Fair use, plagiarism or what?

I suppose it says something positive about the content of HiFi'Zine that other sites think it's ok to lift articles wholesale and post the text on their own pages with minimal attribution. I realize web protocols for authorship are, shall we say, in flux, but I was a little disappointed with the Carver Forum which lifted text and graphics from the recent Bass Integration Guide (parts 1, 2, and 3) put together by Paul Spencer and while it offered a fleeting link at the top saying 'From Hifi'Zine', I cannot imagine any other publication considering this anything other than stealing. If you wrote those articles and put in the hours on measurements and graphics that clearly Paul put into them, as any reader can see,  I think you'd feel aggrieved to see your work presented this way.  I doubt Bob Carver wants to be associated with this type of 'design' choice.

[Addendum:  The site manager has removed the content since a complaint was registered but let's just say, gave the owner a lecture about free access. Who knew?]

HiFi'Zine June 2012 issue now out

This  new issue has two entries from me, both connected with the new cable company, High Fidelity Cables: a review and an interview with head honcho, Rick Schultz, former chief of Virtual Dynamics. I'd been trying to get Rick for a while to talk about developments old and new in the cable business and am pleased to finally get our conversation on the record.  Also, great articles on the Akimate Micros, music reviews, and the best guide yet to getting started on computer audio for Mac users by editor in chief, John Reekie. Enjoy, comment, and think about contributing an article yourself if so inclined - remember, HiFi'Zine is a magazine by audiophiles for audiophiles; advertising free, open to all and happy to explore the hobby from all angles.

Is A'gon slipping?

Well the interest in the Audiogon alternatives has clearly grown recently given the traffic here. I took a look at the Qualcast data on hit rates

You can certainly see a sharp downturn in visits to the 'Gon since the redesign, though it's fair to say that they had apparently grown traffic significantly over the last two years so it's something of a return to 2009 rates, not too shabby in itself but clearly something changed this year and the mood seems to be swinging. Let's see how this plays out over the next few months.

Alternatives to Audiogon part II

That note below about the A'gon complaints seems to have drawn much traffic and some private emails. My defense of A'gon is that it remains the best out there  until someone or other is prepared to put the effort into a real alternative. Well, it seems some folks are willing to walk the walk, with varying degrees of success. A recent push mail from AVGuide contained a link to SoundOffers which offers a gear selling structure similar to the 'Gon. Nice enough interface but the experience is seriously hampered by the lack of product. Multiple categories of product have nothing listed and even the most populated categories have but a handful of items listed. Still, it's a reasonable effort that holds promise with basic listing only costing $3 for 30 days and, as far as I can tell, none of the commission rates that annoys so many with A'gon. It's local too, at least in as much as the publisher for TAS has interests in Austin. Worth keeping an eye on as this one has marketing back up that might grow it into something significant.

A much more grass-roots oriented effort has been launched by the guys behind the Canuck Audio Mart.  Named, perhaps not surprisingly US Audio Mart, these folks really are pitching themselves as an Audiogon alternative with a full statement to that effect off their home page. Most exciting, since the owners rely solely on advertising revenue from manufacturers and dealers, the process of buying and selling gear is free, it has sufficient product for sale even now to make it feel worth using, you can improve that by revealing listings form the Canadian site that sellers will ship to the US, and it has member discussion forums. Right now it's showing sufficient energy for optimism about its future. For those of you still annoyed with A'gon, this is definitely worth checking out. I've registered and will be working my way slowly through the content and forums over the next week or so but for now, this is the one to watch.

Complaints over Audiogon continue

It's been nearly 6 months since Audiogon made changes to its fee structure and design. From the outset people seemed upset, not least those who were paying for ads at the time and saw traffic diminish and the search engine sputter. The site has slowly become more robust and retains top-spot at the place to go for scoring or selling audio gear but this has not stopped the criticism. Here's a new article that seems to have tapped into a lot of the negative sentiment, published in Home Theater Review this week, claiming dropped traffic and revenues as a result of the changes made to Audiogon.

I am more sanguine than most on this, after all, it's still the best place to get a sense of the value and availability of gear, and I've bought a lot of my system over the years through listings on that site. Until some other group comes up with a real alternative, they will remain the #1 place for this type of transaction, so how bad can it be?  Of course, if you are a member of some other forums, such as the excellent Audio Circle, you can list and buy without fees, but don't imagine you have the same choice of gear as you will find on A'gon. As usual, it's easier to criticize than create, and I wonder how many people really feel strongly enough to take up the challenge of doing it better?

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a....sticker?

