August 22nd: They're closing our mailbox |
We've had this mailbox for years, since 1992, in fact: Box 65085. All of UHF's snail mail gets directed there. Before 1992, we had a different mailbox, Box 316. But Canada Post then closed the building it was in. So guess what. They've done it again.
 We didn't need this, need we explain, but a lot has happened since 1992. Snail mail was then just called "mail." Our Web site was still in the future, since the first Web browser (Mosaic) did not yet exist. All of our orders flowed in through that mailbox, or else by phone.
But we get less and less snail mail, and so we are changing our mailing address to our street address, 270 Victoria, Longueuil, QC J4H 2J6.
We are of course getting mail to our mailbox redirected, which means your letter won't be lost, just delayed by a day. As a point of interest, UHF has been at the same physical address since 1984.
BY THE WAY: We are all but caught up on orders for magazines, books, and items from The Audiophile Store, and new orders are being shipped daily. A lot of new products will be added shortly. Gerard is shouldering some of the work (see the July 23rd blog entry), with lots of help from Albert, Steve and Lise. Final work on issue 89 of UHF will be underway soon. |
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July 23rd: Health bulletin from Gerard Rejskind |
If you follow UHF Magazine at all you know that issue 89 has been way behind schedule, and there has been a silence from us on the Web of more than a month. I'm here, sort of, and it's finally time for an update. As you may have guessed, the silence involved a health problem.
 Mine.
By its nature UHF is put together by a small team (of five), but even so we are not interchangeable. With issue 89 so close to done (and my colleagues have completed their work), wrapping it up for the printer was my job. We are not quite redundant, at least not yet. And for an unknown reason the work was dragging.
On July 2nd I entered hospital and became a medical enigma. Obviously I was very sick, but with what? A crack team at Charles-Lemoyne hospital and the University of Sherbrooke tested every body system they could, but nothing turned up. The only surprise: on countless echographies and MRI's, I passed with top grade results.
Only I was still sick.
Finally, it was an observation by a seasoned doctor (a neurologist) that broke the case. I had three little black dots on my right palm with an inflamed patch in the centre. That pointed to a a cardiac problem, one rare enough to result in a journal article.
An exotic bacterium from an unknown source, with only a dozen mentions in medical literature, had deposited two giant plaques of vegetation on one of my my heart's mitral valves and destroyed it. My heart was leaking badly. I was placed on massive doses of intravenous antibiotics, and I was transferred to Montreal's Royal Victoria Hospital for emergency surgery. A new valve was implanted on July 14th.
It will be thanks to my colleagues that we will get the magazine rolling again, and very soon. Shipments of products from the store resume next week.
I've always said that I created this magazine as a matter of the heart. My heart had never let me down before. I shall do what I can so it does not do so again. |
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June 18th: Don't forget the tax |
Subscription renewal firms are pouring in, but you know what? We had served warning that sales tax was about to soar in Ontario and BC, but what's happening is that some subscribers pay by cheque and forget the sales tax altogether.
 Sorry, no can do. The government makes us collect it, and there's not anything we can do about it.
What we do if you forget the tax is shorten your subscription: five issues instead of six, or 11 instead of 13. That's not to your advantage, so do pay attention.
One other detail. The tax people neither know nor care about when your envelope was postmarked. What matters is when the transaction was entered by us. If you mail your envelope on the 29th, odds are we will process it on July 2nd. And we will charge you HST (13% in Ontario, 12% in BC). Not our choice, but we don't want to go to jail.
We're just finishing up issue No. 89, so renew now. |
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June 11th: Taxes rising in Ontario and BC |
It's beyond our control, but as of July 1st we will be applying HST to all sales in Ontario and British Columbia, including magazines, subscriptions, books, and products from The Audiophile Store and The Audiophile Boutique.
Until then tax in both provinces is 5%. On July 1st it soars to 13% (Ontario) and 12% (BC). As they say on the Sales Channel, operators are standing by.
BY THE WAY: Speaking of bargains, check out the gorgeous amplifier at The Flash Sale this weekend. |
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June 3rd: Copy a DVD? Here come da judge! |
 The Canadian government has tried repeatedly to overhaul its pre-digital copyright law to bring it into line with its international treaty obligations. However we have a minority government, and the two previous draft laws died when Parliament was dissolved and new elections were called. Now industry minister Tony Clement has announced his government's latest try.
Our take on the previous draft laws was that they were draconian, and were heavily tilted toward the content industry (which should not be confused with content creators). So is this one. It's a little difficult to analyze it by reading newspaper reports, to be sure. The reports we've seen have been written by people who went to journalism school instead of getting a real education and learning to read critically. But we digress.
The first reports make it sound as though the draft law would "give" us new rights, such as the right to transfer music from a CD to an iPod. Um, sorry, but we already had that right. Contrary to what you may have read elsewhere, downloading music is legal in Canada, though uploading it is not. Neither will be if the law passes.
The really ugly part of the law is elsewhere. Though the bill recognizes the legitimacy of "fair dealing" (what the US calls "fair use"), such as the right to time-shift TV programs for personal use, it gives absolute supremacy to "digital locks," systems meant to prevent copying. So if Sony music added a digital lock to its CDs, even ineffective ones (as it has done in the past), you would lose all your fair dealing rights.
That measure is in fact aimed squarely at the DVD, which is protected by CSS, an anti-copy system no more imposing than the little heart-shaped padlocks that come with children's diaries. The key to unlock it is so simple it can be written on a Post-It note. No matter, it has force of law, or will have if this awful law passes Parliament.
Want to make a backup of Shrek so you don't need to buy a new copy every couple of months? The fine for doing that can reach $5000. Want to transfer a film you purchased on to your laptop or your new iPad? That will be $5000, please. Want to copy a film you bought in Paris so you can watch it on your TV? Fork over.
We are very much in favor of artists getting paid for what they create. But the companies pushing this law are middlemen who have no essential role in the modern economy. Many of them are no more than parasites. They should be out looking for gainful employment, not helping write our laws.
We'll have lots more to say on this story as it develops.
OH YES! It's Flash Sale time again. If you're looking for good interconnects, we can save you a lot of soldering. |
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May 21st: iTunes surges ahead |
It has long been predicted that downloadable music would replace physical CD sales, and in the US at least there's little sign that the prediction was premature. Apple's iTunes store has long been the top US music retailer according to regular surveys by the research group NPD.
 The latest figures are from Billboard, the weekly music biz weekly (and remember that these are estimates). The iTunes store is now believed to have a 26.7% market share -- that's for all music sales, physical and virtual. What's particularly significant is that, still according to Billboard, iTunes has opened up a lot of daylight between itself and its two closest competitors, Walmart and Best Buy. Both of those companies have lost market share, and iTunes now sells more music than the two others combined.
For the first time, CD sales may be in minority status, down to a 49.3% market share.
You may be wondering about Amazon, which in the US sells both CDs and downloads. Its market share is growing, from 4.3% in 2008 to 5.8% last year, but that leaves it far behind the leaders.
We should add that these figures are for unit sales, not retail value. It may be significant that Apple is not believed to make much of a profit from the iTunes store, and that it uses it as a vehicle to sell the dominant iPod music player.
The situation in Canada may be quite different, and we can't use the usual method of doing Canadian social research ("take the US figures and divide by 10"). The iTunes store does operate in Canada but most other online stores don't, and we still have real record stores in Canada, whereas the US does not.
The apparent dominance of downloadable music doesn't cheer us much either. The iTunes catalog is made up entirely of compressed music. There are stores here that sell downloadable music in Red Book resolution or better, but it would be too kind to call that a niche market.
BY THE WAY: It's Flash Sale time again, and this weekend the sale is connected to our Garage Sale. |
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May 14th: Reaching the end of the Van den Hul preamplifier |
For some years we have been offering discontinued but brand new Van den Hul electronics, a very high end brand designed to sell at high prices, and comparing well in performance and build quality with the world's top solid state gear. We still have some (limited stock) of the stereo power amps and monoblocks, but we're down to what is possible the last preamp.
