FAQ / Hints tips and the ravings from us

If you have any Questions email us! They may appear on this page soon.

My MP3 Player is better than my cd player.
For some people this is true, you can carry around a suitcase full of CD’s in your hand, listen anywhere anytime and it can do favourite tracks, artist and album searches, You can take it to the car and you can plug it in to big speakers at home. The battery life is good and downloads are cheap so I’m listening to more music. Don’t knock it, if it gets you listening to music more and a wider range of music at that then it’s no bad thing, however it is not a substitute for the real emotional connection of a good system, in fact it pales to insignificance even on best quality settings. Our tip buy aftermarket headphones as ALL SUPPLIED HEADPHONES ARE RUBBISH. You could do worse than look at Sennheiser for starters and noise cancelling if required.

My CD Player is better than a record player
This is only true if you are comparing a cheap cd player against a cheap turntable, Turntables require excellence in engineering and that is never cheap. At the higher end of the market a turntable will always trounce a cd player. The only exception to this is the Zanden which is not trounced but which blow for blow with Vinyl. Oh yes and cloth eared nincompoops who need their ears syringed think this as well. Actually having your ears cleaned up is another cheap hifi tweak, if the sound is trying to fight its way through the waxworks then your probably not hearing all of the system you have paid for.

But really my cd player is better than my turntable
You will probably find that the turntable/cartridge is not set up correctly, which is where a good dealer is worth his wedge of green. Be honest have you spent good money on a turntable and plugged it into a cheap phono stage? If neither of these is the answer than check again with a new record as your records may be to blame.

What cables will work best in my system?
If you are looking to use a cable as a tone control then you are on the wrong site, our cables do not add or compensate for imperfect equipment. They show up weaknesses in components or recordings. With good equipment they are supreme starting at the Stereovox and escalating to the Acrolink.

Stereovox offers the best value reference audio cables in the world in their Studio line. The Reference line is also superb.

The Acrolink copper purity is unique in this world as no one else can claim to have access to such pure copper (6N & 7N). The design, build quality and finish is second to none. See our cable section for more information.

How do I get the best from my current system without spending the earth?
Pay attention to setup, loudspeaker placement, cables (interconnect, digital, power and speaker), cable routing, clean all connections. Component stands, finite ceramic technology almost always improves things. If using Vinyl proper setup using the a good Alignment Tool, also check the cartridge loading. Upgrading your cartridge to even the bottom of the range Lyra can make a huge difference, call us.

Why not buy a component on the gray market and save some money?
Everyone asks this question at some point and you have to ask yourself some questions.

Are you an expert on what equipment and cables work well together?
Are you  an expert on what equipment sounds better on what type of stand?
Are you an expert on room acoustics or even basic speaker placement and setup?
I could go on…

Basically I am stating the case that your dealer adds a significant amount of value and you will have a significantly better setup and integrated system with improved sound quality as a result.

Don’t expect a good dealer to pass on all of his knowledge during a demonstration as you may take that knowledge and then be tempted by the dark side!

We are fairly positive that we can help you to attain a better sounding system than you would get by simply going out and buying a more expensive competitors product. We will go the extra distance and take into account your entire system, cabling and room rather than just go for a big sale. Bigger and more expensive is not always guaranteed to be better. You may not even require to upgrade your existing equipment, better cables, stands and system setup can result in significant sonic improvements.

I have not even mentioned support, if you truly believe that you will get the same support from these grey market dealers that you will receive from me then you are defiantly deluding yourself. However when you learn that lesson you will have more respect for your local dealer and his contribution to your ongoing enjoyment.

In the same way that a good accountant will cost you money to save you money, we will cost you a little more but we provide a better service & installation leading to a more musically satisfying result. Take into account losses you incur by upgrading due to getting the wrong components in the first place and we may save you money. We will also save you from any grief on the support side.

 What is the best Anti Piracy Format?
A Black, Plastic Disc With Grooves On It

Music bosses have unveiled a revolutionary new recording format that  they hope will help win the war on illegal file sharing which is  thought to be costing the industry millions of dollars in lost
revenue.  Nicknamed the 'Record', the new format takes the form of a  black, vinyl disc measuring 12 inches in diameter, which must be  played on a specially designed turntable'.

 "We can state with absolute certainty that no computer in the world  can access the data on this disc," said spokesman Brett Campbell. "We  are also confident that no-one is going to be able to produce pirate  copies in this format without going to a heck of a lot of trouble.  This is without doubt the best anti-piracy invention the music industry has ever seen."