Continued success

By Charles Thomson

December 2006

Charles Thomson

Twenty years ago when the first copy of AudioEnz magazine came off the press one could buy their music on LP, tape and CD. A debate was raging at this time about claims being made for CD, “Perfect Sound Forever.” Import licensing was almost a thing of the past. I had just taken delivery of a new Roksan Xerxes turntable and was celebrating my 46th birthday. Life for audiophiles was pretty good.

The appearance of what is now known as AudioEnz arrived at audio stores and many record stores free of charge to the public. A bold step taken by the editor. In a relatively short time, readers started to take the magazine seriously when they realised it was devoted to the promotion of musical enjoyment through good hi-fi equipment and well recorded music sources.

Being among the first reviewers to write for the magazine, I can only say it was exciting. New product arriving on a regular basis for evaluation was certainly a new challenge, fun even. It did not take long to realise that certain responsibilities went with the job, such as commenting unfavourably on products that didn’t perform up to expectations. Our editor, Michael Jones, always listened to our concerns, performed listening tests himself and if in agreement had the gumption to publish the result.

Unwelcome reviews

Three occasions that come to mind involved a sound enhancer that fitted between a source component and amplifier, an expensive pair of speakers without its matching bass control unit and the short lived Digital Compact Cassette.

The first item resembled a box about the size of a cigarette packet, filled with black epoxy resin and having a pair of RCA sockets coming out of each end. I had never heard an audio component that so degraded the sound of the music it purportedly was trying to improve. Soon after publication of the review, a threat of legal action by the importers was forthcoming. Heavy stuff and quite frightening. Fortunately, a month later an English magazine published an even more damming article, end of story.

Around 1992 a pair of expensive speakers arrived and, as they were being looked forward to, plugged in immediately. It didn’t take long to realise there was something wrong in the bass department. Two days of inching the speakers around the room made no difference, the bass performance was woeful. Research turned up the fact that a bass equalisation box should have been supplied, as it was indeed an integral part of the whole. However the importer had decided this box, which cost an extra $400, was making an already expensive speaker too expensive and was not going to bring it into the country. This one went into the “no review at all” category.

The we faced upsetting the company who invented the Digital Compact Cassette. Our published view was that, while this was an improved format sonically over the one it was designed to replace, it was unlikely succeed because the tape handling mechanism was exactly the same as the original format. Certainly tracks could be selected at the touch of a button, but if you wanted the last track on side 2, the tape had to spool all the way to the end of side A and back again to where desired track was located on side B – a process taking between 30-45 seconds. Remember CD had come along with near-immediate access times.

Reviewing was not all about the latest ‘hot’ audio product; there was another side. Testing and reporting on 40 different cassette tapes by manufacturer and formulation just about broke the happy family home. Repetitive tracks of selected music followed by endless test tones were a bit much. On another occasion, 11 budget CD players infested our lounge. That might not sound any big deal but added to the players was their cartons and manuals, all of which had to be kept in pristine condition. Oh, I nearly forgot – the repetitive tracks of selected music.

During its life, AudioEnz has kept readers up to date with changes in technology and many changes there have been. Cassette tape disappeared and LP records all but followed. New products have included surround sound – even Dolby Pro Logic was unheard of 20 years ago. Then came laser discs, Dolby Digital, DTS, DVD, CD recorders, LCD projectors followed by DLP, 5.1, 6.1, 7.1, ES, EX, plasma and LCD screens, SACD, DVD-Audio and DVD recorders. The list keeps growing with cables such as component and HDMI thrown in.

Lack of standardisation and agreement on new products is still rife in this industry – take high definition DVD for example. Shades of the Beta versus VHS battle years ago come to mind. SACD and DVD-Audio are other examples of lack of agreement in the industry and we won’t get into HDCP and why we now have version 1.3 of HDMI, with further versions coming soon.

Better informed

AudioEnz has kept its readers up to date with new product and technologies. Add reviews as to how product sounds and operates, readers have the opportunity to be better informed when setting out to purchase new equipment.

AudioEnz has spent the last six years online. Its success in this format can only be measured by the increasing number of people logging on each month. To change from the original printed format has obviously ensured its continued success for the foreseeable future

For my part I have enjoyed the involvement with Michael Jones and AudioEnz, particularly the reviewing process during the first half of the magazines life. Along with many others I wish our editor much success during the coming years.

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