Room Dependent

Hi Johnny

I don’t have a problem with Bob. I have a problem with HEA pushing a volume control and that’s all. I have a problem with an industry not telling the whole story and charging people way too much money without a plan to deliver. I think HEA Plug & Play is nothing more than a science project and somewhat of a marketing scam that failed and is dying with this generation. I also think a much smarter hobby is starting to replace the amp of the month club and the hobbyists who financed the HEA discrete experiment by buying and trying many different components are disappointed that they can’t play their whole music collection and have been told to use the excuse "it’s a bad recording". That excuse will die right along with the ’one sound’ systems.

It use to be a customer walked into a stereo store, bought a system and came home to play their music collection. Then comes HEA telling a customer to throw away their variable controls. They play that system in the store for the fella, the guy buys it, takes it home and it sounds nothing like it did at the store. The HEA customer puts that one volume control system in his living room and next month starts looking for another component. That same guy ends up buying several systems, all sounding different, and still can’t play his collection. Something is very wrong with that picture.

A listener should be able to have a system that is compatible with their lifestyle, and have it perform to their personal expectations without having to dedicate a storage room for depreciating boxes.

Yep, I deal with the dedicated room hobbyist. The guy or gal who wants to be in control of their sound. It’s a different breed from the component collector. These extreme listeners have learned that the audio signal is a variable and apply a "method of tuning" that involves Acoustical, Mechanical and Electrical tuning. Tunees don’t have a problem with folks who don’t want to go that far, but we do question the whole "only a volume control" mentality. Especially seeing them spend so much money and then not even setting it up to it’s fullest potential and only able to play a few select recordings. Doesn’t make much sense to us who can play everything and play it any way we wish.

Johnny here’s something your statement overlooks.

"If the Prize-winning violinist plays in an elevator or Bobs TV room she
still sounds great."

Only if her violin has been tuned and stays in-tune.

It’s a great lifestyle, big enough for all of us.

Michael Green

While I'm gabbing I'd like to give an example.

Tonight I was listening to Mozart Requiem on the EMI label. I forward through a couple of tracks so I could see how I wanted to layout the singers in relationship to each other and mellow the choir to a nice full body tone. There were a few other things I wanted to do stage size wise before settling in on the performance. Took me all of 5 minutes to adjust the sound and I was off into London Philharmonic Land. Most of the tuning was done to the CDP and one RoomTune adjustment. I listened to it tonight and will leave it play through the night and have another listen in the morning.

Could I have enjoyed it set the way it was? Sure, but why not set the tone and stage the way I want it. Or, what if I wanted to make a change part way through, like fill in the hall sound around my seating. I'm not interested in listening to a system interpretation, I want to hear the performance, and hear it in a way that makes me feel a part of the event.

Having the ability to make the desired changes without a major component swap out is heaven.

MG