Steve’s

Comments

Hi Fi industry and miscellaneous comments

Sign up for our email newsletter and get the

stuff I’d be sued for on an open webpage.

Don’t subscribe if you get easily offended,

have no sense of humour or are a wowser -

If you really do enjoy our irreverent humour

however, please feel free to offer your

opinion on Google+ by clicking on the Logo

above.

December 1st - Stereo Amplifiers are becoming more popular (as are Turntables) since the advent of SoundBars for TV which aren’t really suitable for music listening (perhaps with the exception of the Definitive Technology W-Studio range). I see Yamaha have done a dump on their slow moving AS1100/2100/3000 range in certain colours but even at the dump prices they represent only good but not outstanding value. We’ve looked and listened to the alternatives and have decided the Anthem i225 beats the pants off the 1100 and 2100 Yamaha’s so we’ve put those on sale at $1499 with free shipping (normally $2999) as the Stereo Amp du jour (or month depending on how the stocks hold out) - here’s a taste of the reviews - http://www.digitaltrends.com/amplifier- reviews/anthem-integrated-225-review/ Sure, the price in the US is $1500 but that equates to over $2200 Australian with GST so we figure $11499 is a great price. October 5th - Ah, the joys of retail. One of these days I’ll get a break from people who don’t read manuals (although I must admit to using one myself as a last resort). Some of the calls I’ve been getting lately leads me to believe there are people out there who couldn’t take a piss without someone telling them what to do. Sad but true! The new range of Definitive Technology Speakers with built in subwoofers are just amazing - we’ve been playing around with them for the last week or so and whereas the Martin Logan Motion series are still my personal favourites, the DT’s are actually better value in some model ranges, we have them all in store for demo (the 9000 series Def Techs that is) so it could be worth a visit. September 22nd - Just back from the F1 race in Singapore. Lots of fun although the F1 cars are way quieter than back in the days of the exhaust diffusers so perhaps not as exciting. Here’s a photo of me re-acquainting myself with the Singapore Sling So, to help me pay for the excesses during my sojourn, I’ve had to do some dirty deals, consequently if you’re in the market for Yamaha’s new RX-V2081 A/V receiver or YSP-2700 SoundBar then give me a call on 02 9651 4922 and I may just drop my pants (metaphorically speaking) as I have overstocks on those at the moment. 7th September - Sorry if I’ve been a bit lax on the blogging front but I’m still recovering from the op. All good now however so I can start abusing people again without pain (to me that is). Talking of pain, our thoughts go out to Mel Chillari, founder of Apollo HiFi, who had a really nasty accident, broke nine ribs and has bleeding on the brain. he’s currently in the ICU at RPA. Get well soon Mel, we miss you. Definitive Technology have released a new range of speakers with built in subwoofers. The last range was good but our initial testing of the new 9000 series indicates a significant improvement. More on that range later. August 24th - Yamaha have now released their flagship RX-A3060 A/V Receiver and one now resides in Chez Neil. Not sure if there’s a great improvement on my older RX-V3079 (AKA RX- A3050 - almost) but there seems to be an improvement in picture quality from native 4K sources so maybe a tweak in HDR management. Who knows (who cares) but any improvement is welcome. Sonically, it still leads the pack when teamed with my Martin Logan’s (various receivers react differently with certain brands of speakers) so I’m a happy camper. August 15th - Back in store after having my gallbladder ripped from my very being - kind of like giving birth to an Alien (as in the movie) - I have the photo’s to prove it! I feel great now although I’m off the piss (technical term) which means I’m more focused and nastier than usual (yes, that’s actually possible). One thing my forced lay off did was give me plenty of time to peruse the latest HiFi equipment reviews as I’m always looking for new ways to improve my sound here at home. As speakers are around 70% of the overall sound, that’s where I usually concentrate my efforts. After finding this review from Absolute sound however, I decided to keep what I currently have. http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/marti nlogan-motion-60xt/ Considering we’re selling them at less than the US price (when currency conversion and GST is factored) the 60XT’s are a no-brainer. My fingers are now about