[unsane69]

How is your experience with Sonority NL? How much were the shipping costs?

Good.
Shipping were a whopping €0.00

Can the knob just be pulled off?!? Can't seem to spot a screw?

 

[Ableza]

Someone sent me a PM asking why I like buying Schiit gear, and spoke disparagingly about the company based on some on-line comments they had read. They've never owned anything from the company. So here was my reply:

"Hey (name redacted), I started buying Schiit solely because of the reputations and backgrounds of the two founders. Their design chops cannot be questioned by anyone with half an ounce's knowledge of this industry's history, and especially you representing the minions of The High End should recognize names like Theta Digital and Sumo and realize these guys know what they are doing. With Schiit they are free to do what they want to do rather than what their corporate managers think they should do. They can experiment and bring some of those experiments to the market. Some fail, some are OK, some are pretty darn amazing. And they talk freely about this process, which adds to the user enjoyment. I like going along for that ride. The fact that they keep their prices down is a plus - yes I know to you low prices mean it must be poorly made, and more power to you and to your bank account. But for the price you pay for a phono cartridge I can buy and sell and buy again several times over and play with some cool DACs and amplifiers and preamps and see what sounds good. You should buy some of their crappy cheap gear and try it for yourself. Hell for the cost of shipping those giant monstrosities you bought from Oswalds Mill you could grab a Freya and a Yggdrasil and a pair of Aegir amps and see what all the fuss is about for yourself. Peace out brother, and enjoy the music.

David"

 

[ipeverywhere]

What I Should Have Said About Convergence

This is really spot on. The one bit I'll add to the argument is accessibility / availability to "try" something different. Buying online and returning is a hassle but at least it's an option. If I want to test 3 or 4 different amp / pre-amp combinations some of those things on my list are simply not available in my area and/or sourcing it is a final sale. This makes _everything_ in audio far mode expensive because I do put expense on my time. It's one of the main reasons I've not done any major upgrades in a number of years. If those on the panel were really serious about "moving" users from one listening experience to another they'd invest in making that experience accessible.

I'm not a headphone fan. I love the energy in the room with massive soundstage, upfront vocals, and balanced but powerful bass energy. I strive for accuracy, articulation, and dynamics with great room filling energy and fast percussion. If I want to drive a 4x4 I'm 30 min. away from a Jeep dealer and when I decide that's not for me the Porsche dealer is just a little further down the street. You know how far I have to go to find a store that even has 4 different amp / pre-amp combinations let alone speakers that would make for a relevant comparison? I'll give you a hint... it's significantly further than the Jeep dealer. People tend to buy what they can experience. Again, if those on that panel were serious about "moving" customers they would figure out how to make the experience accessible. Schiit, and some others, are removing the "risk" by taking stuff back no questions asked but that's still far more of a hassle than if I could stop at the audio store down the street.

On an only somewhat relevant side-comment.. I may be in LA later this year and I hope to stop by the Schitter when I'm there. If this can happen I will certainly walk out with some new Schiit just to celebrate the experience. Again, participating in the "experience" is the best form of marketing if you want me to swipe my credit card. I do hope accessibility to the experience gets better in the industry.

 

[ScubaMan2017]

So Jason, what you are sayin is to expect the next big thing (tm) from Schiit to cost $10,000?

 

[Pietro Cozzi Tinin]

This is really spot on. The one bit I'll add to the argument is accessibility / availability to "try" something different. Buying online and returning is a hassle but at least it's an option. If I want to test 3 or 4 different amp / pre-amp combinations some of those things on my list are simply not available in my area and/or sourcing it is a final sale. This makes _everything_ in audio far mode expensive because I do put expense on my time. It's one of the main reasons I've not done any major upgrades in a number of years. If those on the panel were really serious about "moving" users from one listening experience to another they'd invest in making that experience accessible.

