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Odeon: fanatical about film maybe, but not quality

Steve — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 10:37:11 +0000

Skyfall: great film spoilt by a cinema that talks the talk but obviously doesn’t understand or care about reproduction quality.

Screen 4, the IMAX screen in the Odeon Wimbledon on Monday evening was a pretty sorry excuse for a quality cinema experience. I suggest you avoid making my mistake and pay less (we paid for the, admittedly more comfy but still not enough legroom premium seats) to see Skyfall locally.

First we were let in with the lights up to see the place as you should never see a cinema – think nightclub in daylight. Then we were asked to leave so the cleaners could finish. On being allowed to return the lights were still too high and it was a good 15 minutes before anything appeared on the screen to amuse us.

Twice they ran the IMAX – the picture and sound are so great reel. Have they no idea or do they think that if they tell people they will believe it?

The image was grainy and the image went soft when any serious motion was occurring. I thought we had got passed those poor motion artefacts years ago.

The sound quality however made the image quality seem irrelevant. It was too loud.

The sound had not subtlety at all and had a WAHH like character to the midband that remind me of over use of an equaliser. The sound had no transparency; it was solid and slab like and generally unpleasant. It distorted as it got louder.

Skyfall is a great film and the Bond legacy lives on but it’s difficult to believe that the Odeon Wimbledon and IMAX have moved on that much in 50 years.

Skyfall IMAX

Navigation very pretty, but not a TomTom

Steve — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 22:20:44 +0000

I tried my iPhone 5 today to navigate from my office to an address in Ealing. The first 15 minutes or so were a complete disaster with misroutings followed by misroutings. Having been directed around the houses for a while, I got to a major route, then it worked fine.

So good enough for an emergency but not good enough to consider ditching the Tom Tom.

It is pretty though.

Focal UK moves to Salisbury

Steve — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 16:47:18 +0000

Focal UK moved from its traditional Coventry base to relocate in Salisbury during October 2012. The new team and new site will be able to deliver a far greater service to their retailer partners.

After six years based in Coventry, Focal UK has moved its offices, service department and whole operation to Salisbury.

More information and images

It might be larger, thinner and lighter but it’s also dead

Steve — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 21:45:35 +0000

I placed an order with Apple for extra Lightning cables and adapters well before my iPhone 5 arrived and I still do not have a confirmed shipping date other than October.

I left home this morning grabbing the lightning cable, stuffing it into my bag as there is no way my iPhone 5′s battery will last for two days. Tonight sitting in my hotel room I found the cable I had packed; a traditional iPhone cable, the one that had been in use charging my iPad.

So hello useless iPhone 5. It will be on its last few percent of battery tomorrow morning and I will be without a phone for most of the day.

How could Apple, with its new CEO a manufacturing man, get its supply chain so badly wrong? And if it knew the delays were going to be this bad, why did it consider its bottom line before its customers. A few weeks delay in launching the phone would have allowed a lot more stock of accessories to be manufactured in time for launch.

That’s the last time I upgrade until I know everything is in place. Those new Dells are looking more attractive by the day.

Focal launch White Spirit One Headphones

Steve — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 08:00:55 +0000

Top Audio and Video Show Milan September 13-16 2012. The White Spirit One headphones will be on display and demonstration at this show and available immediately at a Suggested Retail Price of £199.

Click here for more information and images

Naim launch UnitiLite: a slimline all-in-one system

Steve — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 09:30:19 +0000

Naim today announced the new UnitiLite all-in-one player. The UnitiLite is a slimline version of Naim’s original award-winning NaimUniti all-in-one player and is the latest addition to Naim’s Uniti range of all-in-one audio products. UnitiLite comprises a CD player, MP3/iPod and USB memory stick playback, a digital-to-analogue converter, high-resolution 32bit/192kHz network streaming and an integrated 50W amplifier in one sleek enclosure.

More information and images

New CD5si CD Player from Naim

Steve — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 14:15:31 +0000

The new Naim CD5si CD player delivers a significantly improved performance over its now discontinued sibling the CD5i. Lower distortion, better linearity and improved sound quality make the CD5si a confident success.

More information and CD5si images here

Naim Launches New S-800 Ovator loudspeaker

Steve — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 11:20:39 +0000

The new Ovator S-800, Naim’s new flagship loudspeaker, draws on five years of research into Naim’s Balanced Mode Radiator (Naim BMR) and introduces Naim’s radical flat-panel bass unit, designed to deliver a sound quality more consistent with the Naim BMR and which removes the cavity effect, a problem with conventional bass units.

More information on the Naim Ovator S-800

Naim launches streaming preamplifier – NAC-N 172 XS

Steve — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 09:00:56 +0000

NAC-N 172 XS the first network enabled streaming preamp from Naim. The ideal starting point for audiophile streaming: flexibility and performance in a slimline package.

The NAC-N 172 XS is Naim’s new network-connected streaming preamplifier, combining the convenience and choice of the streaming revolution with traditional Naim engineering techniques. The NAC-N 172 XS is a network player and preamplifier in one. It adds a new type of streaming device to Naim’s product portfolio.

More information and images

New Free Naim n-Stream 3.0 app

Steve — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 16:29:10 +0000

n-Stream 3.0 (Naim’s network player controller) is a fundamental rewrite of Naim’s n‑Stream universal app delivering far greater speed of operation along with major features such as playlists. In addition to album art when sorting or playing, n-Stream 3.0 can deliver rich experiential supporting data like sleeve notes, artist biographies and discographies and enough background information to keep even the geekiest music lover happy.

More information and images

The budget hi-fi challenge

Steve — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 14:08:04 +0000

I spent some of the weekend setting up the basic budget system and tidying the room.

It’s going to be a long and potentially expensive process to get to a good looking, very usable room, that I can use for checking out products.

The catalyst for this is the budget hi-fi challenge I’ve set myself.

More information on my blog

Now updated with part 3

Naim Power Supplies Updated with Naim Discrete Regulator

Steve — Mon, 14 May 2012 17:00:38 +0000

Salisbury May 14 2012. Naim today confirmed that it had completed a two-year project to design an improved voltage regulator to be used in its power supplies. The new Naim Discrete Regulator (DR) is currently being fitted to the HiCap, XPS, SuperCap, 552 PS and 555 PS commencing May 14^th 2012.

More information and images

Atlas launch New Equator high speed HDMI cable with Ethernet

Steve — Wed, 09 May 2012 21:57:03 +0000

1st May 2012 – Kilmarnock, Scotland – Technology-driven British audio video cable manufacturer, Atlas Cables, is pleased to announce the launch of a new range of HDMI cables, setting a new standard of picture and sound quality.

More information and image

Atlas Equator HDMI

Naim powers NaimUniti to NaimUniti 2

Steve — Wed, 02 May 2012 09:00:28 +0000

After three years of leading the way for high-end all-in-one systems NaimUniti gets a power increase, a performance increase, a new CD Player, a new DAC, a new transformer and launches as NaimUniti 2.

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Naim delivers Triple Hard Disk Player/Server Update

Steve — Wed, 02 May 2012 09:00:01 +0000

Naim’s HDX, UnitiServe and NaimNet Servers have all received double the storage (2TB), new software 1.6C and a new and significantly improved n-Serve control app Version 2.3.

More information and images