 The Array A-1 was meant to sell for US$3895. Our closeout price is just $1785 (that's open box, but brand new, still in need of breaking in). You can see it over at the Audiophile Boutique.
Of course either the S-1 stereo power amp or the M-1 monoblocks are a great match. They're available at a bargain price too.
BY THE WAY: It's Flash Sale time. Two words: speaker cables. |
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May 10th: Where do you buy a resistor? |
Or a capacitor? Or a diode? Or even a fuse? Sure, we're familiar with well-stocked electronics supply houses, but if your amp has blown a fuse at 5 pm, there's one quick place to get a replacement. For years that was Radio Shack.
 But Radio Shack's business model has been evolving, and for good reason. The old generation of experimenters, the people who would solder together a little electronic project over the weekend are dying off. Technology is now built by people making $3 a day, or even by robots. You don't repair, you throw away.
Wired Magazine has a somewhat nostalgic article on the disappearance of electronic parts from most Radio Shack stores. True, the strategy seems to have paid off for the venerable chain, which has managed to shut off the gusher of red ink by offering visitors cell phones instead of transformers and hookup wire. But we wonder how solid a strategy that truly is. In any given shopping mall, there will be three stores and kiosks offering the same brand of phone, one of them probably a corporate store. It seems to us like a risky way to make a living.
In Canada, of course, the Radio Shack name vanished years ago, and the stores became "The Source by Circuit City" (they keep the "Circuit City" part real quiet nowadays). The stores have thrived, and it became clear that their buyers were a lot better than their US counterparts at finding products that would draw buyers. Even so, there are still corner sections with everything from fuseholders to BNC connectors. For now.
But that could end, because last year the chain was purchased by Bell Canada. The only visible change so far is the replacement of Rogers phones by those of Bell itself. But nearly all The Source stores are in the same mall as a Bell corporate store. It strikes us that redundancy isn't the best possible marketing method.
BY THE WAY: The Free Advice section has been updated. Keep the questions coming. |
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April 27th: Goodbye Nizar |
 For more than 30 years it hasn't been possible to go to an audio show anywhere in North America without running into Nizar Akhrass, best known by his distinctive first name. The Syrian-born accountant began his audio odyssey with Smythe Sound before setting up his own firm, May Audio Marketing, in Longueuil, Quebec, the city where UHF is located. He became the distributor of Quad, and then a host of other products, from WBT to Castle, including hundreds of esoteric record labels from around the world.
At every show, from Montreal to Toronto to L.A., he would book one or more large rooms and show off his products. He and his wife Alice, who was very much a part of May Audio, were familiar to generations of audiophile show visitors.
Life was not a tranquil stream for Nizar and Alice, however. In attempting to expand by designing and putting up a building, May Audio went to court against an entrepreneur who had skimped on materials and not followed the plans. The legal imbroglio brought May Audio to its knees. The bank, which two years before had named Nizar entrepreneur of the year, came in and changed the locks.
The Akhrass family launched a new company, Justice Audio ("If we can't get justice in the courts we'll get it this way," said Nizar), based in Toronto, far away from marauding bailiffs, with son Nabil as president. In the meantime Nizar himself expanded his American corporation, also called May Audio Marketing, in Niagara Falls, NY. The two elder Akhrasses ran into serious health problems. It was leukemia in Nizar's case, but he was treated successfully with a new method of marrow transplant. Alice was not so lucky. Two years ago she became serious ill with cancer, and chemotherapy greatly aggravated her diabetes. Nabil sold Justice Audio so he could devote himself to her, but the ink was barely dry on the sale document when she died. Nabil (that's him in the background of the photo) started a new venture, Liberty Trading, and is carrying on.
They were there jointly at the Montreal Salon in late March, where Nizar and Alice received a lifetime achievement award (that's him holding it in the photo). He seemed in glowing health, enthusiastic as ever. During the show he dined with UHF's Gerard Rejskind and Stereophile's Art Dudley. He recalled old times, and spoke about his philosophy: he would never ask for a product line, and word of mouth would bring manufacturers to him.
Two weeks after the Salon, he suffered a massive heart attack, and he died a few hours later in hospital.
We grieve for this long-time client...supplier...and friend. He leaves a huge gap.
The good news? Nabil began to work at May Audio before the age of 16. He too is best known by his first name, and he has the same approach to customers as his father. Word of mouth brings him product lines. He has been well taught.
Rest in peace, Nizar. We shall always miss you. |
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April 23rd: Last chance -- save us a stamp |
As we prepare issue No. 89 for production, we're also preparing to send out renewal notices to readers whose subscriptions are on life support, or which have exited this life. We've notified those with an e-mail address, but next week we'll mail out the snail mail reminders.
Naturally that costs us money, and we'd rather put that money into actually making the magazine better. To save us a stamp, pop over to our renewal page, and you can renew or extend your subscription in seconds.
The reminder is especially important for readers in Ontario and BC. Renew now and pay only the 5% GST. Wait till July 1st and you'll be paying 13% HST (Ontario) or 12% (BC). It's not our call, the devil government makes us do it!
BY THE WAY: Flash Sale time again. Calling all analog aficionados!
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April 15th: 3D for home theatre (or not!) |
Everybody's jumping on the bandwagon. Now that 3D movies are fetching premium ticket prices at the cinema, such companies as Panasonic, Samsung and Sharp are rushing to bring out the next generation of TV sets and Blu-ray players. The attraction: 3D.
 The photo at right is from last January's CES. Yes, you pretty much do need glasses to see 3D.
The problem is not so much the glasses, nor perhaps the fact that so many people have not yet finished paying off their new 2D HDTVs. It's the lack of real 3D content.
You may have seen Avatar, which had the distinction of having been shot in real 3D (well, insofar as anything in the movie can be called real). And perhaps you're rushing off to see the new IMAX 3D movie about the Hubble space telescope. Those are real 3D movies. But you've possibly read about all the 2D movies being "converted" to 3D. Can it be done?
That will be the subject of a feature in our next issue, titled When 3D Falls Flat (how's that for giving away the punch?). Is such a conversion possible? Yes, but that's not the whole answer, and you may want to read it before you upgrade to home 3D.
BY THE WAY: It's Flash Sale time again. If the way your system gets its electrical current is holding it back, well... |
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April 6th: Return of the glitch (now solved) |
 As you may already know, the server that handles our on-line orders was hit late last week by a distributed denial-of-service attack, a deliberate action to bring it down through the use of a "botnet," large numbers of compromised Windows PC's. The system was back up using an alternative server, but is currently down once again..
Everybody is hard at work on this. In the meantime, the workaround is the telephone: 450-651-5720, typically 9-5 weekdays, Eastern Daylight Time.
We hope the system will come back up later today, and we're staying on top of it.
UPDATE: The order system is back on line, and we're receiving orders as usual. We should add that a Distributed Denial of Service attack is designed to bring down a Web site (and that it did!) not to steal data from it. Our back end server requires not one but two passwords before we can get at your credit card details. It's about as safe a system as you can imagine, which is why we use it. |
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April 4th: Server back on line |
 It came at a bad time, but it's now fixed. Our back-end service, the one that handles Web orders for magazines, books, recordings and other gear, was down part of this weekend. It was hit by a distributed denial-of-service attack. That's (typically) when a million virus-compromised Windows computers, controlled from overseas like so many sleeper cells, all demand connection at the same time.
But we're good to go again. We had just sent out renewal notices to subscribers, and you can once again renew on line. Or you can start a new subscription. Or you can order a back issue. Or of course you can visit our Audiophile Store.
