German Physiks back in the US

Was pleased to learn that speaker manufacturer par excellence, German Physiks, have settled on new distribution in the US so it might now be easier to hear these wonderful speakers. Distinctive Stereo of NJ are now handling these speakers in the US and Canada. More information will be available when the website is updated but as I've often said, the German Physiks sound is among the most natural and engaging I've heard at shows over the years so am hoping I get a chance to hear more of their line in the future. 

What drew me to vinyl....

The price of old vinyl....worse than you think?

Sort of surprised to see an early Rollins Saxophone Colossus reaching past the $2k mark on the Bay yesterday. And guess what, not play graded but examined and considered good by looking at it under a light!  Makes those MusicMatters reissues a positive bargain really. Maybe I am just too naive to get it but more likely, I realize now I am really never going to be a serious collector.

Vinyl taking over my life

OK, the Artisan Fidelity is in the house and I don't think I've played a CD for a fortnight as it's been a complete LP fest. I knew this was happening anyway since I starting picking up the Musicmatters Blue Note releases for the last couple of years, despite my doubts about paying nearly $40 for new records. I don't regret this (at least, not until I start to add up the total costs) as the signs are that these releases are close to being sold out and anyway, they mostly sounded fabulous. I'm generally a listener to older music anyhow, so most of my purchasing is for used LPs. In Austin there's a decent supply in various stores (Breakaway is my current fave) but it's always good to learn about new suppliers.

Am hearing positive things right now about Analog Spark, who self-describe as:

 "a new audiophile imprint that is focused on the reissue of classic and acclaimed albums on 180-gram vinyl and SACD. We are using the best available sources, mastering engineers and pressing plants to ensure that our releases are of the highest quality. By doing this, we hope to build a lasting relationship and dialogue with our audience -- so that each time they purchase an Analog Spark release, they will have musical curation and quality that they can trust."

I've not heard a release yet but I'm definitely tempted by one or two of their current listings.  More as we go.

Any heavily used phono cartridges for sale?

If you peruse the audio lists such as AudioMart (the US Audiomart, not to be confused with the other Audiomart) or Audiogon  with the idea of grabbing a high-end piece for a mid-level price, you generally trust that most used goods still work pretty well and that you can make a reasonably informed decision based on the description, the pictures and the seller’s feedback. This is generally true for most audio goods, but I have to wonder about phono cartridges.

Of all the components in your rig that can wear out or generally hide abuse, the stylus has to be top contender.  Most sellers cannot reproduce a close up picture, and then, there’s no knowing if anyone’s idea of sounding fine is the same as yours. However, you almost never see a cartridge for sale that has anything other than a claimed moderate hours of use. Now you’d think, if there was any measure of use that could be applied to a cartridge it would be number of hours, and some folks (like me) use a counter to maintain an accurate estimate of usage. I found that no matter how reliable I believed my estimates to be, only by using a real counter, situated next to my table, was I able to really know my use (which turns out to be quite stable over time and actually fewer hours than I imagined).

Perusing A’gon today (just because) I see many fine cartridges available at prices that attract interest. Fancy an Air Tight PC-3 at 25% off? Only used for ’20 hours’ apparently.  Those spins cost the owner $67 an hour!  Lyra Atlas with ‘very low’ hours. Turns out this ‘low’ means 167 hours, discounting the price nearly $6k, or $34 per hour of use thus far. Some people are giving their gear away, right?

Then there’s the not quite so precise listings, which are the majority. Many listings are for cartridges with ‘low’ hours, ‘barely used’ or are ‘not even broken-in’. One wonders why people are so keen to sell if they’ve not actually heard what the cartridge will sound like when properly settled. Maybe there is a class of audiophile who buys expensive cartridges, gives them a few hours on their deck, then takes a loss by selling them at a discount just to repeat the cycle. No, I didn’t think so either.

Of course, there’s another class too. These are the sellers who don’t actually have a clue how long the cartridge they are selling has left in it. This gets fudged a lot with comments like ‘looks to have little or no wear’ or ‘the guy who sold it to me told me it had low hours’. Convincing, eh?  Do these people ever wonder why their listings run and run?  Does anyone ever sell a cartridge that’s had 1500 hours on it but still sounds ok? Apparently not, but you can read people who claim they found a 20 year old, apparently unused cartridge in the back of their closet when tidying up.

All to say - it would be great if people selling cartridges could keep more accurate hours of usage, or if there were some reliable ways to show cartridge life. I keep telling myself the only sure way is to buy new but the pricing of those Dynavectors and Ortolans that I want to give a try in my own room are in the pain zone, so the used market it has to be. And of course, I sell my used cartridge when the time comes, so what am I complaining about? Yeah, but I’m trustworthy right? And my estimates of usage are spot on.   But that little accident I had with the Clearaudio Concerto cantilever.....hey, accidents happen right? You’d never have known there was damage until the whole thing fell off a couple of plays later.  Caveat emptor.

B&W acquiired by start-up

There were some groans when Thiel changed hands, now comes that news that longstanding UK speaker company, Bowers and Wilkins has been bought by a US group.  Audioholics reflects the tenor of much of this reporting:

B&W Purchased by Silicon Valley Startup: Cheers or Tears?: It's one of the most lopsided company acquisitions in recent history. An historic hi-fi speaker manufacturer B&W; with over 1000 employees was bought by a Silicon Valley startup with barely a website.

who says there's no money in hi-end?

Maybe it's time to rethink the vinyl is always better argument?

