Conference hips::uk_audioo

    
    Digital is an international company - are you happy with your fellow
    employees in Japan reading .0 ? 
    
    To actually answer your question, yes, the Japanese do make some
    good equipment. However, most Japanese companies tend to aim for
    the mass market, where buttons and lights seem to count for more
    than sound quality. Companies such as Denon and Rotel are somewhat
    of an exception to this. I think a lot of the more well known companies
    also produce some good "expensive" stuff as well.
    
    Trevor
   
    

>    Digital is an international company - are you happy with your fellow
>    employees in Japan reading .0 ? 


	Trevor, 

	You seem to have taken offence with the wording of .0, let
	me personally assure you that I intended no offence, my wording
	was simply an attempt at brightening up the phraseology.

	Now back to my question, thanks for the reply, should I take it 
	that the reason British goods are more talked about is simply  
	that their price/performance is better ?

	The reason I ask is because I feel that anything that
	I have to live with (inanimate objects that is ) has to be pleasing
	to the eye.  In the case of Hi-fi equipment where the need, in my 
	opinion, is for top quality sound I have a strong desire for it to 
	look good as well.  All the British goods that I have seen look like 
	a five year old has been let loose with a soldering iron and a lego 
	set ( There are of course exceptions to this ), they also seem to 
	lack physical numbers of inputs, so that Cd's,Tuners,Tape decks,
	Record players, Videos etc can be played through them.  

	Currently only Japan's equipment meets points 2 & 3, but there's
	no point in it looking good & having the inputs, if I don't
	get the sound quality !

	Chow for now


	Iain

	
	
    

    In that case, would you mind changing the title on the base note?
    
    Thanks,
    Jeff.

    .0  There are a lot of datsuns on the road, a Royce is better than
    any of them, or better than any Japanese car for that matter.  Strike
    'Japanese', nothing it so well engineered.
    
    I would disagree about the appearance of a lot of the British Hi-Fi.
    The cheaper stuff does look cheap, but that's because they (I guess)
    choose to sacrifice an expensive finish rather than sound quality
    (a Royce with a datsun engine would be horrible).
    
    The more expensive stuff, for which there seems to be a good market
    looks quite nice.  The Linn is beautifully made (with good reason),
    the Naim stuff looks good;  the Quad stuff is colourful, but still
    looks nice.  Japanese speakers always look to me as though they
    are made from Japanese Walnut (plastic), British speakers, as a
    rule, look as though they have been made by furniture manufacturers.

    
    I guess it depends on what you mean by 'looking nice', if well-made
    looks nice to you then Naim, Linn and Quad, Heybrook, A&R Cambridge
    (A60, could be dating myself though) all 'look nice'.  If it take
    chrome and shiny aluminium and flashing lights to make it 'look
    nice' then who am I to argue with you.  My tuner, the only shiny
    aluminium thing I've got is now about seven years old, a bit newer
    than the amplifier.  It is stained and quite a bit duller than when
    it was new, the amplifier, which is black, looks like it did when
    I bought it, apart from a scratch.
    
    								jch

	Hmmmmmm, how can I follow -.1 you seem to have said it all,
	that is unless we try to discuss the merits of taste :-)

	Point made, so I shall change the question.  What I am after
	is a high quality ( sound and build ) system, which combine
	the facilities of the abundant Japanese offerings, with the
	sound qualities of the British equipment ?  

	I have already listened to QUAD/NAIM and quite a few English
	offerings, but before I decide to buy, I wish to broaden my view
	( or is it hearing ) still further, therefore any recommendations
	that people make will be greatly appreciated.


	Thanks

	Iain


	Now, how do I modify the title of this notes........

	I really think your question is a bit too open to get 
        meaningful responses.  Perhaps you can narrow things down 
        a little by answering the following:

	a   What facilities do you *need*?

	b   What price range are you looking at?

	c   Do you have existing equipment to be matched (either 
            sonically or visually)?

	d   (may be answered by c) What equipment have you seen 
            that you consider to be "good looking"?


	FWIW, my Arcam Alpha+ has all the inputs you mentioned in 
        .2 and, in *my*  opinion :-), it both sounds and looks 
        very good.

	Dave M.

    
    I agree with .6 the Arcam Alpha both sounds and looks good. It competes
    directly with mid-price Japanese Amplifiers. As for the High price
    Japanese amplifiers, unfortunately, I have seen very few compared
    with the Naim's and Krell's of this world. I would love to audition
    those models.
    