Well if you love tweaks, you'll love these new 'chips' cunningly disguised as a stickers which you put on the back of your speakers with the express aim of  gaining some audio magic.  Working (allegedly) at a 'sub-atomic' level,  the sticker, er, chip, to quote the Cable Co folks, "is mounted on an adhesive backing which can be attached to the device. The Chips are "programmed" for their specified applications. The adhesive is not aggressive, and the chips can be used and removed for testing purposes, no problem."  Priced at a level which makes them affordable by all (!), let me know what you hear won't you?


And in fairness to the Cable Co whom I don't tend to think of as marketers of much nonsense, here's a link to their line of videos explaining their products

Cable wars - gone before you knew it

If you read my review of the Wywires loom in the March 2012 issue of HiFi'Zine you'll know that I've been impressed with the addition of Spectron's Thunderbolt cords on my power amps. In fact, I was so impressed, I bought a couple as I'd never heard a power cord do for an amp what these cords did to my Musician Mk III monos. Intending to give these more coverage as time went on, I was surprised to learn tonight that Spectron are no longer going to sell them. Apparently production costs have risen through the roof and they don't think they can sell these profitably any more. What a shame -- these were not cheap, with the Mk2 listing at close to $2500 per cord, but still they can't make sufficient profit to justify continuation. I have no idea what went into these cables, and I do know metal prices have gone through the roof, but the Thunderbolt Mk 2s  remain for me the best power cords I ever heard on my monoblocks, and by no small margin. 

New Tone Audio issue out

As always, beautifully produced and an engaging mix of gear, beer and music...what more do you need? And it's free! Find it here

Get the vinyl on the platter...

If you are of a delicate disposition, don't try this at home:

Blind or Sighted listening tests

A most informative (but now two year old) posting from the Sean Olive blog, Audio Musings, reports data from a 1994 study of blind v. sighted tests of loudspeakers can be found under the heading "The dishonesty of sighted listening tests"

It's worth a read since Sean is one of the few folks in the world with the education in experimental methods involving human subjects and sufficient interest in applying these to audio reproduction. Apart from confirming what most open-minded people expected, that sighted listening has an effect on how you judge a product, there are two very interesting results that warrant particular attention. First, experienced listeners are no less susceptible to the effects of sighted listening, despite the protestations otherwise that we have learned to factor this out. Second, I was taken by the curious impact of blind or sighted listening on the judgement of speakers when layout/positioning is adjusted. It seems that you are far more sensitive to positioning of speaker in the room and the resulting impact on sound when you listen blind. Not sure how to turn these results into practical guidance for your own tweaking but then, blind testing is always very hard to do on your own :)

Interesting blog from nearby dealer

Well, consider me surprised to learn about a local dealer whose premises I've probably driven close by dozens of time without realizing they existed. Austin HiFi turns out to be an importer and dealer who sells the excellent Harbeth and ATC speaker lines, as well as a couple of more unusual products. Nothing too unusual there but the owner runs a nifty little blog that's full of nice entries and links to the wide and esoteric world of music and art. Check it out.

qøl™: review upcoming

One of the more talked about audio products so far this year has been the 'signal completion stage' from BSG Technologies (called the 'qol'). The forums started buzzing once Robert Harley gave it a positive review in TAS and reported an interview with chief designer, Barry Goldfarb. I can make neither head nor tail of the explanations of how this product works but I am giving it a good listen in my own system before I make up my mind. Review anticipated for the June issue. 

Speaking of speakers...

Got to love the new Morrow Audio (as in Morrow the handmade cable) mailing that invites you to learn about their new deal Lansche speakers.  You can actually hit an 'Add to Cart' button on a pair of $200,000 speakers....go on, you know you want to......

Got a few more bucks? Try the new Hartvig Audio turntable......price on request.  Described by the manufacturer as offering 'pure sound with soul'....as opposed to that pure sound without soul, I suppose. Is he having a go at my SME?

Origin Live does speakers...

Known for their good looking turntables and arms more than anything else, Origin Live have a new speaker on the way, the (perhaps aptly named) 'Astute'.  Using bamboo composite and string (apparently) they are eye-catching. Few reports as yet as to the sonics but the company reports a positive debut at UK show from attendees. Not enough info to see where the connections are or if that lamp-look for a base is a awful in real life as it appears here but the full range (if it comes to fruition) promises some interesting new ideas that move speakers beyond the typical box and driver look of so many others. Bet we'll have lots of arguments about arches in or arches out for placement once folks get their hands on them. It's not still April 1st is it? 

Loricraft in the house

OK, I had to do it. I eventually located a good condition Loricraft PRC-3 on the 'Gon and made a good deal with the seller. It came with a missing part so while I was working around this, I went looking for more info on line and turned up this excellent video on the PRC-3, complete with microscopic images of before and after cleaning. This is the best video explanation of the machine I've found and it's worth the 10 mins it takes to watch it all.