However, as promised, we are extending our Flash Sale all this week because of the outage. It's a must for anyone moving to high end vinyl. |
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April 3rd: DOS attack against our back-end server |
As of now, our back-end server (the one that handles our on-line orders) is down. Clicking on a "Click to Buy" button results in a "server not found" error.
 The cause is a "denial of service attack," in which a large number of connection requests are sent to the server, overwhelming it. This is usually done with the help of a "botnet," a network of compromised Windows PCs that are controlled without the knowledge of their owners, and can be remotely controlled to send spam (98% of spam is sent that way), to serve illegal material (such as child porn), or to overwhelm servers and bring them down.
Like spam, the purpose is usually criminal. "Nice little server youse got dere, it would be a shame if something were to happen to it."
We hope the server will be back up shortly. Our Flash Sale was to end at the start of the week, but because of the outage we will leave it up all week. |
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April 2nd: The top Moon phono preamp gets upgraded |
 We thought the Moon LP5.3 was one of the best phono preamps available at anything close to a reasonable price. And then Simaudio improves it further...and for good measure changes the model name. And the price too, alas, though it remains a bargain.
So we've added it to our Audiophile Store analog page. We're also making it the star of this weekend's Flash Sale, which, exceptionally, runs through Tuesday at 10 am. Get the 310LP at the price of the LP5.3, and get a free power cord: our own UHF14F shielded cord with Furutech connectors (which sells for $174.95). And you can still get a bargain on interconnects ordered at the same time.
We offer the same bargain on the new 320S power supply for the phono preamp: $100 off plus a free power cord. |
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March 29th: Goodbye to a successful Montreal Salon |
 Yes, the ducks are back. How often have you found yourself walking from the hotel lobby to your room and been able to see assorted ducks waddling under the trees? When have you had that experience at an audio show? Visitors on their way to listen to high end gear were stopping to watch them, and take pictures.
Our final report on the 2010 Montreal Salon Son&Image has now been filed. Click here to go right to it, or click here to start from the beginning.
It was, as you'll see, a success, probably the best version yet of this annual event, which has been running for 23 years (albeit with a big gap between the first and second).
There were more good rooms than ever, and a surprising lack of toxic rooms. The details are a click away. |
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March 28th: One more day of the Montreal Salon |
 It's all over but the... Actually there's one more day of the Salon Son & Image at Montreal's picturesque Hotel Bonaventire. Yes, we'll be there.
The speaker you see at right is the Triangle Magellan, a not-so-small bookshelf speaker from France ($6500). It's one of several smaller but potent speakers we've heard so far at the Salon. We listened to a Mozart aria, which was most pleasant. Click here to read our second day report, or start at the beginning with the Salon Preview.
There was, by the way, some confusion as to the show's closing time. On Saturday the Salon usually runs through 6 pm. The show guide listed 5 pm, but habit is a powerful force, and much of the show ran over. No harm done.
Four of us are touring the show. Albert Simon, as usual, is taking around other people, audiophiles or not, including S.O.'s (significant others), and noting what they think.
Expect the final show report to show up Monday morning, once we've all had some sleep.
BY THE WAY: The Flash Sale is still on, and turns through Monday morning. |
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March 26th: Daily report on the Montreal Salon |
The Montreal Salon Son & Image is on all weekend at the Bonavenure hotel, and we're on the spot. You can read our preview, and our report on the first day is on line too.
 So far the reactions, both from exhibitors and from attendees we've talked to are positive, and the move from the Sheraton has been well received. Well, almost. The sandwiches are too expensive, or so we hear.
The show runs through Sunday the 28th. We'll be here all weekend, filing daily reports.
Oh, the duck? We thought you'd never ask. The hotel sits atop a massive complex, and features a four-seasons outdoor pool and what serves as a wildlife habitat. Albert Simon snapped this gorgeous bird while he was touring the exhibits on Friday.
It's one more reason to be enthusiastic about the change in venue! |
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March 19th: Salon preview on line |
 Yes, the Montreal show, dubbed the Salon Son&Image, opens next week. There's a trade day Thursday, and then you can come visit as of Friday the 26th. This year it's at the Bonaventure Hotel, still downtown, atop the Métro station of the same name.
As usual UHF will be covering it, with daily reports prepared on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday (but possibly going on line early the next morning). The Friday report will include the Thursday trade-only day -- yes, we get privileges!
If you plan to attend, you can come Friday between 11 am and 9 pm, Saturday from 10 am to 6 pm, and Sunday from 10 am to 4 pm.
While you're preparing, you can already read our online preview of the show, and that will be your starting point for our daily coverage once the Salon is underway.
BY THE WAY: It's Flash Sale time again, through Monday morning. |
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March 18th: UHF's new DAC |
We've been doing a lot of work with the computer as a digital audio source, as you may know. On deck for review in UHF No. 89 (which can be previewed at The Reading Room, but is not yet published) is Simaudio's new digital-to-analog converter, the 300D. The results stunned us. With that plus the other improvements we have made recently, we can do better than with all but the very best DVD players.
 Should we consider acquiring a 300D for ourselves? We hadn't really budgeted for this, but we do need a new DAC for further work. Our Counterpoint DA-10A was getting long in the tooth, and in fact we hadn't realized how old it was until we looked it up. It was reviewed way back in issue No. 44...and that was in 1995! More than time for a change, for sure. Sold!
And then Simaudio asked us something else. Since the two Moon phono preamps are listed at our Audiophile Store, would we like to add the 300D as well?
We employ our usual criterion for stuff at the store: would we recommend this product to our best friends? The answer is an emphatic yes.
You can see it on our Digital Page, from which you can order it for $1598, or you can get it bundled with a heavily-discounted digital cable too. You can also add one or more of our own TOSLINK optical cables, for use with a computer or an Airport Express. And we'll even give you a discount from our UHF14F shielded 14-gauge power cord, with Furutech connectors.
As for us, we're having fun listening to it! |
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March 11th: Samsung goes 3D |
As you know, we've just reviewed a Samsung "LED" TV. The full writeup will be in our next issue, going to press soon. Of course we knew that there were more advanced models on the horizon, and indeed we had seen some of them at CES in January.
 But Samsung has decided to steal a march on rival Panasonic, which seemed to have an insurmountable lead in 3D home theatre. It has launched its 3D product lineup at a big party at Times Square in New York.
The guy at the right in the picture is Will.I.Am (that's how he spells it) of The Black Eyed Peas, who were performing for the launch, and whose 3D concert footage will be used in Samsung's worldwide promotion. The guy next to him is some movie director, who has brought out this movie with a lot of blue people in it...perhaps you've heard of it!
Samsung’s new 3D TV lineup includes the LED 7000/8000/9000 series, the LCD 750 Series, and the plasma 7000/8000 series. Available this month are the 3D-capable 46” and 55” LED C7000, with the others coming later.
Of course the question you'll be asking is whether 3D is going anywhere, either in cinemas or in home theatre. We're just in the midst of the big digital-TV switchover, and a lot of people are making monthly payments on big-screen HDTV's that are still under warranty. Are they ready for another upgrade so soon?
We don't know the answer. Audiophiles may be used to making expensive upgrades every year or two, but they're a small fraction of the population. On the other hand, we've already called dibs on review gear.
BY THE WAY: The Free Advice section has now been updated. More still coming shortly. |
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March 9th: Ending with a terrific product |
Our final review session for the next issue of UHF took place Friday (after that, it's all over but the writing). We enjoy good products more than bad or mediocre ones, simply because we have a better time, and the final one pleased us a lot.
 It's of a new digital-to-analog converter from Simaudio, the Moon 300D. DAC's are coming back in vogue, because in an increasing number of high end systems, the CD player is just one digital source, and an outboard DAC can handle them all. We tried the $1400 300D with our own CD player (the Linn Unidisk 1.1), with our laptop computer via both USB and TOSLINK digital, and with an Airport Express connected to our in-house Wi-Fi. The unanimous conclusion: this is one terrific product.
