Hi-Fi Companies that lose themselves

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_D_S_J_R_
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Re: Hi-Fi Companies that lose themselves

Unread post by _D_S_J_R_ »

I'll argue this privately over a cuppa!
Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way...The time has gone, The song is over, Thought I'd something more to say...

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Dr Bunsen Honeydew
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Re: Hi-Fi Companies that lose themselves

Unread post by Dr Bunsen Honeydew »

We are not just looking at companies that have lost themselves but an industry that has lost itself, or as some would say has disappeared up its own arse. Bullshit and overpricing dominates the market. There are the signs of green shoots of an emerging new industry and I would like to think of myself as one of the instigators for this.

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Re: Hi-Fi Companies that lose themselves

Unread post by Lindsayt »

AVI are a small company that moved onto the bullshit phase a long time before either of their founder members retired or passed away.

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Dr Bunsen Honeydew
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Re: Hi-Fi Companies that lose themselves

Unread post by Dr Bunsen Honeydew »

Very true but it is built on bullshit from the point that Ashley James got involved, before that it seems it produced good traditional hi-fi products, which they now disown.

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Re: Hi-Fi Companies that lose themselves

Unread post by Fretless »

But what will the future of hifi be? In a world where music reproduction will be dominated by the internet as source and playback via wifi through active speakers. Where does that leave any room for manufacturers unwiling to move with the market?

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Dr Bunsen Honeydew
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Re: Hi-Fi Companies that lose themselves

Unread post by Dr Bunsen Honeydew »

It is known as retro, we need to accept we are back to our hobbyist roots and are no longer a mainstream industry. If no one makes anything we have enough 2nd hand to create a market for decades.

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Re: Hi-Fi Companies that lose themselves

Unread post by jandl100 »

_D_S_J_R_ wrote:Jerry, have you heard any of these old suspects on MODERN sources and amps? I only ask because many systems today, using any source, seem clearer and easier to 'hear through' than they were back in the mid 70's ime. Not saying it'll make a silk purse out of a bucket of turnips, but it does seem to help them no end to use an amp with good damping factor (if you believe in such things - Harbeth don't:(), decent gauge speaker cables and a good digital or clean vinyl source (not the way we used to site a turntable, with no real thought for isolation).
Hi Dave

Yes, I quite agree with you that modern electronics and ancillaries can raise the game of older speaker designs. (I think I've made the same point myself on AOS).

The reason I use a duck in all my avatars goes back to a disagreement I had with a guy on the Wigwam who insisted that my latest fave speaker purchase at the time (Bowers Active One's, remember them?) had unacceptable levels of 'bextrene quack' from the cone material used. Try as I might - and compared to a nice example of Quad 57 stats - I couldn't hear it with the modern electronics I was using - I said the only quack I could hear came from a nearby lake with ducks on :lol: and changed my avatar accordingly. I invited the guy over to have a listen (to the speakers, not the ducks) as he wasn't too far away, but sadly he didn't accept the invite. It would have been interesting.

And yes, I've heard the vintage Rogers Export Monitors previously mentioned with modern electronics, as well as more modern Spendor SP1/2 and others. After the initial "Wow" factor of tonal neutrality, which lasted a quite impressive couple of days with the SP1/2, all of them are like watching paint dry as far as I am concerned.
Jerry - unrepentant boxswapper 8-) Life's too short for boring hifi !

Current system ... MBL 116F speakers, ... various and varying electronics and cables ... Laptop (TIDAL hirez)

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Dr Bunsen Honeydew
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Re: Hi-Fi Companies that lose themselves

Unread post by Dr Bunsen Honeydew »

Ah! but do Bextrene cones reproduce Duck calls more accurately :mrgreen:

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Re: Hi-Fi Companies that lose themselves

Unread post by _D_S_J_R_ »

Active One's never quacked when I heard them!
Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way...The time has gone, The song is over, Thought I'd something more to say...

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Re: Hi-Fi Companies that lose themselves

Unread post by Dr Bunsen Honeydew »

Sigh! every material has a sound, it relates to resonant frequency. Knock the table in front of you with your knuckles and you will hear its resonant frequency. Bextrene is highly damped across a wide frequency range but it has a "character" and that noise can be and has been related to a quack. Yes you can tame it with filters and in the process bollock-up other parts of the music content (commonly known as BBC design). That is all complex passive and active filters do.

By far the best material for cones is well processed paper like JBL and Altec used, BUT it is very expensive and hard to do properly. You can coat the cheaper paper cones with polymer and you create value for money drivers. Another good compromise is Kevlar but it needs doping to give its best, which is a black art.

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