28 December 2009

What a month! In fact what a week-and-a-bit. In the space of just over seven days, we've had the Rega Osiris, Naim DAC, Kudos X2 and Naim Ovator S-600 speakers turn up. All are significant products that require some level of understanding and all either have eager potential buyers wanting to hear them or eager buyers aching to get their one. And they all need to be run-in too.

Masterstroke number one was to lend the DAC to one of the waiting buyers over Christmas. We've had a quick play, done a couple of dems and yes it really is a tremendous piece of work.

Osiris? Probably even better than the CD player, if such a concept exists! Certainly very good indeed and very good value. Not so very far off a NAC282 / Supercap / NAP300 for less than half the price. Still, it needs more run-in. With an new pair of ATC SCM11's and the Kudos X2 in the same boat, we've had it driving a pair of each running in face-to-face in mono and out of phase for the entire Christmas break. All should be ready for demonstrations tomorrow.

Finally, we have the Ovators to deal with. Connected to our CD555 / NAC 552 / NAP500 system, they have been played(by me) LOTS. They probably need more running-in but already they are spectacular. Six grand is a lot I know, but these really do seem underpriced. Honestly.

Beyond that, business has been OK, albeit with no records broken. With a high proportion of the 'must hear' products turning up right next to Christmas, this is not too surprising. Andy has been very busy running around and the weather has made this far more difficult than normal. I guess ATC are busy too, with lead times having been running at 5 weeks. Still, now is not the time to gripe.

Happy festive season. Let's hope for a more upbeat economy in 2010. Happy New Year.

22 November 2009

Recent auditions with the Rega Isis have shown it to be very sensitive to where and on what it sits. When playing with the Osiris, we had four standard levels of Isoblue set out in readiness. The amp was fairly tall, so we added another (with extra spacing) and sat the top-loading CD player on the top shelf. It sounded flabby and uninspiring and, after a few minutes of embarrassed silence, we tried removing some shelves from the rack. The transformation was dramatic. But we decided that it was maybe just warming up.

When Mark Orr from Something Solid brought an experimental all wood and string rack a few days ago, we played the Isis into the ATC pre-power. Again, the CD was placed at the top and, again, sound was disappointing until the player was moved lower down in the assembly (where the rack proved really rather impressive).

On our twin towers of Fraim, we have a 'brawn' stack of power supplies on the right and a, same height but physically lighter, 'brain stack of pre-amp, power amp and phono stage on the left. Whether the CD555 or Rega Isis are used, the best sound - and by a massive margin - is achieved if the CD player is located on the left stack. Traditional wisdom on this is that it's the noise from the power supplies. The similarity in the nature of the difference with the other systems on different racks makes me think it's more to do with physical mass.

The best results are definitely coming from multiple 'low rise' shelves rather than massive blocks of kit. I suspect the Isis' high mass (as with the CD555) increases its need to be kept low down. One of our more dedicated customers has his system spread over six 'low rise' columns of Fraim. To simplify demonstrations and give us space for the turntable, we are moving over the three lower columns, but space constraints do limit things!

18 November 2009

Crumbs. A month gone and so little to report. We had the joy of trying the Rega Osiris amplifier but our ordered demonstration sample has still yet to materialise. One was reportedly sent to one lucky dealer (not us) but the rest are due . . . soonish. There was a problem with the metalwork, apparently.

Any sign of the Naim Dac? No chance. The Speakers? Nope.

Still, the ATC CA2-2 / P1 combo has been well received by listeners. It has even started to sell! And the lead time is around 3 - 4 weeks. Is this, perhaps, what they really mean by 'recession'?

A customer rang this evening, convinced that I was ‘holding things back’. He aches to buy something but nothing to sell him!

Besides normal business, which was surprisingly brisk through October, I’ve been writing and laying out the newsletter or ‘2010 Yearbook’, as I’ve decided to call it. The files are now at the printers and I can of course now spot the errors on the PDF copy that is inexorably going to be printed. Once the paper copies are sent out, I’ll upload it to the website.