It does have one down side you'll want to know about, and you'll want to read the full report in our next issue, but that won't stop us from recommending it warmly.
The potential for computer audio as a high end source keeps developing, and it's moving quickly. We're trying to keep up, and we'll keep you up to date as well. |
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March 5th: Final review session |
 On Wednesday we did a head-to-head comparison of our Samsung plasma HDTV and the newer Samsung LED-edgelit LCD set. Well, we knew the plasma would still win, but the full review will tell you a lot more about what you can expect.
Today we listen to a new DAC (the 300D, $1400) from Simaudio. We'll try it on pretty much very input it's got, and we'll see what happens. We're eager to see, in particular, how high a resolution it's capable of delivering. We have on hand some of Reference Recordings' wonderful HRx files, with 24-bit resolution and a 176.4 kHz sampling rate.
BY THE WAY: It's Friday, and that means it's Flash Sale time again. The LP store is the target this time, but the sale lasts only through Monday morning, and this time there are no rain checks. |
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March 3rd: Preview of UHF 89 now on line |
No, the new issue is not yet in production, and in fact we have two review sessions ahead of us, Wednesday and Friday. But a number of page are already put to bed, including the cover and the table of contents. And that's enough for us to put them up on line at The Reading Room.
 You know the drill -- go there, click on the miniature copy of the cover (which looks just like the one at right), and see the cover full-sized. Then click on that, and see the table of contents.
The loudspeaker is on the cover is an ELAC FS 249, reviewed in the new issue, where it will garner warm comments from all of us. Behind it, and echoing the shapes of the drivers, is a possibly recognizable planet.
We will be picking a press date shortly, and as soon as we can we'll let you know when you can expect the issue in your mailbox (which is, of course, never if your subscription is not up to date).
Wednesday's review, as we have just noted, is of an LED-lit HDTV, which will go up against our reference plasma set (which will win, we expect, but by how much remains to be seen). The other movie-oriented topic in the next issue: When 3-D Falls Flat. It's a tale of hype, borderline fraud, and downright lies. We will tell all... |
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March 2nd: Evaluating LED TV sets |
We're producing lots of pages from the forthcoming issue No. 89 of UHF Magazine. We will be winding up our listening sessions for the issue this week. Oh yes...and our viewing session too.
We're about to put an LED-backlit (actually edge-lit) TV set up against our reference plasma display. Both are Samsungs. We do expect the plasma to win, but we also expect the LED-LCD model to do much, much better than LCD's have been before.
The session will be done with (of course) Blu-ray films. We have a considerable collection now, and we've fingered some likely suspects for this session. We are of course not going to be running either set in "torch mode," the way they're operated in overlit big box stores. We'll get them looking as much alike as we can, and evaluate some possible key differences: black levels, shadow detail, tonal accuracy (or in any case plausibility), and handling of motion.
On the final day of tests (that's Friday, we'll be listening to a new digital-to-analog converter from Simaudio, the 300D. We've already heard it enough to expect good things from it, though it does have one down side, which we will get to in our published review.
The cover of the next issue is done, by the way, and it will turn up shortly over at The Reading Room, as will the full table of contents. |
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February 19th: Two phono stages, and a surprise |
Wednesday was spent listening to the two phono stages we had (foolishly) hoped to get to last week. We hadn't, because the Allnic L-1500 tube preamp had swallowed up our time, and we didn't really want to stop listening to it. Good sign?
 One of the phono stages reviewed this time was also an Allnic, but the real surprise was the Leema Elements, shown here. It's had rave writeups in the UK, but it's made there, so we take these things with a little more sodium than is good for us. Anyway, how can we consider seriously a phono preamp that costs over $1000 and includes a wall wart?
But that was before we heard it. We still think a better power supply would be helpful, but whatever sort of circuit is inside the little box is pretty terrific. We're looking forward to telling you all about it in UHF No. 89.
BY THE WAY: If you want to isolate your CD player, amplifier, etc. from vibration, don't miss this weekend's Flash Sale, which runs through Monday morning. |
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February 16th: A first review, more coming tomorrow |
We were right...Friday wasn't nearly enough to let us get through three separate review sessions. Actually we got through just one, and it was an important one.
 It was a day well spent with the Allnic L-1500 preamplifier. You'll recall that we've done a couple of products from this small Korean company, including a particularly excellent phono step-up transformer in our current issue. Allnic goes in for hand-wound transformers and hand-built tube circuits, which is what we have here. We extended the available time, because it turned out to be (did we already mention this?) a day well spent.
Coming up in tomorrow's sessions: an Allnic tube phono stage, which actully incorporates the step-up transformer already reviewed, and another phono stage from Leema. On deck: ELAC speakers with Heil tweeters, and a new digital-to-analog converter from Simaudio. |
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February 12th: Review sessions starting |
 We're not really all that far away from our press date for UHF No. 89, and so we're beginning listening sessions today. First up: a tube line state from Korea, which you can see here. Actually, ours is black (you get a choice when you order).
If we get time, we'll also lend an ear to a pair of phono preamps, one from Korea also, the other from the UK. If not (and we suspect the preamp is going to take some time), we'll get to them next week.
We'll tell you more shortly.
BY THE WAY: Want a terrific MC phono preamp for free? Yes, for free. Check our Flash Sale, not later than Monday at 10 am EST. |
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February 7th: Breaking in new gear |
The review sessions begin next week, and we're busy breaking in gear, in two different systems, so that they're ready for listening.
 How do we do it? The Moon 300D digital-to-analog converter, shown in this picture, is being fed via our own optical cable from an Airport Express module, which is streaming music from the huge collection on a hard drive in a different room. The 300D is feeding an amplifier, which is in turn feeding the ELAC speakers we mentioned a couple of days ago. They were factory-sealed too. Simaudio says the Moon needs 300 hours of break-in time. That's nearly two weeks. We'll do the best we can, and we're running it 24/7..
In fact we'll be starting our sessions with other gear, which got a head start on the break-in, namely two phono preamps and a line stage preamplifier.
Some critics of UHF (and of what they call scornfully the "subjective" school of reviewing) reject the idea that electronic products need breaking in at all. Our suggestion: take a 30-kilometre hike in brand new shoes, and we'll visit you in the intensive care ward. |
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February 5th: Preparing for review sessions |
By the end of today we will have all of the products scheduled for review in issue No. 89 of UHF, including a loudspeaker, two of whose drivers you see here.
 The speaker is an ELAC FS 249, and this picture shows a couple of its unusual features. You've probably never seen a woofer quite like this one before. On the other hand you probably have seen a tweeter like this one. It's the justly famous Heil Air Motion Transformer. And it does things most tweeters don't do.
However we won't be starting the review sessions with these speakers, because they are a long way from being broken in. We do, however, have a number of products we have had a chance to run in, including two phono preamps, one of them with tubes and a built-in step-up transformer. We'll also have a tube preamplifier. We'll have a new digital-to-analog converter (trust us, you're going to be seeing a lot more of these over the next year or two). We have a cute little headphone amp, also with a tube in it. Anyone see a trend?
We have a couple of different devices that claim to isolate your system from harmful external vibrations. Most such devices don't work, and we have the test results to prove it, but these look potentially promising.
And we have a new HDTV, one of the LCD models backlit (or rather edge-lit) with LEDs rather than those awful fluorescent tubes. We had expected two of them, actually, but the second one, from a company we won't name, failed to show in time for our deadline. We will of course be putting this set up against our reference Samsung plasma.
The next issue goes to press in early March.
BY THE WAY: It's Flash Sale time again. It's not often we offer a free product, but we have one this time...a product some audiophiles have billed as the biggest upgrade they have ever made. Check it out...but do it before Monday at 10 am. |
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February 2nd: The viol makes a comeback at The Audiophile Store |
The viol family of instruments looks something like the modern violin, viola, cello and double bass, but it is a cousin, not an ancestor, and its sound is different, richer in harmonics, haunting. Some years ago the film Tous les matins du monde (All the mornings of the world) triggered a boom in sales of viol recordings. Lucky us...our Audiophile Store then had the soundtrack album, and we ordered them in by the crateload.
