dsan

Currently sinking my teeth into (and trying to digest) the new Veils album; Total Depravity. Some absolutely brilliant elements, but a couple of songs I'm not so sure about. Might be a slow burner this one. Any other Veils fans out there? Hopefully they do a NZ tour sometime soon; Finn Andrews is ridiculously good live.

I went a bit nuts on ebay, so I'm having a clear out of a few tubes: http://www.trademe.co.nz/Members/Listings.aspx?member=204692

Nice work & good to see you've made use of it. You're obviously a more patient man than me; I took one look at that string system then put the lid back on Good luck with the troubleshooting.

I agree, and a 'drool' button. Very nice work.

Sorry about the lack of updates, a bout of man flu put a hold on loud noises for a few days! I got the lovely walnut veneer, but had to wait a week for them to arrive in the country! Absolutely loving these speakers. After the initial excitement wore off, I became a little disappointed as they were sounding unbalanced. The lovely mid/treble was there, but the bass was missing in action unless the volume was cranked. Turns out I just needed to get the position right, and after moving them closer to the back wall, everything is lush and full. I'm loving the extra bass they give over the KEF Q1, and they are the most natural sounding speakers that I've heard in my limited experience. Very impressive for $700!

"half making noises of joy and bewilderment that any two year old would be happy to claim. The phrase “I’ve not heard that before in this track” came up many, many times. I of course surreptitiously kept raising the volume." This is me right now. Damn they sound good! Listening to Damien Rice, O and the guitars just seem to hang in the air. They sound incredibly natural yet are pulling out details I hadn't heard before. The bass is a little light straight out of the box, so looking forward to hearing as they loosen up a bit. Very good signs so far, it's going to be a busy evening

Thought it was about time I updated this, here is the latest incarnation. The biggest upgrade has been moving into our first house and having the freedom to listen to whatever I want, whenever I want, and as loud as I want! Really enjoying the sound; valves and vinyl are the bees knees, and the KEFs are lovely, especially considering they only set me back $200. I do have my eye on the Cambridge Audio Aero 2, but tonight's listening session is making me wonder whether they're necessary. Damn that Mark Hollis album is good.

A couple of new arrivals this week: Jack White, Lazaretto: not sure if the vinyl is worth the effort. A few interesting tricks but the sound is a bit rubbish. TV on the Radio, Dear Science: 2nd hand from Rough Peel this afternoon. I love this album but only ever had it on itunes, so hearing it on vinyl is a revelation; big meaty bass lines and damn good sound quality. Nearing the end of side B, I think it might be the best pressing I've heard (hopefully I'm not speaking too soon)!

Couldn't agree more! Had the house to myself last night, so the volume was up playing Jack White's new one (should come with an instruction manual, and had more pops and clicks than a bowl of rice bubbles), followed by the Black Keys, El Camino, then Grinderman 2. Unfortunately the latter was cut short when the S.O came home, it was a bit raucous for her!

Nice, I have been enjoying this on Spotify, might have to track it down on the black stuff.

Rhian Sheehan, Stories from Elsewhere on vinyl, followed by Sigur Rós, Takk... on CD The significant other is out for the evening, so I can play these dramatic orchestral numbers at full volume Lovely with a glass of red, the fire going and the wind howling outside.

Did anyone else spot these? http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=745903254 I was so tempted but decided to hold off until I figured out if I could get them down to Wellington. Too slow obviously! An absolute steal at $350.

Rhian Sheehan, Stories from Elsewhere. A brilliant album and I was very excited to discover that it was released on vinyl. It is a crappy pressing though, so it may have to go back. The love hate relationship with vinyl continues....

A lazy Sunday afternoon listening to two fantastic albums that I discovered during my Otago Uni days; Jeff Buckley, Grace and Ed Harcourt, Here Be Monsters. The Ed Harcourt still has the Echo Music label on it, from back when CDs cost $34.95! Loved that store; my student loan doesn't though.

Just ordered, I'm a sucker for gimmicks. Hopefully the music is good too

E.S.T Live in Hamburg. A brilliant album to work (and pretend to do work) to.

Does anyone have a pair of these in Wellington? I'm very keen for a listen. Popped into Real Music Company this afternoon and they didn't have any in store, which is a bit of a shame as I was in the mood for an impulse buy The guy who served me was helpful and friendly, but definitely gave the impression that he'd rather sell me something in store than order them in (which is understandable, but not what I'm after). It was interesting to see that the Naim speakers also had a BMR driver.