I wondered if the last mail out would be the final printed effort, but there is evidently some deep desire to be a publisher. All very self-indulgent, after all. As is writing this. Twitter, anyone?

18 October 2009

On Thursday we were cooing over the demo sample of the Rega Osiris integrated amplifier that was waved tantalisingly in front of us for a couple of hours. Order placed, we now have to wait to get to know it better.

A day later, a brand new ATC CA2 preamplifier and P1 power amp rolled up. They might look extremely dapper, but the pair of them were fired up with some trepidation. A few years ago, Signals was what ATC referred to as their 'electronics dealer'. We sold rather more of their amplifiers than loudspeakers. But something went wrong. The character shifted towards a style that simply didn't sit well with our other products and we kind of gave up on them.

Something has changed. For a start the power amp runs far more cooly than before (the pre-amp generates more heat) and it sounds quite remarkable. The P1 power amp was 'just coming' into production around six years ago, so they have had plenty of time to work on it, but the standard the pairing reaches for the £2600 price is very good news.

After moaning that so little we try offers the compelling combination of clarity, timing, dynamics and tonal colour, we get two crackers in two days. What on earth is going on?

26 September 2009

For the last six or seven years we've been lamenting the larger of or two demo room's acoustics. Whilst some speakers can work well in it, a tendency to a 60Hz (and 120Hz) resonance has always been part of the deal. Finally, and inexcusably belatedly, we got around to deadening what we have come to believe are the culprits : a resonant section of lowered ceiling that is intended to disguise a beam that crosses the room and an undamped tube that was always intended to offer a route for a flue to a fire-place.

Kevin Notley won the Rega Brio 3 at our summer bash. He's a nice guy and a good plasterer so we ended up investing in his services to do the deed. With him working until 9pm on the Thursday before the Saturday I set off on holiday with the wife, my only opportunity to hear the changes came after our break. And wow, what a difference. It really is a different, and much better, room. Plaster now dry, this weekend will see us empty it again to get it freshly decorated in readiness for some new seating.

For me, it was interesting to conduct our first demonstration of the Rega Isis in this new audio environment. The listener is very familiar with the place and he was very aware of the improvements. He was also very aware of what he liked about the Isis and, not for the first time, shared his views of the relevance of the WTF (Willy Tingle Factor) when listening to music through good, um, equipment. Given the choice of edging for the door or meeting his theory head on (and bear in mind that he was probably on the cusp of spending a fair amount of money) we have come to the conclusion that he may well have a point.

Whether this, erm, reaction is an addition or alternative to the hairs on the back of the neck, I am unsure. Apparently, research is needed. But we need to keep customers, not scare them off, so the Signals Audio Reaction Research Institute is some way off.

Still, he sent this email which has to be shared:

"Dear Monarch of the Glen

On the subject of the concept of WTF as a way forward in objectifying audiophile pleasure ( and possible powering of low demand equipment such as cartridges etc ) I quote a leading writer to support (?athletic) my case.

 Mr Kessler says of the Krell Evolution 600:

 " I am amused that a song by a deceased lesbian has the same effect on me as Viagra"

 Hi Fi News 2007 Yearbook p51

 Blessynngges"

I do enjoy this job!

4 September 2009

Oh dear! With new products starting on the front page and making their way to their own pages, I really do struggle to think up 'blog material'. Back in January, I figured that I needed to either continue with the blog or quietly delete the pages.

9 months on I still have the dilemma. True to form, I've simply ignored it. Looking at the stats, plenty of people still look (sorry!). Fingers on keyboard, I might as well witter once more. You can, after all, click on the next link at any moment.

Because of its relatively 'newsy' nature, the signals site gets quite a few quotes and links on forums. It's quite interesting to see others views of my comments often made off the cuff. The power of the written word is scary. People quote me at me. It's very strange!