 The M•A record label has a new recording of viol music by Marin Marais, the subject of the film, and it is by far the best-sounding such recording we have heard. The suites on this remarkable CD includes a piece in homage to his mentor (also the subjct of the film), Sainte-Colombe.
The viol has a deeply resonant sound, but with a harmonic structure that is unique. It is off-putting at first, but itgrows on you quickly, and then you want to hear more.
Todd Garfinkle of M•A makes wonderful recordings, and the first three titles we added to our store have been ordered in large quantities since we first listed them last Fall. We've added this one, and we think you'll want to have it too. Just go to our M•A page, where you can listen to an excerpt, and then order your own copy. Of course, lend an ear to the first three as well. All are in stock and waiting for you. |
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January 29th: More thoughts on the iPad |
We're generally reasonably enthusiastic about Apple products (UHF has been created on Macintosh computers since 1984, and we even taught some major league magazines how to use them). Still, we know how how to restrain ourselves. Our current issue includes an in-depth article on the Apple TV, and as you may have noticed it is mostly negative.
 So what about the iPad, the $499 (and up) slate computer launched by Steve Jobs two days ago? Public reaction on line has been negative, even vicious. So were early reports from analysts, who were expecting...well, who knows what? It doesn't have a camera. It doesn't have Flash, It doesn't have multitasking. What kind of name is iPad? Fail! (What would the trolls do without that word?)
But the same trolls said the same things about the first iPod, because they couldn't see that the innovation was not so much the device itself as the ecosystem that would accompany it. In the same way, we think Jobs spent too much time dazzling us with the hardware and not enough on the coming ecosystem. Our take: this is huge, by far the technology story of the year, perhaps the decade.
It's surely no secret that Apple has been in intensive talks with the publishers of major newspapers and magazines, many of whom are staring into the abyss. The talks have been of limited scope because of Jobs' usual care to keep the new product secret. Now the wraps are off, and the talks will begin in earnest. Print publications will not abandon the presses for a while, perhaps not for a long time, but there will be a rapid migration toward the iPad just as the record labels quickly migrated to the iTunes store. That store, need we stress, is the biggest music retailer in the US, one of the bigest in the world.
We do expect to have a presence in the iPad ecosystem. And this afternoon, we received confirmation from Apple that we have been accepted in the iPad/iPhone developer program.
We'll keep you in the loop.
BY THE WAY: Analog fans (or wannabe analog fans) shouldn't miss this weekend's Flash Sale, which runs through Monday morning. |
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January 27th: UHF on the Apple iPad |
| Steve Jobs revealed the Apple tablet, called the iPad, and the demo included UHF Magazine, no less.
No it didn't, we lie. It actually included such publications as the New York Times and the New Yorker, but the rumor mill had it that Jobs was introducing not just a new gadget but a reinvention of print media. He would save the printed press. The iPad would do for print what the iPod and the iTunes store had done for music. How could we not be interested?
But our enthusiasm may have been premature. Jobs did show off a new store, called iBooks, to sell...well, books of course. Magazines? Newspapers? Just images, but no plans revealed. Shoot!
It looks as though we'll have to go ahead and reserve press time for UHF No. 89 after all, even though that's so 20th Century. It will be in early March.
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January 25th: Lexicon busted? |
The story originated with Audioholics, but it has been sweeping across the blogosphere. The new Lexicon BD-30 Blu-ray player, with its $3500 price tag, is in fact an Oppo BDP-83, the much-praised economy Blu-ray/SACD/HDCD player available for just $500.
There is of course a tradition of high end companies modifying and upgrading off-the-shelf mass-market players and rebadging them at considerably more than the original price. Entire high-end companies got their start in that way, including MSB and McCormack (once known as The Mod Squad). Better power supplies, superior analog circuits made with discrete transistors...it's all a big help, and it's legitimate.
However Audioholics claims that Lexicon went to no such trouble, and it confirmed it by dismantling both players and comparing them side by side. Their conclusion: Lexicon built a new chassis with a fancy faceplate, and dropped the entire unmodified Oppo player inside!
The Oppo is on the left, the Lexicon on the right. You be the judge. Better yet, drop by the relevant Audioholics page and check out both the text and the additional side-by-side photos.
We're hoping to see a comment by Lexicon's parent company, Harman International, soon. A story like this can destroy a brand name, and it won't take months to do so.
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January 22nd: Free HD movies from the NFB |
That's the National Film Board of Canada. Even in Hollywood it's legendary as a pioneer in film, and we've heard major producers tell us that we just don't appreciate what we've got.
So now's our chance to find out.
 The NFB has long maintained, in major Canadian cities, a "Robotheque," a place where you can go and tell the "robot" what you wanted to watch from the NFB's vast stock. The original user interface was designed by then-UHF reviewer Henry See.
But time marches on, and many of the NFB's productions have migrated to the Web. And if you have the bandwidth, you can now view some films in high definition. And that includes some Oscar-nominated (and Oscar-winner) productions. You don't have to be Canadian, either. Just go to the NFB site. For productions in French, you can visit the site of the Office National du Film, which also has HD on line. The ONF also offers a free app for the iPhone and the iPod touch, though no English-language version yet exists.
BY THEWAY: It's Flash Sale time again, and, exceptionally, we've duplicated last week's Flash Sale, the one offering half-price on back issues. But there won't be a third time, and it ends Monday morning. Go for it! |
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January 15th: A big Flash Sale |
 We're back in the office and starting to make our way through the orders that have poured in since we left for Vegas and CES on January 3rd. We expect to be pretty much caught up by Monday.
Because of CES there was no Flash Sale last weekend, so we're making up for it this weekend. Only once before has a Flash Sale targeted UHF Magazine itself, and even so it was nothing like this sale. Do a quick calculation, and you can actually subscribe, or extend your subscription...for free!
(We're extending the same privilege to readers who subscribed or renewed earlier in 2010.)
But remember, the Flash Sale ends Monday at 10 am EST.
UPDATE: It's now over, but it returns every Friday at 3 pm.
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January 14th: And now back to work |
Not that doing all those Vegas reports wasn't work, but since the start of the year we've been offering no more than a skeleton crew service. We do it every year so that we can give CES our full attention.
 But as we wing back home, we'll be preparing shipments of recordings, magazines, accessories, books, whatever you've ordered (the first mail truck arrives Friday around 3 pm). Anything we don't catch will go out Monday.
Oh yes...Friday 3 pm.
That's the hour our next Flash Sale will begin. It involves magazines, we can tell you that much, and it's a one-time opportunity to get your hands on some reading material. It runs, as usual, through Monday at 10 am EST. Watch for it. |
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January 11th: Oracle Delphi MkVI |
Yes, there is, finally, an Oracle Mk VI turntable!
 That was one of the revelations of CES 2010, which ended yesterday. You can see the details at our Day 4 coverage, or -- if you want to follow the shows along with us -- start with the Day Zero report and see them all.
Oracle founder Jacques Riendeau (that's him at right) says it's a shame it has taken 30 years to make these advances. What we can tell you is that the effect is dramatic, and that if you own a MkV Delphi...yes, an upgrade is available.
As for us, we have some meetings scheduled, and we fly back to cold Montreal on Thursday. Our offices reopen on Friday the 15th. That, by the way, will be the date of the next Flash Sale, starting at 3 pm EST. |
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January 9th: Did this amp arrive in Vegas by time machine? |
Our coverage of the two shows in Vegas continues. You can read our daily reports (starting with Day Zero) here.
 This was one of the many tube amplifiers we spotted at T.H.E.Show. How's that for a retro look? Check the black crinkled finish, the 40's-styled switches and "jewel" pilot lights. And how about that sound VU level meter at the rear? Or the black identity tag?
