Trick home theaters!

Ok, I may not want something like this in my own home, but the creativity of this home theater must be commended! All great home theaters have a name, and this one, appropriately enough, is called the Batcave.
























I have see a bunch of really cool home theaters lately, so I have decided to do a weekly feature on cool and interesting home theaters I've found, you know, to spread it out...

The sectors of high-end audio manufacturers

The manager at Inland Sound and Cinema recently inspired me to discuss the different sectors of high-end audio manufactures. I find it pretty interesting, and makes a buying decision easier (at least for me it does).

In the order of popularity:

The most common would be the mainstream, mass market brands that release products that are at the top of their line. I consider most of these products "entry-level high-end". Examples would be Denon, Definitive Technologies, Pioneer, Paradigm, B&W, Sony, etc. For example, Denon has released a $3,500 DVD player, that puts most DVD players to shame, but does not quite equal (at least in sound quality) a DVD player from a more specialized hifi manufacturer such as Arcam. [these examples are not based on personal experience, but on reviews I have read from reputable sources]. There is definitely some overlap with the next sector with these types of manufacturers.

The next sector would be established high-end specialty manufacturers. These guys usually have a reputation of providing high-quality, reliable, good sounding products that are sellable, (providing good value). Examples would include, Rotel, Adcom, McIntosh, Audio Research, Vandersteen, Thiel, Bryston, etc. This stuff ranges from "entry-level high-end", to "the best". It's important to note, that these guys usually won't release a product for the sake of releasing a product update, but will do tons of research on truly advancing sound quality and bringing a product out that will likely be on the market for several years. For example, the Vandersteen model 2ce Signature, has been on the market for probably nearly a decade or more. It hasn't been there that long because Richard Vandersteen got lazy, it's because there hasn't been a way to significantly upgrade that model all this time and still have it be in the same price range.

The final sector of high-end audio manufacturers would be the really tweaky stuff sold in very small quantities to the lunatic fringe (okay, I'm kidding about that... partially...). This stuff is built for ultimate sound quality(supposedly), often with no regard to cost. These brands haven't been established, and may or may not be around tomorrow. Quality can vary from, built like a rock, to "if you breath on it, it will break". Examples include, Avantgarde, Dali, Cary, MBL, Gilmore, WBT connectors, Shan-ling, Nagra, and endless others. Some of the stuff these guys put out can be really good, some, pure nonsense. Admittedly this is the sector I am least familiar with.

Needless to say, I am a big fan of sector two, the well established, but genuine high-end brands. There's nothing wrong, per se, with the other two sectors, as the first is a good stepping stone, and often an innovator, and the third, can occasionally provide sound quality that sector two simply can't afford (on the other hand, because sector two sells in greater quantity, it can often afford to sell better equipment for less than sector three). Take these sector descriptions with a grain of salt, as there is lots of overlap. Sometimes companies will shift from one to the other too.

Is high-end audio for everyone?

This is something I have been debating with myself for a long time, and I think, I have finally come to terms with it.

As a younger, possibly more humble, audiophile, I see a lot of audiophiles present themselves as "better than you" elitists. These guys always really irritated me, because I viewed the hobby as something for anyone. Was I being idealistic?

This also ties in with the debate of bringing hifi back into popular demand. Was it ever really in popular demand? Sure high fidelity components sold well in the 50's, 60's and 70's, but I believe that may have been due more to the fact that there was less entertainment mediums to catch people's interest than we have today. Now we have more similar mediums to enjoy in our living room, home video, television, videogames, possibly internet surfing... The activity is similar; we sit in our living room, sometimes with others, sometimes alone, and enjoy an experience. Nothing wrong with that. I think a lot of older audiophiles (especially retailers) are bitter about this fact, and snub their noses in the air of their superiority. So will hifi ever be "popular" again?