Strange, but maybe not surprising. Buy a new car and everyone will be able to tell you how good or bad it is. After all, they've read it. With hi-fi, the products are astonishingly combination, not to mention taste - sensitive. Despite this, the combined might of magazines and forums add momentum pushing towards a consensus of good or bad judgement. I'm hardly blameless on this, although I do try to qualify our comments with respect to the systems and cables we use.

We have sitting here the Rega Isis CD player. Thought by many to be us dumb as launching a new turntable at the very point CD is taking off (wait, bad example), the Isis is arriving just when the foruming classes are stuffing CDs into their computer networks. As a sop to this, there is a digital input on it. Nevertheless, a six grand CD player is an unlikely product from a brand famous for keeping costs low.

It is also a very capable machine. Our own sample is still settling in, but we had some time with a run-in unit. When Paul Darwin brought it along a couple of weeks ago, we wanted to play it with the Rega Elicit amp and Kudos C10 speakers. Paul was keen to demonstrate it against Naim CD players on the reference 500 system.

And my word it was confusing. Compared to the new CDX2, the Isis resolved tonal colour, image depth and detail to a far higher standard (once we ditched shielded mains lead) than the Naim. On the other hand, the way it presented the timing element was deeply unsettling. It would be easy to claim that one timed whereas the other didn't, but this would not be true. For me, it changed anchor points such that I would have to re-learn familiar material.

Playing it in a non-Naim context rendered it far easier to absorb, by the way. From the off, we have figured that the Isis is far more likely to appeal to people keen to tread an alternative path to Naim. After all, a matching amplifier is in the wings and the Elicit is a bit of a gem. But people do mix and match. I can think of one or two (well, two, to be precise) people who love their Naim systems but prefer a non-Naim CD player. In both cases, the wiring regime is utterly different from what would suit an all-Naim package.

There, I've rambled. . . This stream of consciousness might run after all.

19 January 2009

Back so soon? I had intended to put this in the other day, but it slipped my mind :

Locally, this month marks the end of an era. Eastern Audio, the shop where I used to buy my audio equipment, is closing down. And not because of the economic situation either. Ian has simply done enough retailing and wants to retire to spend more time visiting wonderful restaurants in interesting places. Good luck to him and his wife. His long-suffering employee, Richard will be out of a job but I understand that he already has alternative employment lined up.

Best wishes to you both. And yes, I expect they do have a sale on . . . Damn, should't have mentioned that . . .

On the subject of things I should not have said . . it seems my attempts at irony can be misunderstood. I had a call on Saturday from a local customer who has a pal who reads this site. He had read into my comments (see entry below) that we must be 'up against it'.

This was me attempting to be up-beat and optimistic without coming across as complacent or cocky. We cannot predict the future but, so far, business been pretty good. We are not planning on throwing in the towel and intend to be here to support items we sell for many years to come.

And I really should learn from this to steer clear of the subject!

15 January 2009

The new year is well and truly underway. Are we sitting on the edge of darkness? Who knows. Through December and the first half of January business for us has remained bewilderingly buoyant. This can presumably only mean that we are now really close to the precipice. I read the headlines, I know what’s going on . . . Besides, opening my trap is now bound have sealed signals' fate and rendered the phone lines and emails silent.

To take our mind off the misery of the daily news, we’ve been playing with some rather fine products. Launched with exquisite timing to avoid any risk of Christmas sales, we have the new Rega Apollo LE CD player and the Naim NAIT XS. Of course these are being raved about elsewhere on this site. In a few months time, they will have been assimilated into the firmament and this blog entry will be my little flag marking their brilliance and relevance.

With the Rega player being a limited edition, I’m hoping that the developments are simply a hint of things to come. For now, a modest price hike covers a big performance lift (far closer to the Saturn than the standard Apollo) and a nice chunk of solid aluminium too. I know that Terry Bateman, Rega's very likeable electronics guru, is close to finalising their new £5k a piece CD player and amplifier, so this could be a little bit of early spin-off.