to seize up after such a long lay off so I’ll now go and contemplate my scars. August 1st - Off to the Doctors for a little surgery (no, I’m not getting Docked) so have put some hot specials in place to entice purchasing whilst I’m away. Check they specials out under Steve’s Clearance. July 26th - One way to eliminate the opposition is by stealth and there is no one stealthier than Mel Chillari (patriarch of the Chillari Clan - owners of Apollo Hi-Fi) You may have heard of my recent hospitalisation due to gallstones blocking my Bile Ducts, well it turns out that Mel was probably responsible as he loaded me up with Salami, Cheese and red wine when I visited him at his Port Stephens retreat just prior to the attack. Cunning indeed! I also have a cunning plan however and intend to invite him over to our Port Stephens retreat (a mere 100 metres from his) and fill him up with so much Grange that he won’t know what hit him - Expensive? Yes. Is it worth it? We’ll see. July 25th - During the week when things are quiet, we don’t mind demonstrating or talking to customers who have no intention of buying (we may just sow the seeds for a future purchase) but when they come in on a busy Saturday, they are oblivious to the problems they create in respect to inconveniencing other (actual) customers. Last week was a doozy (technical term) - one guy spent over an hour hogging the main sound lounge on the pretext that he wanted to audition some speakers with the view to a possible purchase. It was only after an hour that he admitted he had already purchased a pair of speakers elsewhere and just wanted to be sure he had done the right thing. It’s amazing how some people can walk even with a pair of floorstanding speakers having been rectally inserted. Even better than that was the guy who wanted to see the new JVC 7000 projector (we consider it to be the best projector under $12,000 currently available)  - he’s seen the Sony 4K projector elsewhere and wanted to compare (as if! You can’t see a picture in a different room with a different screen and source then make an objective comparison). I can tell you now that the JVC in 90% of all situations is the better projector at $6K less - the aforesaid gentleman (who it turns out had no intention of purchasing ANY projector) not only said he couldn’t see any difference between the Sony and the JVC but when he compared our JVC to the $1999 Optoma HD26 in the next room, said he couldn’t see any difference between that one either. As we bid him adieu and offered him a free eye test at the local Optometrist, I once again wondered why I bother. Maybe because most customers are interesting and I still get a kick out of explaining and demonstrating the latest gear. I guess I’m getting too old for self centred time wasters. July 16th - Long time between Blogs, that’s what happens when your bile ducts get blocked and they haul you off to hospital to get poked/prodded/sliced and diced. Sad really, The good thing (for you) is that things went a little quiet whilst I was on my back so next week I’ll do a stocktake and try to move some goodies. Just call me direct on 02 9651 4922 if there’s something you want at a good price and I’ll see what I can do. June 14th - Just returned from FiJi after a weeks break. Absolutely brilliant place to holiday as long as you don’t mind spotty Wi-Fi. After listening to live bands (and bloody good ones at that) each night at the Sheraton it was a revelation to come home and listen to how close my ML 60XT’s with the Dynamo 700 sub comes to reproducing that “live” feel. I just discovered a semi documentary on Hulu Plus (via my Roku) based on the life of Cilla Black and her performances through the system come out as raw as “The Cavern” would have been. Highly recommended if you can acess it, it’s just called “Cilla” June 2nd - This is getting way beyond my technical capabilities. When I changed the HDMI cables to 2.0 and used shorter lengths (1.5 metres instead of 3 metres) I was able to access certain picture parameters that were “grayed” out previously. I can now achieve a far better picture when playing native 4K movies (upscaling standard DVD and Blu-Rays gives no benefit at all). The technical experts at KORDZ tried to explain it all to me but I’d need to sober up for far longer to take it all in. I think I’ll go play with the cats (Claw V1.0 and V2.0) May 31st - More fooling around with the 4K stuff last night. To get the best out of the HDR enabled units you need HDMI cables which handle 18Gbs (usually designated HDMI 2.0 or 2.0a although not always). Our friends at EZYHD will ship cables to anywhere in Australia and all their HDMI cables are 2.0. I’ve