To answer the second question, no, it won't ever be popular. Notice I didn't say it won't ever be popular again. I think audiophiles are a group of individuals who are discerning about the reproduction of music. Back when the equipment sold better, it was because there was no TV, DVD's, videogames, or computers to fill the void of "I need something to do in my living room" that most people seem to have.

To answer my first question, "is this hobby only for elitists?" No, it can be for anyone, however, one must be a discerning individual to get into it. Does that mean that if you're not an audiophile, you're not a discerning individual? No, of course not. I know plenty of people who are discerning, but not so with audio. My dad, for example, is discerning about wine and food, but not audio. We, as people of the 21st century, can only afford to be discerning in some areas of life; we don't have time to be like that in all areas of life (nor do most of us have the funds!).

So, in order for high-end audio to be more popular, there needs to be a growth in discerning individuals, which is not likely to happen anytime soon. "Hey high-end audio community!", "Get over it!"

Finally, there is no need for us discerning individuals to be snooty about it. We are, in reality, no better than anyone else. There's nothing wrong with not being the discerning type. I know lots of good people who aren't. I also don't put "discerning" and "wealthy" in the same hand. I have seen plenty of rich people who are definitely not discerning individuals, and vice versa! "Hey audiophiles!", "Don't get snooty about it!"

Why going to the movies is less fun now

Ok, so maybe I'm exaggerating, but I am getting so sick and tired of seeing people opening their cell phones in the rows in front of me during a movie. PEOPLE, PUT YOUR LIVES ON HOLD FOR TWO FREEKIN' HOURS!

I can understand if a doctor needs to answer a call, or someone important like that, but the 12 year old girl that just couldn't keep her damn phone shut for the last 15 minutes of the opening night of X-Men 3 had it coming to her...

I almost feel bad, but when the movie was over I leaned over and gave it to her good; "do you know that when you open your phone like that during the movie, it distracts everyone around you?" The look of fear was in her eyes...

Man I feel old for doing that, I always hated it when my parents did that kind of stuff... Oh well, like I said, I almost felt bad.

NuForce

Recently, I may have made an awesome discovery. At the store I work at, we recieved a pair of NuForce Reference 9 monoblock amplifiers a few months back. I initially didn't pay too much attention to them because, as I understood, they were more or less class D switching amps (NuForce maintains they are not Digital Switching Amplifiers, but Analog Switching Amplifiers); aka not exactly high-end (this is changing as we speak). They also had some initial problems and quirks, and we had to send one back for replacement. So I shrugged 'em off.

Well, since our manager won't quit talking about them, I sat down and gave them a good listen. Wow. These things are hot (figurativley, not literaly). I guess what struck me the most about the NuForce amps is they are completely grain-free, and have no background noise. They are very coherent and have a holographic quality to them, better than I've heard in most amplifiers. They remind me of amplifiers from Ayre and Theta in those regards, although I haven't had a ton of expierence with those.

So far, I have heard them with 3-4 different speaker systems (Anthony Gallo Ref. 3's, PMC OB-1's and GB-1's, and B&W 803D's), in 3 different rooms, and with 2-3 different preamps (including NuForce's P-8), but never for very long. One attribute they seem to not have in spades, is bass slam and "oomph", but again, I have had pretty limited experience with them so far.

I'm going to bring these home and listen to them in my own system and get a better feel for these things, but so far, they are awesome. Even better, they're only $2500 for a pair!

I reccomend reading the "why you should choose NuForce" section of their website. It's not far from the truth... I'll keep you posted on these puppies as I get more familiar with them.

PS- One of the many things NuForce claims is that their amplifiers have no phase shift across all frequencies, which may be why I found them similar to the zero negative feedback designs of Ayre and Theta, which also claim no phase shift. This is also part of why I believe they sound so coherent. Timing and phase accuracy are two major factors to coherency, and thus are very important to me. Also extremely important to me: dynamic range. I'll give you the skinny on the Reference 9's dyanamic capabilites after further testing.

High end audio for video games?