 "If people like to listen to vinyl, do so, enjoy life. But don't say that the sound is better."  A fascinating discussion with audio and production engineers on what we really can record and hear; you can read this LA Weekly feature here.   What say you, PONO owners?

Good summary and intro to Axpona Coverage

OK, two talking heads can wear thin if you try to watch the whole thing through (sorry Peter and Dave) but this gives you a good overview of Axpona and a link into other specific reviews. Though please note -- they incorrectly mention the VSA room using Synergistic cables, not so, it's the Delphi cable that VSA sells. Otherwise,  enjoy

Bennett still the boss!

Had the pleasure of attending Tony Bennett's gig last night here in Austin. I can't say I was ever the biggest fan of the crooning ballad form but let's face it, Tony's the man. He's been there and done it, several times over, playing with some of the greatest jazz musicians of the last century. Well, he's 89, a little more fragile looking of late, and he has to pace himself through songs but when he hit's the stage, you can feel the energy coming through.

Last night he played with a quartet of top guys, including wonderful guitarist Gray Sargent (who was new to me) and Harold Jones on drums, repeatedly described as 'Basie's favorite drummer', and you could hear why. The band opened up proceedings with as short set of instrumental standards commencing with Stella by Starlight,  everyone getting a brief solo along the way, before the man himself stepped out to rapturous applause. Ok, he knows how to milk the moment, from using an old tape of Sinatra eulogizing him, through to hanging in the spotlight pretending to be overwhelmed by the audience, but it's all good theater.

He whipped through a set of songs he's known for, some almost at breakneck pace given his age, a particularly lively 'I got rhythm' comes to mind, and of course he brought the house down with 'San Francisco', before ending with a microphone-less rendition of Fly me to Moon.. The only thing missing was a tribute to Prince, but that would have taken him off script and if nothing else, this performance was heavily scripted. Nonetheless, he's a showman, has a great band, and he knows how to entertain. Catch him while you can.

PranaFidelity fifty90s review now live on the 'Zine

I enjoyed the last few months with the excellent PranaFidelity fifty90s, a monitor that sounds like a floorstander. You can read the review in HifiZine.

These make a great pairing with the Raven Blackhawk actually, which the specs might not suggest but it's great to find two of the smaller company products that match so well. Of course, both also produce far more expensive models and these offer pairing possibilities I'd love to hear.

North Carolina audiophiles hit by sales ban over HB2

Hard to argue with the stand of some companies and musicians over what's happening in NC with their bathroom and birth-cert nonsense, HB2. Headphone manufacturer 1More now say they won't sell their products in NC. Good for them, not so good for some customers unfortunately.
Is it a surprise that a headphone company takes a lead here? Let's see how some of the more traditional companies serving the richer, older demographic of audiophiles do before we claim moral courage on the part of the industry. For now, well done 1More.

The vinyl addiction

You are not alone:

RRHoF -- does it matter?

I really don't care for the Hall of Fame nonsense when it comes to music, it's a silly US commercial faux-award that is more about business than art, but, and it's a big but, even this slightly cynical observer was moved by Lars Ulrich's induction speech for Deep Purple -- that band really are still special. Thank you people for music, for art, for reminding us of what matters:

Whetstone Audio hosts Devore and Well Tempered

Some dealers have a right attitude, and some dealers have the right attitude. Whetstone Audio in eastside Austin has the best attitude I've experienced in any audio dealership.  Brian and his wife host regular events to get people in to hear gear in a fun atmosphere, and they provide beer too.  Today they gave the store over to anyone interested in hearing Well-Tempered and Devore Audio demo their tables and speakers. Door always open, beer and food on the patio, vinyl in constant spin-mode, I spent a couple of very enjoyable hours listening, browsing the vinyl racks and kicking back with the amiable folks there. There was plenty of music and zero sales BS, better than most audio shows in fact.

Noteworthy were the Devore Gibbons, a rather elegant floorstanding speaker with side-firing woofers and a perhaps up-there $15,000+ price tag. They did sound good enough however, looked like they would work in most normal homes, and had a detailed but bass-rich sonic quality that surprised many folks there. John himself told me they were selling as fast as they could make them, so clearly the business end is working out for them.  I'd love to try a pair.

The Well-Tempered table (was it the Amadeus?) was specially set up with a super Dynavector arm and Kaitora Rua cartridge, which would bump up the price of that table considerably. Amplification by Leben (I believe) with a Dynavector SUT, all on very elegant Box stand.   Lots of great music, including plenty of 'old shit' as Brian put it, that the rig handled without fuss but strangely, the highlight for me (other than a totally sentimental moment listening to Bowie's last album) was Susanne Vega -- man, I never liked that music but today, on this rig, the mood just caught us all up in a collective moment of intense resonance. I never heard that sound so good, and I asked myself why I had been so dismissive of this music in the past. Guess I just never heard it right.

Hard to say enough good things about this gathering. The crowd were relaxed, the space was cool, with a totally easy going vibe that runs counter to the snobbishness that often accompanies audio demos.  Turn up, tune in and experience audio gear in a way that is likely going to make you feel included. If only others would follow suit.  If you get to Austin and have a passing interest in audio gear, make a point of visiting Whetstone -- this is a space that makes me smile. 

State of the used vinyl market -- Discogs report

Ever wondered what sells the most on Discogs? Know how many people own a copy of that Aphex Twin rarity you covet or what price your spare copy of Dark Side of the Moon might fetch? The creative folks there have summarized the state of the market for 2015 in an interesting, downloadable report. Check it out here:

https://blog.discogs.com/stateofdiscogs2015/