[Triode User]

I strongly suspect this is a Bluebird problem, not a Chord problem. The cynical part of me thinks the “special” means willing to hold the line on the high pricing with no discount.

It is possible that what you are describing is just the same policy of dealer hierarchy that we have in the uk. Unless it has changed, some dealers in the uk for instance can only sell say Mojo. It might be that there is less to what you are describing than meets the eye.

 

[Whazzzup]

Still can’t figure out if I want one, but it would have to be blk.

 

[Christer]

I can't say for certain, but my speculation is the advent of Dolby noise reduction. Recordings from the late 50s and early 60s are stunningly lifelike with mScaler

I think you definitely have made a very valid point there .
But I would also say that with labels like EMI or Philips who as far as I know did not use Dobly, can sound stunningly clear open and realistic in all the important aspects that really count for me with acoustic music: Timbre, tonality and coherent soundstage with 3D like good depth well into the last gasping days of analogue in the late 70s.
This week I am listening to Karajan's Tristan from 1972 on LPs and I can only say that few digital recordings in my collection are as lifelike as those mainly excellently balanced, half the number of mics compared to "the competition" ie DGG during the same period, to quote the balance engineer Wolgang Gülich himself.
He was responsible for some of the most realisitic sounding recordings EVER made of the BPO/Karajan in the early to mid 70s.
Clearly better than the Dolby DECCAs from the same period.
But to enjoy some of those gems one needs to listen via a system capable of playing at very loud levels without obvious effort.
They are not overly compressed like a lot of the things one can easily enoy via computer desktop speakers many seem to prefer here .
I am talking about large scale Operas by Wagner and Verdi and symphonic works like the Sibelius symphonies.
The kind of music and recordings that really "sort the wheat from the chaff" imho.
As far as Rob's take on the DECCAs I suspect that some of the hardness or edge he has mentioned is more related to inferior early ADCs digitization of the analogue masters than the actual recordings.
On LP I rarely hear any edge on DECCAs both before and after Dolby treatment. If anything Dolby introduced a softness and more blurriness to the sound.
But the few DECCA rbcds I had sure had an edge to them more often than not.
And the EMI rbcds I tried also sounded clearly inferior to my LPs.

 

[dawktah2]

I strongly suspect this is a Bluebird problem, not a Chord problem. The cynical part of me thinks the “special” means willing to hold the line on the high pricing with no discount.

Time to organize group trips to London CanJam to do some shopping!

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! I just noticed my wife's birthday trip aligns with CANJAM London! So how do you purchase at show, inquiring minds want to know!

 

[STR-1]

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! I just noticed my wife's birthday trip aligns with CANJAM London! So how do you purchase at show, inquiring minds want to know!

Based on my experience attending the last three CanJam London shows I would not expect any Chord dealer exhibiting there to have boxes of Mscalers to sell and handover at the show. You would probably have to order, pay ahead and then collect when you are in town.

 

[jarnopp]

Based on my experience attending the last three CanJam London shows I would not expect any Chord dealer exhibiting there to have boxes of Mscalers to sell and handover at the show. You would probably have to order, pay ahead and then collect when you are in town.

Wouldn’t you also need to swap out part of the power supply to get the right plug? Anyone with an mScaler in the UK, can you comment on that? Or would you need a whole new power supply for your country?

 

[Triode User]

Wouldn’t you also need to swap out part of the power supply to get the right plug? Anyone with an mScaler in the UK, can you comment on that? Or would you need a whole new power supply for your country?

The power supply is rated 100 to 240V (I've just looked on the back) so you would just need a cable with a 'figure of 8' plug one end and your country supply plug on the other.

 

[jarnopp]

It is possible that what you are describing is just the same policy of dealer hierarchy that we have in the uk. Unless it has changed, some dealers in the uk for instance can only sell say Mojo. It might be that there is less to what you are describing than meets the eye.

Greed. It is a problem when the exchange rate would indicate a price below $4500 and the price being asked is $6000, over 1/3 higher. Where is the value add in that?

Edit: this is for the TT2, but same applies to mScaler.

Edit2: may be too harsh to say greed. It could be horrendous inefficiency. Either way, the fix is straightforward.