I may be the only hard core audiophile in the world who happens to take videogames just as seriously as HiFi.

For me it's interesting to see this divide between the two industries of gaming and audio. On one hand, high-end audio is very refined, but slow to change, often holding on to the past and reluctant to adopt the new... and usually for a good reason, it doesn't sound as good as the old! Whereas videogames are progressive, fresh, and cutting-edge. When it comes to getting an immersive experience from games, newer is better.

It almost seems that the two industries are completely separated with some kind of generational divide. You often hear that the high-end audio world is dying, and it needs to be saved, and the younger generations will never care about high-end, pooh pooh mp3, pooh pooh surround sound, blah blah blah... You never hear these things in the game industry; it's quite the opposite. The most used videogame buzzword these days is "next generation". "What can we do to keep new games from being just like old games only with better graphics?"

I say HiFi needs to learn a thing or two from the games industry. Or, maybe they are just two completely different worlds.

One way to get more people hooked to HiFi, is to show a gamer what a killer sound system can do for his or her immersive experience, then compare that to what is being pushed at Worst Buy as a "good" system. Despite all the whining about how expensive the PS3 will be, gamers are willing to spend a ton of money on their hobby, just look at some of the high-end PC gaming systems.

While some of the whining about videogame prices is silly, a lot if it is justified, which brings me to my next point, the exorbitant prices being asked for some high-end audio equipment is enough to turn any gamer off to the whole idea of having their own high-end system. So retail merchants take heed: when you see a potential gamer-type come into your store, be careful not to imply that a high-end audio system must be over ten thousand dollars and be connected with interconnects that cost several hundred bucks! In fact, that is always, in my opinion, a bad way to present high-end audio, because it's simply not true.

If we, as the high-end audio community, can sell a gamer on a nice, balanced, and reasonably priced sound system now, then later they will come back for even more when they need an upgrade, or when they catch the bug, which ever comes first. Examples of such system would include: Paradigm Monitor series speakers/and Denon reciever combination, or a set of B&W 600 series speakers and Rotel electronics, Anthony Gallo and NAD, PSB and Onkyo... You get the idea. If it's a PC gamer, maybe even a nice set of Grado headphones could give 'em "the itch"...

What do you guys think? Gamers and audiophiles; are they even compatible? I think they could be, after all, I am.

About me

A little info on me. I am an avid audiophile. I love listening to music on high-end audio equipment! I love how every little thing about a piece of audio gear makes an audible difference, and how a great system can increase the enjoyment of the music, and add to the emotional connection.

I currently work at Inland Sound and Cinema in the Inland Empire area of Southern California. We are a high-end audio dealer, not exotic botique high-end, but real-world high-end. We carry the likes of B&W, McIntosh, Rotel, Anthony Gallo, PMC, DWIN, NAD, and so on. I previously worked retail at Audio Ecstasy in San Luis Obispo, which was more or less the same type of outfit; Paradigm, Vandersteen, Rotel, Gallo, Denon, Martin Logan, Sunfire... In other words, I have had some broad experience in HiFi, but I'm only 25, and thus have not been around the block as many veteran audiophiles.

I have made a documentary on a few audiophiles I know, which can be see here. I encourage you to watch it and show your friends. Give me some feedback on what you think!

This blog will discuss audio philosophy, rants and raves, and will probably even touch on video and surround sound every once and a while. I would love nothing more than to have other audiophiles to toss in their two cents too, so please jump in!

Also, from time to time, I will make reference to my own system, and rather than state what my system is every time I reference it, here you go:

Speakers: Vandersteen 2ce Signature
Amplifiers: Rotel RMB-100 mono blocks
Preamp: Adcom GFP-750
Sources: Cal Audio DX-2 CD player, cheap Pioneer DVD player
Cables: AudioQuest Coral interconnects, AQ CV-4 speaker wire (2pr. for bi-wire), Tributaries Delta Series interconnects