listen to music via my ipod. What I really like is the simplicity of this unit. Only two wires, one for sound and one for power. One problem though! If you are intrested in going the optical digital route you will have to invest in a optical cord with a “diddly bug” atachment because the Zepplin will only take digital without this connector. Something I did’nt know until I wanted it. You can also play video to your TV via the ipod and Zepplin. Though this feature is cool, I have no use for it. I already have library of DVD’s that are not on my ipod that I use my DVD player for. This unit does sound clean and crisp. The bass is not intrusive and the further the unit is from the listner the better it throws sound. It does get warm in the back so I would reccomend giving some distance from a wall. I would say that this unit is expensive but worth it because if you think of the purpose it serves and the versitilty it provides the Zepplin makes a statement that will last over all other competitors.

B&W Zepplin Customer Service

I have had the B&W Zepplin ipod speakers now for over a year. After that year I had started having serious sound issue, things like music not being able to play first from my PC then after a couple of months not from my Ipod. I had spoken to B&W customer service and explained all prior purchases from B&W that I had made and had no real response. I was told that I was 1 month past warranty and that the average cost for repairs has been aproximatley $100 plus shipping to have it fixed. The shape is very cool but looks don’t matter if it sounds like $%&!. I had no success with the people at B&W and decided to aproach apple about my problem and to make a long stry short they were able to accomdate me within a week with a new Zepplin right from the apple store. After this experience I don’t know if I will ever purchase from B&W but I am very happy I bought from apple and since then I had purchased a new 2009 MACBook Pro. Look for my next review on the sound, quality and setup of the Zepplin.

Klipsch-image X10

I recently bought a pair of klipsch image x10 earbud headphones and have compared them to my Shure se310. I only decided to buy an extra pair of headphones because my wife is constantly using mine in her ipod nano. Cant blame her the stock headphones apple provide are throw aways. After listening to both headphones the klipsch are not even in the same catagory as Shure. The bass is good but alot of detail is missing when listening to acoustic tracks such as the Beatles and Fleetwood Mac. The size also through me off. The Klpisch seems to be of a lesser quality build compared to the Shure. Wire is quit thin and the earbuds are very dainty. Although Klipsch fits more comfortably in your ear and are much less intrusive than the Shures I can’t do without the high mids. When you buy these headphones though you do get a very good accessories kit including a airplane headphone jack (double prong) all kinds of different earbuds a cleaning wire a small magnetic case and a largeer full zipper case. Compared to many other brands headphones out there though I would’nt say Klipsch is not worth a consideration. For the price though I think they are high for what you get.

My Hi Fi!

Hello! Well this is my first blog and I hope to shed some light with those wanting to purchase Hi Fi equipment for their home and to encourage others to share their experiences  purchasing Hi Fi equipment. I myself have own all rotel components, RDV 1093 1080p DVD player,  RMB 1075 multi channel amp, RLC 1040 power conditioner, RSP 1068 processor and a samsung 46 inch 6 series LCD TV. I am also running transparent music link super cables.My speaker set up is B&w 705 with stands for the front and HTM7 center speaker and 686 for surround and the asw608 subwoofer. All this cost around $20,000. After spending a large chunk on all this equpiment I feel that it’s worth it if you are an active listener. Concerts are alive, music is crisp and movies are real. I have had this set up for over three years now and still keep in contact with my rep and I can speak when it comes to questions regarding your budget and set up. I hope together we can understand more before making the costly change to high end listening.