Bending down to read the tag revealed the amplifier's identity. It's from Atma-Sphere, a company long in love with technology of an earlier day. It even refurbishes old Empire turntables and tone arms.
Oh yes, the two monoblocks did sound very good. |
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January 7th: Any surface a touch-screen |
You can read our roundup of "Day Zero" of CES in our reports from Vegas, but we wanted to tell you about Light Blue Optics, a British company whose amazing product is shown here.
 In a story that sounds not unlike that of Google, four PhD students at Cambridge came up with an idea and founded a company. The idea: a small battery-powered laser projector that can throw an image from its built-in computer onto the table in front of it. But here's the kicker: it's interactive. You can push buttons on the projected image, and you can even flick the image sideways, just as you can on an iPhone.
You can't buy one, because it's still demoware, intended to interest potential manufacturers who can find applications for it. In a short film, a tourist looks out her cab window at London Bridge, and by tapping a virtual button on the window, she can read about its history. A poster shows a pillar in a dress shop that acts like a touch-sensitive catalog page.
We hope to see this in real-life products. |
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January 6th: First CES report on line |
And it's no thanks to CES, whose press room at the Venetian is the size of a large handkerchief, with on-line access that is mainly symbolic. However we're used to the frustration that comes with trying to deal with the organizers of this (admittedly) huge show.
We'll get on line where and when we can. But you can already read the first part of our Day Zero coverage of CES. |
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January 5th: CES about to begin |
 It's another beautiful day in Vegas...more beautiful than what we left behind anyway.
When the taxi showed up to take us to the airport early Sunday morning, the street was difficult to navigate because of the overnight snow accumulation, and also because it was blocked off because another house, down the street from Château Hi-Fi, was burning! In Vegas? It was 15°C and sunny. And the trip was a delight. Because of enhanced security measures, we all had to travel nude, which tended to make the in-flight entertainment system a tad redundant.
But back to business. The Consumer Electronics Show, technically, runs four days. But before it opens there is a press day. And before the press day there is the "CES Unveiled" reception (which is not what it seems, as we shall explain later), and before that a well-known speaker manufacturer has an open house. We'll be there of course.
A few words about Vegas itself. Though it hasn't really crawled out from beneath the recession, prices aren't as low as they were a year ago. No 80% off sales at Saks Fifth Avenue, or at Brookstone, either. Perhaps that proves something, and perhaps it doesn't. The CityCenter complex, a long-abandoned joint project of MGM Grand (which is in trouble) and Dubai (need we say more?), has opened, sort of, and includes some spectacular architecture, but also some of the ugliest structures on the planet.
But we're just here for the show, and then we're leaving. It's not our problem.
The Vegas 2010 Preview is on line, and more reports will follow. |
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January 2nd: Off to Vegas |
 We've been doing this for two decades, heading down to Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show (and to Chicago back when there was a Summer CES), so we can report on it. Of course in the early days we didn't post reports on the World Wide Web because -- it seems odd to think about it -- there was no World wide Web.
You'll be seeing the first report, with text and pictures, on the morning of the 7th, but you can already read our CES Preview.
We're stil busy all day today getting orders ready for shipping, but as of tomorrow there will be only minimal service, because our offices will be closed. We're back on the 15th.
But in the meantime you'll be hearing lots from us. |
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January 1st: First terrific new recording of the year |
 Yesterday we told you about Jen Chapin's ReVisions SACD, possibly the best-sounding recording we have ever heard. Today, get a look (and a listen) to another new recording, We Get Requests, a 1964 Verve recording that has been brought back to life (and we mean life) by First Impressions Music. The disc uses pure silver as a substrate, and the K2 process which may be similar to xrcd. We liked it so much we actually included it in our equipment reviews.
Canada's Oscar Peterson was one of the jazz world's great pianists, and Ray Brown may have been the greatest bassist of all time. You can see the CD over on our Miscellaneous Disc page (we really need to set up an FIM page), and you can even listen to a sample.
BY THE WAY: Our first Flash Sale of the year is now on, and runs through Monday morning. There will be no Flash Sale next week because of the Consumer Electronics Show, so the following one will begin on January 15th. During CES itself there will be no products shipped, but order during the sale hours and you'll get the special price. |
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December 31st: Terrific new recording at the store |
 First of all, we want to wish you, in the coming year, everything you had hoped for in this dying year. For our part we're not unhappy to see it flicker out, but we're optimistic about things to come.
And now let us alert you to the last new recording to join our Audiophile Store this year. Jen Chapin is the daughter of singer Harry Chapin (her mother is famous too), and she's terrific in this set of songs from Stevie Wonder. The accompaniment (just sax and bass, but what sax, and what bass!) are just as good. Listen to the astonishing 3-D effect that the famous Soundfield microphone can provide. The full review of this hybrid SACD is in our current issue, and we used it in some of our equipment reviews too. It is perhaps the most realistic recording we have yet heard.
And we now have a few in stock. Click on the image, and you can order it. |
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December 30th: Vegas preview now on line |
It's time to pack our bags, head for the airport (well, Sunday) and prepare for pat-downs, strip searches, interminable delays, and whatever else US Homeland Security can devise in order to sink the US economy.
 But we're not here to talk about that. Our preview of CES 2010 is now on line, with the good news, the bad news, and the many details on what CEA leader Gary Shapiro has been up to in the past 12 months. The show runs from January 7th to 10th, with events on the 5th and 6th as well. We'll be reporting on all of those.
We wil also be reporting on T.H.E. Show, a disaster last year, but perhaps better this year, because it has moved to a location that is not in a different time zone.
The first report will be going up on the morning of the 7th. Follow along, and see how much fun we're having. Or not. |
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December 29th: Free Advice updated, preparing for Vegas |
 The latest instalment of our long-running (since 1982) Free Advice column is now up, and we're working on more replies. Keep the questions coming.
And now we're preparing for our wall-to-wall coverage of the two Vegas extravaganzas (CES and T.H.E.Show). At least we hope to get there. Draconian "security" rules imposed on non-US travellers going to the US are resulting in countless flights being cancelled. We don't mean delayed, we mean cancelled outright. One such rule: a plane leaves on time, or it doesn't leave at all.
Oh well, we'll see. Our Vegas preview will be on line shortly. If we can't get there, we'd guess a lot of other people won't get there either. Las Vegas, need we remind you, used to be a desert. It could be again. |
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December 23rd: Better wireless audio at the Garage Sale |
A lot of the products we offer at our Garage Sale are new, but some are demos, and that includes a new hardware offering we've just added.
We mentioned in our current issue that, to our surprise, streaming uncompressed audio to an Airport Express over the 5 GHz band results in far better sound than it does if you use the crowded 2.4 GHz band. So we're offering, for $89.95, a Netgear router that broadcasts over both bands at the same time. It's a demo, tested (it works fine) but never installed.
Speaking of bargains, our Flash Sale normally begins Friday at 3 pm. But that's Christmas Day, so we'll actually launch it Thursday at noon. |
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December 20th: Our Christmas schedule |
 We're still hard at work filling orders for magazines, books, recordings, audio accessories and other products, including Van den Hul electronics and Thorens turntables. We'll be going at it until noon Thursday, the 24th, Our daily mail truck comes early on Christmas Eve, and we'll be doing a final shipment then.
We will of course be closed on the 25th, and also Monday the 28th.
We'll update you shortly on our schedule for the New Year, including our usual on-line extravaganza during the Consumer Electronics Show. Our preview of CES 2010 will be going on line shortly. |
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December 18th: Fake Steve Jobs nails it |
We want to draw your attention to a blog entry that has a lot to say about what has happened to our increasingy mercantile (read: brain-dead) economic ecosystem. Does it have anything to do with high end audio? Oh, does it ever! We leave you to ponder it and draw the conclusions you find appropriate.
