Sorry Chris. Man, this forum app sucks.... the link function isn't working.
Here's the text of the article:
I have an awful stereo set-up. My hodge-podge of components is mismatched, oddly stacked, and the wiring looks like someone dumped a pot of spaghetti behind my makeshift stereo stand. This Frankenstein's monster of technology includes Dad's old receiver, a garage sale record player, even a six-CD disc changer I found on the street and had repaired. Its quirks are imprinted on my brain, and I can tinker and toggle to produce the best sound from its aging innards. While this electronic junk pile has sufficed for most of my adult life, when my circa-1970s tuner started to take 20 minutes to output sound on humid days, I knew it was time for a change.
The procrastination that often comes with buying something new has been compounded by confusion. Everything seems smaller than how I remember stereos appearing. What looks like a jewelry box plunked onto a fancy stick passes for a speaker. Chic mini-systems and one-piece design boxes make me feel like I'm on the set of Clockwork Orange. I want something that will fill the room with beautiful high, mid and bass tones, so the question becomes, can I get away with one of those aesthetically pleasing miniature darlings, or is big and brash still the best way to go?
The most notable change seems to be the advent of the iPod dock. Whether built into the hardware or attached as an accessory, no reasonably priced system is worth its salt without one. This has allowed for some very sleek-looking stereos to hit the market, and while MP3s are not known for their sound quality, it's easy to see sight trumping sound.
Manager Elvis Martin at Toronto's Mt. Pleasant Stereo points out the advancements made to systems smaller than the standard 17-and-a-half inches. 'The past 10 years manufacturers have been able to make some pieces that are small in size but sound quite good.'
Casual listeners who want something beautiful, under $1000 and MP3 friendly will find many choices. Yes, you lose your upper range frequencies with MP3s, and fancy-sound processing chips trick your ears into thinking you have a fat component system, but just try to say no to the one-piece marvels of design from Geneva. These boxes of fun come in delicious colours and wood finishes, make use of smooth and simple pedestals and are available in a variety of sizes. A condo or apartment dream machine, the top vertical loading CD player, FM, iPod and amplifier make Geneva a clean and beautiful choice. Other players in the mini game include Yamaha, whose price points and decent guts make them a bestseller for Elvis Martin.
'It always boils down to whatever sounds best to you. If you found that you are the type of listener that listens intently to music and wants to recreate as much as possible, then a full-size system. If you are a casual listener, that's when I think these mini-systems come in, because aesthetics starts playing a part in it as well.'
Tony Chang is a touch more forceful about his feelings on big versus small. A senior salesmen at Bay Bloor Radio in Toronto, he feels there is still no comparison. 'No, they are not closing the gap. You are still better off with the full-size stereo.' That said, he has some saucy contenders in the small size market. The tube/solid state circuitry of Fat Man by TL Audio stands out. These science project-looking machines help to harness the warmth of tube technology, giving audiophiles something to cheer about when going with a mini.
Chang also has some thoughts on the MP3 revolution that has marked his showroom floor with an army of Ipod docks. After recognizing the loss in quality that came with digitally compressed music, Peachtree Audio (www.signalpathint.com) developed a path of deconverting, using a tube pre-amp and a high powered amplifier for some impressive results. 'The sound quality [when] using a CD or iPod on a machine like this, it's almost equal.'
The classic component systems that include a receiver, amp, CD/MP3 players and speakers still stand as the benchmark for, as Martin calls it, 'a seamless wall of audio information.' Interestingly, a classic two-channel receiver/amp can still cost thousands just to sit at the table. Companies like NAD, Yamaha, ARCAM and JBL continue to be consumer frontrunners, with the experts carefully pointing out their distinction as stereo components, not surround sound machines that fall into a different category of sonic signature.
While the large, and often lofty priced, full-size stereos continue to be the better-groomed beasts, speaker size has moved with the times. Advancements in driver technology, alongside better construction of their housing, has made companies like Totem and Monitor Audio look and sound amazing, with slim and sleek cabinet designs.
Have I made my choice? Of course not. But it's opportunities like these that allow consumers to learn about the latest devices, find out what has changed, or what hasn't. Small and sleek may not be overtaking its older and bigger sibling just yet, but what a colourful and creative adventure not making a decision can be.
LOL. Yeah, I'll leave out the part about buying a new amp every 2 months, and ripping fireplaces out of rooms, obsessing about speaker cables and spending untold hours on CAM and Audiogon.
Isn't it funny how the 'hobby' can be ignored for so long. There is not a person that I have met whom is not influenced by a modest hifi in a reasonable room. Everyone laughs more often, taps their toes, and stays a little longer.
Yet people do not realize how easy it is to have this at home.
If you're going to write an article, a volume of suggestions to keep from being ignored...
Don't bash iPods. Explain how to get the best out of them instead.
Don't bash Monster and Bose. You'll alienate a lot of people, and probably get ignored by the paper due to both companies' happiness to sue. Wouldn't be surprised if they tried to go after you too.
Let 'em know the music is the point, not the gear. Tell 'em to keep it simple - 2 good channels are better than 5 mediocre ones.
Bashing iPods, Monster and Bose would probably not be a good idea, as much as I dislike all three. Actually I despise anything "i", more than despise. Loathe?
Bashing the mass market tripe would probably just make me look like an elitist interested in only seemingly esoteric gear.
As an aside, I recently upgraded iTunes on my laptop for my wife's iPod, and the DVD drive stopped working. Apparently a common problem.
I was in Home Depot today looking for some random stuff for the new apartment. There was a guy looking for their zip cord for speakers. He was talking to the employee who looked like he had enough of the conversation. He was asking the guy if 'high voltage' wire sounds better than 'low voltage' wire. He said a guy on a forum told him he needs two runs of high voltage wire because speakers draw toouch voltage for the low voltage wire, and will therefore sound better. I acted like I was looking around for stuff while I was listening. The employee pretty much made up an excuse to walk away. There were a ton of more idiotic questions too. I'm pretty sure the guy was given so much absurd information that he had no clue what he wanted.
I tried to help him out. First question - what gear does he have. Yamaha stereo receiver and "Klip" (that's how he pronounced them). I asked how closely he listens to music. Basically background and rarely sits and listens. He mostly uses it for movies.
Seriously, with that gear and those listening habits, how much difference is speaker wire going to make?
I told him about my gear and listening habits (not bragging) and explained how speaker cables don't make that much a difference to my ears. There ate differences, but nothing earth shattering. I've heard far more differences in power cables and interconnects than speaker cables.
I suggested Canare 4s11 star quad from Blue Jeans Cable for his 25' runs. Explained about it's geometry rejects noise over long runs, etc. Even suggested proper speaker placement, and putting money into better components. He seemed like he got it.
5 minutes later, he was asking the employee the same questions he asked him before.
I guess he thinks his speaker cables will make a bigger difference than anything I told him.