Very interesting.... and tempting. There are a lot of positive comments about these in other places on the interweb. Will check tomorrow if anyone in Wellington has them yet. I wonder how they'd go with my valve amps.

Cheers for the feedback guys. Just as well I checked, I hadn't noticed that they didn't have a power supply! I really don't need much power, it will just be used in a desktop system at work (currently a Trends 10.1 and Wharfedale Diamond 9.0). I was trying to get away with a cheaper option than the tube depot one, but that could be the best bet if it has everything I need (and hopefully clear instructions)! Any other options I should consider?

Just planning ahead for winter projects after all this renovation madness is over. I'm keen to try building my first tube amp, and being a complete newbie, I'm hoping to get a kit that is simple, less than $250, and contains all the necessary parts (possibly excluding basics like tubes, rca/speaker connectors etc). The finished amp will just be used in my office with Wharfedale Diamond 9.0 speakers, so I'm not after anything too flashy or high-powered. Would one of these do the trick? Or any other suggestions? I'll also try my hand at the mods on my preamp discussed here: http://www.audioenz.co.nz/forums/topic/antique-sound-lab-wave-passive/

Sorry about the delayed reply, have been rather distracted by renovations. The stereo is currently obstructed by a dryer, washing machine and a 3m length of Gib! Cheers for the heads up, PM has been sent. Still open to suggestions for cable, or am I trying to be too thrifty? It'd be a much tidier solution to install cable under the floor rather than having it run in front of the fireplace.

Bumpity bump bump. No leftover cable lying around? I'm keen to get something organised in the next week so I can install this when I put in underfloor insulation (the less trips under the house the better)! I can possibly stretch the budget if needed, and am open to suggestions of other types of cable (just asking for Audioquest because I currently use it and it seems to do the trick). Thanks!

This is a long shot, but I'm looking for an 8m length of Audioquest Type 4 speaker cable. I don't need the fancy blue sheathed stuff, just this type: http://www.avland.co.uk/aasp/audioquest/0820/type4/type4lrg.jpg Willing to pay $100 or so. I'm open to ideas for similar performance cable, but I am on a tight budget and I need 1x 3m length and 1x 8m length.

Looking forward to following your restoration progress! Even though I haven't heard one, The Beogram 1200 is one of my favourite pieces of design. The 1200, 1202 and 1203 are so good looking, I wouldn't mind if they sounded crap; I'd be happy with it sitting on a shelf (possibly not butchered into a clock though)! I'd be first in line to buy it off you if I hadn't just made a large purchase.

Luis;190307 wrote: The internet and streaming technology is simply the new way for many people to access music and artists will find ways to adapt to this and make it work. Agree 100%. What is the alternative? Artists ditch promoting themselves on the web, and instead rely on live gigs, music magazines and the record store owner for recommendations? Not going to happen. sedge;190309 wrote: Heh heh... Just went to look that up on Wikipedia. Ha ha, I did exactly the same thing. "Every visit to Wikipedia's free information hive means one less customer for a professionally researched and edited encyclopedia such as Britannica." Again, what is the alternative? Go back to printing encyclopedias which are out of date before they hit the shelves? Hi-Fi heathen;190310 wrote: How many artists are you listening to without paying in this voyage of discovery and are you aware of what it has likely cost them to produce this 'free' music? How many artists do you listen to repeatedly before ultimately deciding that you don't wish to hand over your hard earned scratch after all? Having the music in your hand at little or no cost is likely actually to lessen your desire to buy the physical product because really, where is the urgency to seek out and pay for something you already have? The benefits of services like Spotify lie less with the artists and more with we, the end users; lots of new music and music we might otherwise not have heard - at little or no cost. Legitimized piracy. I ask again, what is the alternative? If you were a musician, would you prefer that I had the chance to discover and access your music through a convenient service, or, hope that I happen to stumble upon your record in the bins and decide to listen to it in the uncomfortable environment of the record store? You'd better hope that you've employed a decent graphic designer for the cover, because that is your only chance to grab my attention. Maybe I am oversimplifying things, but what has the artist lost, if after I have listened to their album on Spotify, I choose not to purchase it? Nothing, they have gained $0.01. Their music production costs will always be there. Spotify is just one piece of the revenue-stream puzzle, and it has the potential to develop into something that does fairly reward the artist. This is purely personal opinion; you are obviously more informed (and well read) on this issue than I am. However, I do not feel one bit guilty about paying $12 a month for a service like Spotify. I have spent thousands of dollars on music, across multiple formats, since my first CD purchase back when I was 15, and I will continue to do so. In my instance, Spotify is a service that facilitates my consumption of music.