 The blog entry is from Fake Steve Jobs. His real name is Daniel Lyons, and he writes for Newsweek, though for the first couple of years, when he was writing The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs, his identity was the subject of much speculation.
The subject is the iPhone, but if you read it carefully (or even not that carefully), you'll see that it's about much more than that. The posting was prompted by some loose talk by a top executive at AT&T (the carrier that has iPhone exclusivity in the US) about the fact iPhone users use a lot of bandwidth, that 3% of customers burn through 40% of available bandwidth, and that AT&T might use some sort of incentive (actually disincentive) to get iPhone owners to use their devices less. Good idea?
Not according to Fake Steve Jobs, who went ballistic, and posted a (fake) interview with the CEO of AT&T. Everyone should read it, not just AT&T (or iPhone) users.
Notice that we have not yet given you the link. Just before we do, we will warn you that Lyons' alter ego uses all of the vocabulary that the English language, in its wisdom, provides for. If your ears bleed easily, don't click, and continue to believe in the Tooth Fairy.
But everyone else should read this and think about it. Here is the link, which will cause the post to open in a new window.
BY THE WAY: It's Flash Sale time again, which means you have a couple of chances to save big on speaker cables and balanced interconnects. Till Monday morning. |
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December 17th: Panasonic buys Sanyo |
We can't say this is a huge surprise, since companies worldwide have been snapping each other up in the interests of synergy (that's spelled m-o-n-o-p-o-l-y). But the reason for Sanyo's particular attractiveness might come as a surprise.
It's this device you see here.
 Eneloop batteries may look like other NiMH (nickel-metal-hydride) rechargeable batteries, but Sanyo makes extravagant claims for it.
For one thing, they come already charged (coming soon, cigarettes that come already lit). This works only because, Sanyo claims, their self-discharge rate is low, meaning that they hold a charge much better than othet rechargeables. Other claims: they have much higher capacity, and a long life: a thousand charge-discharge cycles. And they have low impedance, so that they maintain higher voltage under load.
That might sound like PR bumpf, but we've been working with these for the last six months, and the claims seem to check out. Eneloop batteries are by far the best rechargeables we've seen, and indeed their capacity can rival or surpass that of alkalines. Has the Energizer bunny met his match?
Apparently it's the Eneloop technology that attracted the attention of Panasonic. After all, Panasonic already makes pretty much everything Sanyo does, including cameras and batteries, but this is something new. Panasonic also has its eye on another Sanyo technology, incolving solar cells.
Panasonic paid US$4.6 billion for just over 50% of Sanyo. |
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December 14th: Silver and copper prices |
We've received some comments about our last entry, in which we said that, at today's commodity prices, silver costs less than copper does. That has obvious importance in the audio cable world, in which silver cables are often double the price of copper. Can it be true? Not exacty.
Checking commodity prices at bloombeg.com, we get prices of about $17 per troy ounce for silver and $26.22 a pound for copper (both figures in US dollars). Let's do a little conversion.
A troy ounce is not the same as the unit you may buy bananas in. It's equivalent to 31.1 grams. So silver costs currently about $0.55 per gram.
An avoirdupoid pound (the familiar US and British measure) contains 454 g. So copper costs $0.06 per gram, about a tenth as much.
But the real-life difference may be less, because elemental copper are not what you use to make wire. Proper wire is made from highly-processed oxygen-free copper, or even continuous-cast copper, either of which is many times more expensive. |
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December 14th: Making fun of cables |
Do we believe in the importance of good audio and video cables? You bet. Is the high end cable industry filled with snake oil salesmen? You've said a mouthful, there. Is it easy to tell the good guys from the bad guys? Problem is, the bad guys are giving the good guys a black eye.
 Last week, Wireworld launched its Super Platinum HDMI cable, shown here. "Platinum" is just a name, and in fact it's made of silver, which is actually cheaper not wildly more expensive than the usual copper, believe it or not. What attracted the attention of such technology blogs as Engadget is the price, $1000. And that's for the 1m length. There will be a 30 m length as well.
What makes a digital cable worth that sort of money? According to the press release, it has:
molded carbon fiber connectors, the company's unique new 24-conductor DNA Helix™ design with solid silver conductors, and high-speed/high-bandwidth capabilities to meet even the most stringent system requirements - including the new HDMI v1.4 High Speed with Ethernet specification.
As a point of information, HDMI Licensing, LLC now forbids licensees from using HDMI versions to label their cables, and Wireworld is a little near the line there (though specifying the Ethernet spec is okay). But it was the price that got the bloggers going. Engadget had little trouble making up its mind.
It has a patent-pending DNA Helix conductor design formed by the gods themselves out of 24 solid silver conductors. Hell, $1,000 is probably a bargain for one of these one meter cables. Your eyes are worth it, after all. You're welcome.
Figure there's a touch of sarcasm here? Of course, readers chimed in with even more vicious responses. Some samples:
Wait, next week Monster will come out with their $2000 cable made from Gypsy tears
They are more expensive, but the fact of the matter is that there *is* a difference between the cheapest speaker cable and more expensive speaker cable, as speaker cable transmits an analogue signal whereas with HDMI transmitting a digital signal, there are only 0's and 1's being transmitted so absolutely NO difference between the cheapest $5 cable and this. Even a $1-2 HDMI will do exactly the same job, coz HDMI is digital. I've got multiple HDMI sources hooked up to my HDTV, through an HDMI switch, coz I'm running out of HDMI ports LOL:
I've bought nothing but those one cent cables from Amazon, and never had a single problem.
Is that cable strong enough to hang someone from marketing?
Awesome. Nothing says signal quality like a carbon-fiber connector shroud. Because if it makes race cars faster, it must make TV pixels faster.
Ooohhhhh... pretty! What kind of nonsense could they possibly be using in their cables to get the price that high? Platinum core wire? Plus a 1500% luxury-dumbass markup?
Notice the reference to Monster Cable? Bloggers have been on Monster's case since someone ran a blind test comparing a Monster speaker cable to a set of untwisted coathangers. We're not here to defend Monster (and indeed, we recently published a negative review of their optical cable), but we're unhappy with the fact that such over-the-top products push so many people to the opposite camp. They then assume that a $3 cable must be a ripoff, because you can get one for $2.35. They also bring out of the woodwork the pseudo-engineers, the ones who proclaim that digital cables are all the same, because bits is bits (the "last week I couldn't spell engineer, now I are one" crowd).
Full disclosure: our Audiophile Store once sold Wireworld cables. We became increasingly disenchanted with the company, and found what we consider to be a better supplier. Even back then, we were refusing to carry some Wireworld products we considered absurdly expensive.
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December 10th: UHF free edition on line, print issue arrives tomorrow |
 Our free edition contains a lot more than you might expect, because about half the articles are complete, and can be read on-screen. You can see it over at The Reading Room, where you just click on the thumbnail of the UHF 88 cover,.
The print issues left the Beauceville printing plant today, and we'll be getting them tomorrow morning. By Monday, copies to subscribers will be in the mail.
For those who have ordered the free paid edition from MagZee, it will be available as of tomorrow as well.
With the new issue well and truly launched, we are now concentrating on the content for the next issue, and we are actually doing the first review listening session tomorrow afternoon! The subject is a high end loudspeaker cable.
We will also be turning our attention to the Consumer Electronics Show, because a major report on CES will be part of the next issue. We'll be getting a preview on line in the next few days. In the meantime you can still get a look at our daily reports from the 2009 edition.
UPDATE: The new issue has been delivered, and is now on line for subscribers and all who have ordered the issue. Go to MagZee and log in with your user name and password. Remember that it's always case-sensitive, so watch that shift key.
