REPRODUCED FROM AUDIO TBLOGS
W antsVersusNeeds& theAudio Dem o Room ByJustin Siherafrom Audio T Bristol Foral ofits virtues and benef its,the internetcertainly has its pitfals and perils,especialy when you’re looking foradvice orguidance on aproductthatyou thinkyou m ightneed… “I 'm Looking for a Stream ing CD playerthathasa Dolby 5.1 Headphone Am p with builtin Bluetooth Turntable,do you stock it? ”These broad and som etim esstrange enquirieshave inevitablym ade theirwayinto our stores.Saturdays have becom e som ewhat random Ican tel you.Idon’t know exactly when it happened,butIthink itbegan around second lockdown and stilcontinuestoday…
W hen isan Audition Room notaShowroom ? Itgoeswithoutsaying thatno two showroom sarethe sam e.Diferentretailers in the Hi-Fiindustry adopt difering approacheswhen itcom esto theirlistening spaces. Som e audition room s are m ore like acousticaly treated anechoic cham bers,(an-echoic m eaning "non-reflective")which isa room designed to stop reflectionsofeithersound orelectrom agnetic waves.A true anechoiccham berisa fairlyunsetling experience.Justby talking in them can m akes you drop yourvoiceto awhisperand changeyourdialect to the received pronunciation ofa late nightradio talk show host with butery plosives. In these environm ents,even fingernails down a blackboard would sound like a perfectly produced scene in a NordicNoircrim e dram a.These room sare greatfor analysing a system withoutany externalacoustic or sonicinteruptionorbias… Butthat’snothow weuse thisequipm entin the realworld.
“ Do you have speakers that are good at ‘70s prog rock? Iwant to be able to stream m usic from m ycom puterin the aticto m yliving room from m y bathroom .I've converted m y shed into a Hi-Firoom and vinyllibrary and Iwantto hear m yrecordsplaying in the kitchen. ” These sortofenquiriesdon’trealyfaze us.W ith over fifty years of industry experience, we’ve heard m ostthings.However,I'm sure there are swathes of people searching the internet to arive at som e forum or online group where im pos ible Hi-Fi questions are answered with “Yes”instead ofa“ Why? ” Hi-Fi questions like the ones above are like Him alayan Balsam -they are an invasive species, choking out the realim portant questions and providing answers like “ you can see the Eifel towerfrom theLondonEye ”
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