How lucky am I? I have taken an opportunity to escape the cold & wet grip of Melbourne’s winter and take a break in Europe with my family. Like many families, this is the first opportunity we’ve had to travel after the global pandemic lockdowns ended so we have been...
I believe that music can be TRANSCENDENT. As with many artforms, if you are sensitive to it, if you are receptive enough, music can affect you on many levels. To someone like me, defining music as pure entertainment is a gross understatement and misunderstanding of its nature. The greatest music &...
Have you ever considered both the freedom and the limitations our language imposes on us and how some languages are better than others for certain purposes? The German language for example, is great at describing scientific objects & phenomena. The way you can add parts of words to create a...
One of the defining characteristics of our time is the incredible busyness of our lives. We have established a culture that admires people who can plan, set goals, ‘achieve a lot in a day’, multi-task, meet deadlines and generally get a lot done. As a result, we lead busy...
One of my fondest memories of being a teenager was my Saturday morning routine. Wake up, burn some toast, grab my coolest jacket (in case I bumped into some young ladies) and meet my partner in crime Paul at the local train station at 9am sharp. We would then...
Earlier this year at the Munich High End Show, I had the pleasure of spending some time with my friend François Saint-Gérand. François owns and operates ANA Mighty Sound in Paris, a store which is rapidly becoming a ‘must-visit’ experience for many audiophiles and lovers of analog music replay. Part...
It was our pleasure to present at the recent StereoNet Hi-Fi Show at the Pullman Hotel, Albert Park in Melbourne. This was the first show after long delay due to the global pandemic and there was a warm, celebratory vibe as people returned in great numbers to experience the...
At the recent StereoNet Hi-Fi Show in Melbourne, we had the pleasure of inviting our good friend Harry Kay to pop in and play a selection of wonderful jazz music. Harry hosts the program ‘All That Jazz’ on Melbourne’s 3MBS FM station every Saturday night at 10pm and is...
A few weeks ago, I sat down one night after a long day, turned on the TV and became captivated by a documentary that was exploring the role of music in the treatment of people with various medical conditions. In one scene, a lady who suffered from advanced Alzheimer's...
Can you predict how a car will feel to drive from its spec sheet or brochure? Can you tell if you will enjoy someone’s company by reading their personality profile, or how a meal will taste from looking at the recipe? You can get a rough idea of what...
Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa produces one of the most important jazz series in the country. I drove up from my home near San Diego to attend the Yuko Mabuchi Trio/Branford Marsalis Quartet performances on January 25th in the 1800 seat Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert...
“I don't always listen to the Cult, but when I do, SO DO THE NEIGHBOURS....” Some music is meant to be played loud. Ear splitting bone crunching loud. So you feel it in your chest. A friend asked me recently which concert in my entire life stopped me in my tracks...
Have you got someone in your life, whom you know that when they recommend a movie to watch, you make sure that you NEVER see that movie? I do. Actually, I have few of those people in my life, but I won’t mention any of them here. Forget ignorance......
This old chestnut comes up in conversations among audiophiles from time to time. We’ve all heard the expression “you get what you pay for”, but does it apply to audio? It’s such a subjective hobby that there is no absolute truth and everyone has their own opinion which is...
There is no ‘absolute truth’ in audio, just perspective. The appreciation of sound quality is a purely subjective experience, meaning it is based on personal beliefs, tastes and opinions that are open to personal interpretation, not facts. This is one of the things I love about audio. It’s a pursuit...
From time to time when I’m discussing music and audio with people, I hear a commonly used line that high-end audio equipment recreates the sound and dynamics of an original musical event in your home. I have come to believe that this is a complete misconception. Does a hi-fi...
If you are a ‘serious music head’, you may be familiar with the movie ‘High Fidelity’. In the movie, Rob (John Cusack) is the owner of a failing record store in Chicago, where he sells music only on vinyl at a time when CD had taken over the world. Although...
If you were asked to list your top 10 songs or pieces of music, how would you go about it? Could you even decide on a definitive list? I heard someone once say that a person’s essence can be boiled down to a playlist - that when it comes...
Is the 6th January too early to have a ‘highlight of the year’? Aren’t we supposed to be easing into the new year, still in denial about having already broken our new year resolutions, taking it easy? Not gallivanting around the country having audio ‘wow’ moments, right? Well I am...
Visiting a friend recently, I bought some records over and later in the evening, we sat down and spun some vinyl. I sunk back into the sofa and closed my eyes as the music started to wash over me, really enjoying the feeling of letting the music take me...
In October 2019 during a trip to the USA, I had the pleasure of visiting Brian Ackerman of Aaudio Imports in Denver. I had previously met Brian at the Munich High End show earlier in the year and we had enjoyed each other’s company so when he invited me...
I really don’t like that word. It sounds like a condition, an abnormal affliction. What’s wrong with you? Oh I apologise… you see, I have audiophilia. I prefer to call myself a music lover but there have been moments in my life where the importance of the sound quality...