    The impression I get is that the Japanese are very good at engineering
    to a price, and a common complaint about Japanese HiFi is that the
    more expensive model in the range doesn't necessarily sound better.
    To be fair, I have heard the same criticism of the A&R Arcam Delta
    in comparison with the Alpha.
    
    BTW, I think Rotel stuff is designed in Britain. Also, as has
    previously been stated, whilst the emphasis of this notes file is
    European (There may be a change of name soon), info on stuff from
    any part of the globe is very welcome.
    
    So, to echo .6, Give us a clue ....
    
    Cheers.
    
    Mark.
    
    P.S. For good styling check out Creek with the new CAS-4040, the
    wonderful REGA's (no trace of bias), and Ruark Speakers. I'm surprised
    that Habitat don't sell them!

.2�       they also seem to  lack physical numbers of inputs, so that
  �       Cd's,Tuners,Tape decks, Record players, Videos etc can be played
  �       through them. 

       Well  most high grade British equipment came from a tradition in 
       which  the  pre-amp  and  power amp were separate. Most Japanese 
       equipment comes from a tradition of "integrated amplifiers". The 
       Japanese  chose  to  add all the inputs as well as bass, treble, 
       mid  range  etc controls the market asked for. The British chose 
       to provide some filtration but in some cases no bass, treble, or 
       midrange. 

       As  for  the  number  of inputs: well once upon a time you had a 
       turntable,  a  tuner  and  tape  (possibly a few). A second line 
       input was provided for good measure.

       Now  I  had  a larger selection than that: three tape decks (two 
       reel  to  reel machines and a cassette deck) two turntables (one 
       with a moving coil cartridge, one a hang over from the past that 
       was  set up to play 78's) three tuners (one for FM only, one for 
       AM/short  wave,  and  a TV tuner). Plus some 'non-fi' gear and a 
       few  microphones.  I  was planning to add CD and video. Now what 
       could I plug them all into...

       Well I could have tried hard to find a Japanese machine that had 
       the  inputs, but then again... I bought a Quad 44 preamp because 
       it   had  5  *interchangeable*  preamp  input  boards:  I  could 
       configure  it  for the three tape decks, and the two turntables. 
       What  did  I do with the extra line level sources? Answer: I did 
       what  a  professional  studio  would probably do and purchased a 
       mixing  desk.  I  actually  configured  the  Quad for three tape 
       decks,  the moving coil cartridge and a line input, plugging the 
       78 player into the mixer, and the mixer's line out into the line 
       in  of  the  Quad  pre-amp.  The  mixer came with two "standard" 
       cartridge  inputs,  8  stereo line pairs and 6 mic lines: it too 
       was  modular  like  the  Quad:  if  I  needed  to  I  could have 
       configured  it  for  16  stereo  inputs...  Now  the question is 
       exactly how many do you need?

       Incidentally  I  used  the Quad pre-amp rather than just feeding 
       the  power amp from a mixing console because I like the variable 
       slope filters of the Quad...
                
       /. Ian .\

	Well, thanks for the responses so far, below is what I currently
	wish to do with all the input/output from an amp : -

		o	Cassette deck,	Input/Output
		o	Tuner,		Input
		o	T/Table.	Input
		o	CD.		Input
		o	Video 1.	Input
		o	Video 2.	Input
		o	Another AMP	Input/Output

	As you can see, that adds up to seven !

	I am very very tempted by a valve pre amp & a QUAD 606, but to 
	my ears the sound is very laid back and I am concerned that over 
	time I will get frustrated by this. It also only has four inputs !

	The only other amp that I have seen ( or should I say heard ) briefly,
	is a new pre/power amp from Yamaha ( CX & MX range ), but it look
	terrible with lots & lots of lights, but not many knobs.  The
	only saving grace is that it sounds goods and you can switch the 
	display off!


	Iain

    
    
    	Anyone over there tried B & O ?????
    

    .10
    	B&O: looks snazzy sounds horrible.  I've never heard anything
             from them I liked.  Others will no doubt disagree, but
             then hi-fi is all about personal opinions isn't it?
    
    								jch

    
    
    	My B&O TV sounds brilliant but i havn't tried any of their hifi
    gear.
    
    
    
    	Grub.....