just ordered some and will give you the results after more testing. May 30th - Just connected my new Sony 75” UHD (with HDR) 4K TV up to all my sources (specifically my Samsung 8500 4K Player)  and discovered a couple of things - Unless you have everything set up perfectly, such as using HDMI 2.0 or preferably 2.0a cables, the picture isn’t much better than standard Blu-Ray. Unless the TV has HDR (High Dynamic Range) there’s bugger all difference anyway. A shit movie is a shit movie no matter what the resolution. Standard resolution programming (576p) is almost unwatchable - you need the HD channels or streaming  Apple TV/Roku/Smart TV app etc. to get any benefit from your new 4K TV. Most frustrating is the variation between the picture quality of various sources. After almost a week of fooling around with colour temperatures, Black Levels, sharpness and a zillion other adjustments, I still can’t get as good a picture as my Samsung 75” 1080p TV (although I have had that unit for 10 months and have had more time for fine tuning) for the majority of programming and would prefer that TV set overall. As we don’t sell TV’s, I have no ax to grind with any model so I’ll keep you informed on my progress. May 18th - Holy Crap batman, I’ve just had an Epiphany! All great subwoofers are not the same (Duh!). In the past I’ve stuck to my Martin Logan Dynamo 700 (RRP $1399) as nothing under $2000 came close - in my acoustic environment anyway. I’ve shied away from bigger subs as my weak, frail body has problems with moving and placing larger subwoofers. As we has a surplus of the Martin Logan BalanceForce 210 subwoofers however, I thought I’d try one with my set up at home. Well. after wrestling the 43kg, 48cm cubed box into our lounge-room, I tuned it in with the aid of the PBK kit and all of a sudden, my system was transformed, not only for the movies (talk about the earth moving for me) but also for music. I suppose I should have expected something pretty awesome given the $6000 price point (currently on sale at $2999) but I wasn’t prepared for such a massive improvement. May 17th - Fun times again as we enter this years EOFY sale. Some items you’ll have to call for price (such as Yamaha’s Aventage range), others are listed on the site. Best deals are on the Martin Logan speakers as we found some with damaged cartons (yes, really) so although the product is perfect, the shipping cartons are crap but at up to 50% off RRP, stop complaining! We now have the Samsung 4K Blu-Ray Players in stock (UBD-K8500/XY) available at $549. Talking of system set up and placement (which I wasn’t but now will), the lovely Noelene bought a new entertainment cabinet for Chez Neil which meant a slight repositioning of my beloved Martin Logan speaker system. to re-tune the set up I re-discovered an old recording which I used to use many years ago as my reference - I lost the original (around 1987 from memory) but found it for download. It’s called Fresh Aire III by Mannheim Steamroller (go on, Google it). The first track (Toccata) is what we used to call ”New Age” music although most of us from that era (it was recorded in 1977) are now “Old Age”. It offers a dynamic and sound stage which enables me to set up my levels and toe-in just perfectly. You should buy that one track just for a hoot! May 12th - Samsung have now released their 4K Blu-Ray Player with a RRP of $599. Absolute bargain as it also streams any Netflix 4K content. They also have two HDMI outputs, one for audio and video for connection to A/V Receivers with HDCP 2.2 and a second HDMI output for audio only so you can bypass the video and plug the primary HDMI output directly into the TV with the other HDMI going straight to the A/V Receiver. Very few movies available as yet but Roadshow will be releasing more next Wednesday. We’ll have stocks early next week. I’ve seen ads for the players at butchered prices already (even though most stores doing stupid prices have no stock). We’ll try to match pricing if possible but can’t always match the Internet cowboys as they have absolutely no technical support, throw you the box and then treat you with the contempt THEY deserve if you need help (just read their return policies). If you were wondering how we keep The Claw (V2.0) so clean, wonder no longer. The fur is a bastard to get out of the filter however.

Blog

Unfortunately due to the amount of content in the blog it is no longer available on the mobile version of the site. If you’d like to read our new Blog page, it’s available on the desktop version of the site. (On some phones and tablets simply turning your device to landscape mode can load the page in desktop mode)