 

[jarnopp]

The power supply is rated 100 to 240V (I've just looked on the back) so you would just need a cable with a 'figure of 8' plug one end and your country supply plug on the other.

Thanks! I’ll be in Italy and Eastern Europe in November. Maybe....

 

[dawktah2]

Based on my experience attending the last three CanJam London shows I would not expect any Chord dealer exhibiting there to have boxes of Mscalers to sell and handover at the show. You would probably have to order, pay ahead and then collect when you are in town.

Most definitely will pay ahead, I will have to figure out which dealers will be at show.

 

[dmance]

If anyone knows anything about trade show regulations, dealers may not be able to sell on the floor (nor perhaps prepared with product inventory nor sales processes).
Anyhow - a side trip to Fanthorpes and claim of VAT at the airport lets you smuggle a unit home in your checked baggage.
But after all that effort, chord (and Bluebird) is pretty adamant about warranty protection for dealers so your MScaler has to go back to the UK for service.
Im canadian and almost went this route to buy a DAVE ...but chose to start with a local purchased Hugo2.

 

[dawktah2]

If anyone knows anything about trade show regulations, dealers may not be able to sell on the floor (nor perhaps prepared with product inventory nor sales processes).
Anyhow - a side trip to Fanthorpes and claim of VAT at the airport lets you smuggle a unit home in your checked baggage.
But after all that effort, chord (and Bluebird) is pretty adamant about warranty protection for dealers so your MScaler has to go back to the UK for service.
Im canadian and almost went this route to buy a DAVE ...but chose to start with a local purchased Hugo2.

Unless I'm calculating it wrong the price difference to bring back will save $800-1000 USD. I think that should cover shipping back to the UK...

 

[Triode User]

Greed. It is a problem when the exchange rate would indicate a price below $4500 and the price being asked is $6000, over 1/3 higher. Where is the value add in that?
Edit: this is for the TT2, but same applies to mScaler.
Edit2: may be too harsh to say greed. It could be horrendous inefficiency. Either way, the fix is straightforward.

Your gripe is a regular one that pops up on here whenever there is a new Chord product launch. It is just a fact of life for buying HiFi from a different country after everyone has taken their profit margin and also allowed for a support network. Here in the UK I can assure you that I have had to pay through the nose to buy my Pass Labs amps and have to pay a huge uplift from the local price. Also, I won't mention that the drop in the value of the pound has probably meant that you have saved a huge amount on what you would have had to pay if the pound had stayed at it's former price (and that I have had to pay a corresponding extra amount for my Pass Labs). I agree though that life isn't fair.

 

[rayl]

Your gripe is a regular one that pops up on here whenever there is a new Chord product launch. It is just a fact of life for buying HiFi from a different country after everyone has taken their profit margin and also allowed for a support network. Here in the UK I can assure you that I have had to pay through the nose to buy my Pass Labs amps and have to pay a huge uplift from the local price. Also, I won't mention that the drop in the value of the pound has probably meant that you have saved a huge amount on what you would have had to pay if the pound had stayed at it's former price (and that I have had to pay a corresponding extra amount for my Pass Labs). I agree though that life isn't fair.

On pricing, I would give some benefit of the doubt as there are also import duties. I don't happen to know what they are exactly though (post Brexit might be even higher!). I recall buying a relatively inexpensive item like around 500 GBP and paying over $200 USD in duties and brokerage fees (as I did the importation myself through FedEx, I had to hire a customs brokerage -- that added like $80 USD).

Arbitraging by bringing on one's person... well, it may be incriminating to ask if one intends to fully declare at customs or not, so I won't ask....

 

[Mojo ideas]

Greed. It is a problem when the exchange rate would indicate a price below $4500 and the price being asked is $6000, over 1/3 higher. Where is the value add in that?

Edit: this is for the TT2, but same applies to mScaler.

Edit2: may be too harsh to say greed. It could be horrendous inefficiency. Either way, the fix is straightforward.

Seems to me that the current exchange is around one point three dollars to the British pound and with a price of around 4,500 pounds including sales tax that the price is okay and there is no motive or evidence of greed. Please understand that to sell anything in the USA is not inexpensive especially when marketing and sales costs including travel and support at shows are considered properly. I think its always a cheap shot to cry foul at our distributor that their making too much money when they are mostly providing good and valuable service.