My comments regarding the NAIT XS versus entry level Naim pre-power and Supernait amplifier have been spotted on the Naim forum. The Supernait was always intended to open up fresh avenues of business, to do this it could hardly be a clone of their other products. It offers a lot of facilities and these involve a level of compromise, something that Naim have always railed against. Here comes the pure, simple un-compromised XS and it is both cheaper and, well, purer. Most old-style Naimies are purists, the Supernait is intended for people who are not. The XS an affordable product for those who are. Simple really.

If it sounds as if I have a ‘downer’ on the Supernait, it is only because I get fed up reading that it is a NAC282 / NAP250 and a DAC in a single box. Only the 'DAC' bit is true! Personally, I’d have the XS, a 122/150 or a 202/200 in preference. But then I am not looking for a single box analogue and digital audio ‘hub’. If I were, the Supernait would be ann extremely good choice. Horses and courses. It is actually encouraging that Naim spotted the niche for the Supernait. Besides, some will prefer its softer warmer style, after all, 'soft' and 'warm' are generally perceived as positive words in the hi-fi lexicon. Now, all we need is a DAC and a network player . . .

I guess our ‘thank heavens’ product of 2008 / 9 has been the Naim Powerline. If you have not tried it, you should. Even if you don’t have a Naim system. Utterly marvellous.

4 December 2008

The blog is one of the most accessed pages on this site and I have contributed nothing to it for months (and months). Here we are plunging headlong into a black hole of a recession and I decide it's time I added to it. The blog, not the recession. Signs of desperation?

In mitigation, I should say that the semi-demise of the blog was partly related to muggins adding content far more regularly to the front page by way of a more news-orientated layout. To some extent, I felt that it was less relevant. Still, people keep clicking on it. I could either delete the thing or add to it. Ego won out, so I'll blog again.

But can I cheer you up . . . ? Probably not. There is tension building between the desire to make products more affordable to encourage cash-strapped customers and the fact that the falling pound has generated a remarkable number of price rises, with a lot more due soon. Hardly a day passes without another email listing forthcoming rises. With a lot of equipment manufactured in Japan or China, and priced in dollars or Yen, 25%+ rises have been coming thick and fast. To take a specific example, projector prices were in free-fall until recently but now they've hit a dramatic up-draught. These pressures might take a while to show up for some oroducts, for example mass market televisions, where there is plenty of purchased stock in the supply-chain. More specialst products are now arriving at the revised prices.

Despite recent currency-related changes for Stax, Lyra and Sumiko (the VAT change helped reduce them), there will be more price increases from the manufacturer early next year from Lyra.

Even UK-built products are not going to be completely immune, since parts coming from the Euro zone or far east are becoming noticeably more expensive. Arcam have some increases posted for January and I'm sure more are to follow.

On the other hand, if you are reading this overseas . . . the weak pound is making us cheaper. And fast.

New stuff worth reading about on the site? Well, the Omnimons are intriguing. Partly amazing, partly so different to anything else that the transition to them can feel odd. At their best, they are genuinely brilliant. A recent listener said that our set were sounding far more integrated and convincing than the pair that he heard at this years Bristol show. As a Naim SBL user, he felt that they were still not for him, but at least it was good to get a viewpoint. I should add that he was here to talk about cartridges, not loudspeakers.

The new Rega Elicit and RS speakers are also particularly impressive but the most bewilderingly dramatic arrival over the past few months has been the Naim Powerline. Far from being 'just for Naim', it is proving to be very relevant to other brands, and types, of equipment. We are selling them faster than we can get them and have munched through a surprisingly large number. Can't say, modesty forbids. Please do get in touch if you want to try them out. Do it with an open mind and I think you will be both surprised and impressed.

There, I've come over all commercial. Times really must be hard. And I promise to try to keep this blog thing up to date too!

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