The Day of the Buried, day of the dead. We walked through a graveyard and I couldn't help but think my beloved sister, who, after some 18 months of exhausting fight against evil cancer, died last June. On her birthday. Rest in peace, Kirsi. I miss you.

Also, there's a Hifi Expo 2012 going on  in Helsinki and for the first time in years, I wasn't participating. And I felt relieved, actually. Year after year the show has lost it's interest, basically because of offering very poorly set up demos by dealers who just don't have enough skills and experience to do that properly. Well, I could name a couple of dealers who would have managed to do that, but they missed the show this year like me..;-) But still, not even they would have the gear I'm interested in nowadays..

That said, I'm happy if someone got an itch..experienced something new and even sensational. In the end after all we're walking this path quite differently - someone has just started his traveling getting thrilled on everything new and exciting to come across, on the other hand, someone else has found a quiet, peaceful stop by and is just enjoying the opening view..

Early X-mas..

Got a call this morning from shipping company. 'There's a crate coming from Germany - the sender is Auditorium 23', the guy said by the phone, 'could we deliver?'.  'Yes, sir!' I almost yelled and couldn't keep my voice calm. ;-) At last..

Not much to say...even though this isn't a permanent stage at all, spending one week without music, decent two channel music that is, is really driving me nuts..:-) Crazy, huh?!

But I think I'll be greatly rewarded soon..

Getting yourself into something..old

Le Grande Hypothesis: bigger - the better, newer eg. with latest technology, parts and software - the better, more expensive - the better..well, that is not (always) the case. In this commercial world we've only been taught (very cleverly though) to think that way - to buy some more..to buy something 'better'..and at the same time we've quite cruly been thrown away from the basics - from the roots. We've been actually fooled to think that way. 

Put above on a context of building an emotionally involving and satisfying audio system and you're completely lost. Or at least I was. For me it took some 20 years to recognize and 'learn' that..;-)..and furthermore - to survive. Starting to sound almost religious, ha? That's quite a common story for most of us and - educational - for sure. But I've had a lot of fun, too. 

Learning only by yourself through 'trial and error' I think you can't reach the ultimatum, you'll need also a healthy dose of luck to come across some experienced hobbyists, manufacturers, DIYers etc. with real insight to natural sound reproduction. Just to get you on a track. You kind a start to see the bigger picture..or not..

 Ears and audio reproduction

We all have such devices..or at least should have. When our ears tells us that there is something wrong in our stereo system  - there usually is. Simple as that. That is the main reason for an almost endless search for something better..but we often soon realize that the better we craved for is mere different instead of better. And off they go - the gear, that is. :-) During years I've done that so many times, it's useless to count. Biggest reason for that, in my opinion, is the complete wrong direction, that the audio industry took after the sixties. Better known today as High End..very cleverly executed fraud. ;-) 

I have been thinking that a lot lately. By 'fraud' I mean the choices the industry and audio press together created during that time; focusing on widening the audio bandwidth by terms of measurements, started using multiple drivers with complex crossovers in their speaker designs, started talking about holographic, pinpoint imaging, resolution and accuracy as major creators for convincing, believable stereo sound,  started concentrating to megawatt transistor amps (watts are cheap, you know) due lower sensitivity figures in speakers instead of simple, low wattage tube amps, abandoning analog and focusing digital, lowering the quality of speaker drivers (yes!) etc. etc. I think the list could go on.

Our ears tells us that all these, very consciously made choices have actually made the whole musical experience less involving, unnatural, lifeless and clinical. One can argue with that, of course, but do think about that, when you're sitting in front of a live chamber quartet playing together.. and try to recreate that in your listening room..not an easy task, but manageable, yes, at least in certain degree with the right gear. And that recreation certainly has nothing to do with usual high end hi-fi suspects like pinpoint imaging, ultra extended audio bandwidth etc. It's more like feeling the vibrancy, feeling the subtle dynamic swings and intensity of a performance - you kind of breath the same air with the performers. :-)

The Real Ear Openers and The Old

It was some four years ago when I found Omega loudspeakers. 8" AlNiCo fullrange driver with whizzer cone fitted into very nice cabinets made by L. Chockos from Connecticut, USA. It was a vario vent design without crossover. The coherence and speed with startling immediacy hit me like lightning, I instantly knew it was a point of no return. Eventually the speaker turned out to be a bit peaky from the top, so I sold the pair. But I now knew the path to follow. Omega do has, imo, even more balanced driver and speaker in their current line up and it's based on their 6" AlNiCo driver - the Omega 6" XRS. Very balanced and musical speaker. Well done, Louis!

To be continued..

A quick visit at local library today. Grabbed this one for bed time reading. Always liked Kate Bush's earlier recordings, especially the ones on vinyl! Mystic lady, perhaps not anymore after I've read this Graeme Thomson's Under The Ivy: The Life and Music of Kate Bush. 

Just another Saturday morning? Well, no..today I'm giving up one of my all time favourites in audio - DeVore Fidelity The Nines.

Had them almost two years and during that time I discovered the very special nature of them compared to other so called conventional speakers.

Very special ones and I'm going to miss them..:-(

The new owner though will be some lucky chap!:-)

www.devorefidelity.com  and could be bought from here: www.holistiskhifi.se

The most important thing. Music - a universal language, which speaks us, often quite subconciously, giving us good vibes, and good vibes only (bad vibes doesn't count)..what you say about the next one? This young Korean artist thrills me greatly..what a clear, strong and sensitive voice at the same time..I'm sure I'm not going to miss her next visit in Finland - Youn Sun Nah:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKZQxZjGhYQ

Check out also her other YouTube videos.