Lack of Good Hi-Fi Shops in Ireland!!

fraggle79

Folks,
Is it just me, or are the choice of hi-fi shops in Ireland really goin down hill. I remember going into Richer Sounds along the quays in Dublin to but a Rotel 931 Amp and mission speakers-I still have them to this day!!!over 12 years old!!! I am looking to upgrade my CD player, was thinking of a marantz cd player-am willing to pay up €300

Thanks,
Wayne

Idleater

You can still buy from richersounds online or at the philips shop and there are places like peats and sevenoaks too. If you want to go more towards hifi then there is cloney audio and since i am in the market for a cd player myself, i found a chap that is a naim importer.
Not a bad range for the dublin area. I could in on for the rest of the east coast, never mind munster.

shoegirl

Munster Sounds in Cork city are really good.

Richer Sounds are still in Belfast, near the Castle Court if I remember right.

But agreed, there were at least 2 other good hifi retailers on the Quays and one or 2 more around the Henry St area, all gone now. Plus BT used to have a very good hifi dept. That closed a long time ago too.

Having said that, for small items, the net is really good, and I never found these great for replacement items like replacement styluses.

cnocbui

The internet is the way to go. Even large items can be acquired, though it can take a bit of effort sometimes.

At the risk of being unpopular, might I make the suggestion that there are at the most, only tiny audible differences between well constructed CD players, and probably no audible differences between most.

Upgrading speakers is the best way of achieving audible and significant improvements in sound quality.

Slaphead07

cnocbui wrote: »

At the risk of being unpopular, might I make the suggestion that there are at the most, only tiny audible differences between well constructed CD players, and probably no audible differences between most.

Upgrading speakers is the best way of achieving audible and significant improvements in sound quality.

I'm not interested in arguing these points but those looking for basic info on hifi should realise that both these statements are 100% wrong.

cnocbui

Slaphead07 wrote: »

I'm not interested in arguing these points but those looking for basic info on hifi should realise that both these statements are 100% wrong.

You see, that's what I meant about being unpopular.

I have a very good set up for comparing sources, because I can level match them. I have pretty good speakers, so they should be able to reveal any sonic differences there might be. I have compared my MIcromega Stage 2 CD player, my el-cheapo DVD player, my iPod and the output from my Apple laptop.

They all sound identical to me. My conclusion is the output from most well built devices with a DAC in them, are of such quality that they exceed the human ears ability to differentiate between them.

You only have to look at the frequency response graphs and THD figures for such devices to see why. They all have near ruler flat frequency responses to within 0.25 db 20-20K and THDs of less than 0.1%.

viperirl

cnocbui wrote: »

They all sound identical to me. My conclusion is the output from most well built devices with a DAC in them, are of such quality that they exceed the human ears ability to differentiate between them.

Yes it's your conclusion and there is no problem with that. Others will have different opinions and just because your ears can't hear the differences doesn't mean other peoples views are incorrect or that they are mad in the head!

cnocbui wrote: »

You only have to look at the frequency response graphs and THD figures for such devices to see why. They all have near ruler flat frequency responses to within 0.25 db 20-20K and THDs of less than 0.1%.

Measured with an instrument, yes many devices exhibit similar results and near flat frequency responses. But our ears are no such instrument! The human ear's frequency response is far from flat. Its more sensitive to certain frequencies than others, it varies from person to person, varies with the surrounding environment, and with age too.
Because of this, I believe that there is no other way to evaluate hifi than with ears.

So in a way, perhaps it IS all in the head!

cnocbui

viperirl wrote: »

Yes it's your conclusion and there is no problem with that. Others will have different opinions and just because your ears can't hear the differences doesn't mean other peoples views are incorrect or that they are mad in the head!

I stated they were my opinions, and why I held them, I made no suggestion that I thought anyone who held a divergent opinion was mad.

In the comparison listening tests I conducted, I also employed my two children in the iPod vs CD player and iPod vs DVD player tests, and they could not discern a difference either. My hearing is still adequately sensitive with regards volume and is good to about 16.5 khz, which is pretty good at my age. When in primary school, my hearing was tested and I was selected to study an orchestral instrument on the basis of the test results. So on the whole, I have no good reason to believe that my hearing is defective or of less than at least normal acuity.

Measured with an instrument, yes many devices exhibit similar results and near flat frequency responses. But our ears are no such instrument! The human ear's frequency response is far from flat. Its more sensitive to certain frequencies than others, it varies from person to person, varies with the surrounding environment, and with age too.
Because of this, I believe that there is no other way to evaluate hifi than with ears.

So in a way, perhaps it IS all in the head!

The fact our ears do not have flat frequency responses has nothing to do with the argument. Our ears will still have the same fq response when listening to and comparing different sources.

[font=arial,helvetica]Sean E[/font] [font=arial,helvetica]Olive has published papers that indicate that there is a positive correlation between [/font]peoples preferences for speakers and the linearity of their frequency response. So it would seem that frequency response linearity is significant.

Measurement of the performance of audio equipment with instruments is relevant, as is listening.

Measurement with instruments would only be irrelevant if it could be shown that humans had hearing accuity and finesse that was superior to that of instruments, and that has never been demonstrated to my knowledge.

Anyway, I was just trying to point out my observations so that perhaps some people with an open mind might engage in listening to CD players, without a preconception that the should/ought to be able to hear a difference.

If people expect to hear a difference, they probably will, whether or not there really is one.

On that topic, this may be of some interest: http://seanolive.blogspot.com/2009/04/dishonesty-of-sighted-audio-product.html