BY THE WAY: The Flash Sale is on again, and runs all weekend. We've just topped up our stock of certain items, and it seems to be a good time to offer some specials. |
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December 9th: Renewal forms mailed, UHF 88 set to ship |
We did as we usually do: we sent renewal notices first to subscribers who have e-mail adresses. True, many of those addresses are out of date (or bogus), but thanks to the many readers who renewed on-line, and saved us the cost of a stamp.
But if you haven't yet, you'll be getting our renewal form in the next few days.
And unless your subscription is well and truly dead, you'll also be getting issue No. 88 of UHF. It's been printed, and despite the massive snowstorm that has struck Quebec, it will be shipped tomorrow, and we should have it Friday.
So will the fulfilment house that sends copies to subscribers, so it will soon be in the mail, and then in your mailbox.
The electronic edition will be published at the same time. |
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December 4th: The limits of USB audio??? |
We hate this, hate this, when our magazine is not even yet released (it will be here probably at the end of next week) and we already have to do an update on a major review. But here goes.
 In the new issue we give an extended listen to Reference Recordings' HRx high-resolution files, using three different digital-to-analog converters, including the Cambridge DACMagic (shown here). We also published a full review of the DACMagic.
Full review? Not quite. Reader Jeff Tennant pointed out a page in the FAQ of Cambridge Audio:
Question: Is it possible to pass a 96 kHz, 24 bit signal from my computer to the DacMagic through the USB connection?
Answer: No, over USB, it will always be a 16/44.1 or 48 kHz input to the DacMagic as that's all that standard USB audio can do. This is simply a limitation of standard USB audio.
Now, this is flat-out wrong, and Cambridge should know better. Indeed, a lot of 24/96 recordings are getting made with pro or prosumer-level interface boxes that connect to a computer via USB. However we had done our evaluation of HRx using an optical cable, and we hadn't thought to try the USB link. So we've gone back to try it, and sure enough the Cambridge can't do it. Though our MacBook Pro happily outputs 24/96 to our Edirol UA-25, with the Cambridge it allows no more than 16/48.
The FAQ proceeds to reassure us that this truncated signal will, however, be upsampled to 192 kHz. Yes, well, thanks for nothing.
In any case, we'll know better than to take things like this for granted.
BY THE WAY: It's Flash Sale time once more, running from now through Monday morning at 10 am. This week, a special price on one of our former reference components, loudspeaker cables, and a very special ofer on our magazines. |
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December 2nd: The next issue of UHF in production |
We had reserved time on the presses for November 30th (Monday), and we made it, albeit rather late at night, as the last details were put into place.
Of course we long ago put behind us the procedure which has someone from the pre-press lab coming to pick up the material. Printers don't need films anymore, because they go directly from computer to printing plates. We now do our own Postscript rendering (our new computer can do the whole issue in 90 seconds!), and the pages fly over our fibre optic Internet connection to…
 Well, to Beauceville, well north of Quebec City, where the Interglobe printing plant is located. Even the proofs will come to us electronically, probably tomorrow.
While we're waiting for delivery (originally scheduled for mid-month, but possibly coming sooner), we're preparing the two electronic editions. The paid version, bound for MagZee (which you can preorder here), will be released the same day as the magazine is delivered. The free edition (which looks just like the paid edition, and is about half complete, should be available before the end of next week.Of course you can see the preview (the cover and the table of contents) over at The Reading Room.
We got into scheduling problems with this issue, for what may be obvious reasons. Publication of issue 87 was way late, for reasons beyond our control, and we wanted to get caught up by getting No. 88 out before the end of the year. We succeeded, but we had a lot of events colliding: the principal photography (two days), the final review listening session, which was just Tuesday of last week, and a final marathon of writing and correcting.
But we're quite excited about this issue, which we think has a lot of interesting material in it. We hope you'll agree. |
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November 27th: All out push to get UHF 88 into production |
Press time has been reserved for Monday, for delivery before the holidays. There's still a lot to do, so it will be a busy weekend.
We had a final listening session on Tuesday, and that was certainly a scramble. A product scheduled for review failed, leaving us with a hole. Fortunately, we had a backup product.
It seems we had more reviews than usual this time, and we spent a lot of time in the Omega listening room, but at least we got everything done.
A reminder: if you've moved, or if your subscription needs renewing, this is a good time to e-mail us and let us know.
BY THE WAY: It's Black Friday in the US, and the blowout sale tradition has spread worldwide. Amusingly enough, this year it coincides with Buy Nothing Day, when you're supposed to give consuming a rest. As if! But we're getting into the act with our Flash Sale, which this weekend is very much analog-oriented. |
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November 23rd: Free Advice updated, final review session |
We have just updated our Free Advice section, surely the longest-running audio advice section ever (it began in September 1982, more than a decade before the World Wide Web. Keep the questions coming, and we'll try to keep up with them.
Tomorrow morning sees our final review session, and just in time too. Issue 88 is slated for production on Monday, and there isn't a lot of slip time available if we want it to be delivered in December. |
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November 21st: UHF 88 preview on line |
Of course the issue is not completed yet, since it goes into production only a week Monday (November 30th. But we've finished the cover, which you can see here in miniature. You can also see it full-sized over at The Reading Room, where you can also look over the table of contents. You can preorder the issue as well.
The loudspeakers you see are, respectively, the Audes Orpheus from Estonia, and the Reference 3A Episode. We liked them both a lot, but they are quite different (even aside from their prices), and you'l want to read our reviews carefully to see which you should go and hear first.
We expect to be right on schedule with this issue, to be delivered to the post office and the national and internation distributors in the first half of December (with the exact date to be announced). However there is still plenty of work to be done, including one short listening session, scheduled for Tuesday morning.
BY THE WAY: The Flash Sale still has nearly two days to run. Drop by and get a look. |
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November 17th: Your new MartinLogan dealer...Future Shop? |
Is this a sign of the times? A celebrated high end speaker manufacturer, MartinLogan (it now spells its name with no hyphen) has a new Canadian dealer. It's Future Shop, a clone of its owner, Best Buy.
 Why?
For one thing MartinLogan has been spinning off its technology to lower-priced products, which might be a natural for a big box store. The argument of MartinLogan's Canadian distributor, Plurison, is that this initiative will help all dealers by getting the MartinLogan brand name better known, but that specialty dealers will still carry more models, especially upscale models, the ones that the second-time buyer may be looking for.
But, as you might suppose, skeptics abound.
Here's what they're saying. Even the supposed economy ML products are not what a Future Shop buyer thinks of as cheap. The ad reproduced here has nothing cheaper than a $700 centre speaker. The trashy acoustics of a big box store are not ideal for showing off the subtleties of good sound. Their "associates," whose salaries require that many of them live with their parents, probably won't be the best people to advise buyers on what matches what. And finally these stores are not known for carrying the sort of amplification that electrostatic speakers require anyway.
One other detail: Plurison president Daniel Jacques is quoted by Marketnews as reassuring dealers that Future Shop won't undersell them. But Canadian law doesn't allow that sort of enforcement. (Neither did US law, until a US Supreme Court decision last year.) We'll be interested in seeing how this plays out. We'll check back on the Future Shop site a year from now. |
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November 16th: A third Thorens turntable at The Audiophile Boutique |
We had three of Thorens many German-built turntables for evaluation, so that we could decide whether they could earn a place in our Audiophile Boutique. We had rather expected that they would have something of a family look and a family sound.
 They don't. The TD-295 Mark IV, shown here, looks as though it comes from a different company. Its build quality surprised us, as did its performance, even with the supplied Audio-Technica AT95 cartridge.
In fact, we were so surprised that, when the initial test was done, we actually mounted one of our reference cartridges, a Goldring Excel, on it and listened again. This turntable and arm do much better than you would expect.
Since we tried an upscale cartridge on our TD-295, we're making it possible for you to do the same. We're offering bargain prices if you get the table at the same time as one of the Goldrings we're recommending. Get a look at all three Thorens, and read the UHF evaluations, on the Boutique's analog page. |
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