Are music and the hifi equipment two separate things?

Or they could set up with a dealer to save the customer from having to go significantly out of his way to hear the product.  Call me naive and all...!

One can't be produced without the other at home - and my singing won't cut it either :-) 

Try ripping one album to AIFF (iTunes does it), I think you'll be surprised as to how close the dock can come to a CD player. Somehow Apple lossless never did it for me, in analogue mode anyway.

Given what AJ says would happen to the price if the traditional retail model was used, I'd rather go out of my way and pocket the (large) difference.

Although, taking into account what I think of the 9.1Ts, and AJ's honesty, I'd have strongly considered buying blind anyway.

That's true across the board for all businesses that adopt a third party to distribute their products though.  The model doesn't work for me (I live in East Lothian) so God knows why on earth someone's going to hop on a plane, fly to London, get a connecting train then get out to Nailsworth....

Fr0g is originally from England, maybe he visits family from time to time, maybe he doesn't, I don't know and don't care.  It was just a comment.  Avi are obviously happy with their model, whether it works for you or not, as sales went up when they adopted it.

Reflecting upon my own retail sales experience in IT/computers/HiFi/TV/Home Theatre, I would think there would be a reluctance on the part of some dealers to sell what is in effect an 'all in one' HiFi solution re active speakers; in a sense it's a closed sale with little opportunity to profit further from 'audiophool' 'add ons' re accessory 'better' cables etc.

Hence passives simply make more sense from a retail, bricks and mortar business model POV than actives if you want repeat and ongoing business generated by add on power supplies, cables, equipment racks etc.  And of course the HiFi mags benefit as well, as they can discuss 'upgrades' ad infinitum....

Getting rid of the retail dealer chain, and going on line direct was undoubtedly the right move for AVI; besides, even though he is not an qualified electrical engineer, AJ is a superb business entreprenuer/salesman and has the necessary chutzpah to make a brilliant sucess of it.

JMac

Very true.  

It's exceptionally difficult to find anything in my neck of the woods originating from the UK or US as regards HiFi that isn't handled by a third party importer/distributor - all taking their financial cut along with the retailer - US products benefit price wise with our free trade agreement, but UK sourced products are not generally good relative value here because of the distribution chain and ongoing markups involved.  And should you deign to sell on for any reason, the UK Ebay market will set the relative global price, so you loose significantly on any second hand sale into the (poor) bargain.

Possibly, it's why the majors such as Pioneer, Yamaha, Sony etc all do so well here - they all have full factory representation and backup, and sell through both specialist HiFi stores as well as major electrical chains/departements stores etc, and represent excellent value for money as far as electronics are concerned.

Whilst they're not offering an online mail order service like AVI, my recent speaker purchase very pleasantly surprised me in that the company not only has full factory Headquarters/representation, service and backup here, but additonally owns all the retail stores - no franchises, and no third party importers/distributors - which undoubtedly lowers the end price to the happy owner.

Certainly different global regions and markets, as well as different distribution chains and business models of selling can make some products much better value than others depending upon where you live, in my experience.

JMac

Are music and Hifi equipment two separate things ?

Music, be it live performance or studio recording is a medium of conveying emotion through artistic interpretation, performance and technique,

Whether it is good or not is down to the skill of the performer and the attitude and perception of its audience.

Hifi equipment is a purely objective method available to us of reproducing the above, given the restraints of finance, lifestyle restrictions and personal preference of asthetics.

More importantly the reproduction of music is purely objective. That is, it's based on what the individual has previously heard and experienced, be it symphony hall , stadium or rock played in a sweaty bar room through a battered SM58 mic.

For me, recording techniques have gone backwards since the introduction of "Pro tools" in the mid eighties and I find myself happier with the "lo fi" recordings of bands like White Stripes and the Foo fighters. Also being of an age that remembers the dance hall emergence of Motown and Northern Soul. I am resticted by the memory that much of it was played in Mono at the time and listening now in stereo just isn't how I first experienced it !

Normal healthy hearing falls within the 20Hz to 20000Hz range. As we get older the range decreases.

Reality dictates we listen to what we like, Where we can. On equipment we like and can afford.

I have no problem with the sales format, For me the main problem is the lack of ability to return something. That isn't an issue with the 9s as they are returnable under the distance selling rules. But the 40s are sold as made to order which cancels that out.

Also, trying at home for me is fairly important. I would be 99.9 % certain that there would be no need to return, but when we are talking a few grand I wouldn't want to leave myself open for disappointment.

How is one more made to order than the other? I can't imagine he had a vast warehouse full of the 9s in all finishes...

Personally I'm amazed he allows dealers who use kit without an Apple logo on it, considering his attitude to reviews that don't make use of such kit.

Wow, I wonder if I'll find the right side of my bed again. Not sure I can be bothered to look for it...

I imagine he has lots of 9's sitting around. The numbers will be huge compared to a set of £3000+ speakers. 

As for the fruity gods, well while they make very nice kit, it amazes me the huge bias toward them in that in fact they are pretty much the antithesis of Avi. ie HUGE profit margins and HUGE company using ditinctly dogy legal means to try to squash competitors, as compared to a homegrown business building great kit at extremely competitive prices. It's a bit like the local home-made jam shop sticking up for Tesco.

In fact, I'm just waiting for the Apple active speaker range to appear

Seriously though, if the ADM40s were subject to the same distance selling rules I'd probably order a pair.