I'm not a headphone fan. I love the energy in the room with massive soundstage, upfront vocals, and balanced but powerful bass energy. I strive for accuracy, articulation, and dynamics with great room filling energy and fast percussion. If I want to drive a 4x4 I'm 30 min. away from a Jeep dealer and when I decide that's not for me the Porsche dealer is just a little further down the street. You know how far I have to go to find a store that even has 4 different amp / pre-amp combinations let alone speakers that would make for a relevant comparison? I'll give you a hint... it's significantly further than the Jeep dealer. People tend to buy what they can experience. Again, if those on that panel were serious about "moving" customers they would figure out how to make the experience accessible. Schiit, and some others, are removing the "risk" by taking stuff back no questions asked but that's still far more of a hassle than if I could stop at the audio store down the street.

On an only somewhat relevant side-comment.. I may be in LA later this year and I hope to stop by the Schitter when I'm there. If this can happen I will certainly walk out with some new Schiit just to celebrate the experience. Again, participating in the "experience" is the best form of marketing if you want me to swipe my credit card. I do hope accessibility to the experience gets better in the industry.

If you have to buy gear with your credit card you probably shouldn't.

 

[ipeverywhere]

If you have to buy gear with your credit card you probably shouldn't.

But I like the points. :|

 

[golfbravobravo]

If you have to buy gear with your credit card you probably shouldn't.

I buy everything via a credit card and rarely use cash.

I tried to buy my car that way, but they wouldn't........

 

[Pietro Cozzi Tinin]

Maybe I'm somewhat confused.
I just now realise it's a cultural thing too.
Europeans tend to safe up first and then buy.
In the Netherlands there's no grocery store that accepts credit cards (only debit cards) because the charges are too high to keep prices decent.

 

[RickB]

Maybe I'm somewhat confused.
I just now realise it's a cultural thing too.
Europeans tend to safe up first and then buy.
In the Netherlands there's no grocery store that accepts credit cards (only debit cards) because the charges are too high to keep prices decent.

In the US, credit cards are accepted almost everywhere. I have read of drug dealers accepting cards using Square.

 

[ipeverywhere]

Maybe I'm somewhat confused.
I just now realise it's a cultural thing too.
Europeans tend to safe up first and then buy.
In the Netherlands there's no grocery store that accepts credit cards (only debit cards) because the charges are too high to keep prices decent.

Yup... It's "odd" not to take credit cards here in the US and this fact allows for establishments to just price things in a way it covers the cost of the charge. It's partially because we're a debt enthusiastic society. 2017 USA Today article cited the average US household credit card debt was $16,883

The flip-side of this for those, that don't want to or need to carry CC debt, is it's caused the CC companies to incentivize you to still use cards with perks like extended warranties, money back, etc. If you've got good credit you can easily get 3%+ cash back on all grocery purchases with a CC here in the US.

I've not found a card that gives me any perks for hifi gear though. Well, unless I can buy it through Amazon and then I get 5% back.

Edit: Also, you can partially blame the airlines for car dealerships no longer taking credit cards for car purchases. From what I understand the airlines were losing too much money giving away multiple airline tickets when someone bought a car.

 

[golfbravobravo]

Maybe I'm somewhat confused.
I just now realise it's a cultural thing too.
Europeans tend to safe up first and then buy.
In the Netherlands there's no grocery store that accepts credit cards (only debit cards) because the charges are too high to keep prices decent.

Cards are ubiquitous here. I see you also fall into the European cultural trap of assuming that if one uses a card, one can't afford to pay cash. You and my dad would have got along!

 

[Timster]

If you have to buy gear with your credit card you probably shouldn't.

Nah, not so. Everything on the card, pay it off every month, so no interest, and loyalty points top up my Frequent Flyer points earned with business travel!
Europe from Australia last year, all Business Class for two of us on Singapore Airlines with points earned

I like chasing the numbers and aiming for another trip in '21, maybe around the world inc. a stop in LA. I hear there's a cool audio shoppe there

 

[golfbravobravo]

Nah, not so. Everything on the card, pay it off every month, so no interest, and loyalty points top up my Frequent Flyer points earned with business travel!
Europe from Australia last year, all Business Class for two of us on Singapore Airlines with points earned

I like chasing the numbers and aiming for another trip in '21, maybe around the world inc. a stop in LA. I hear there's a cool audio shoppe there

Exactly so! We are planning our Aus trip based on various points schemes (my son is in Gawler, SA), though moving form the West to the East coast certainly made that harder!

Cheers

 

[Pietro Cozzi Tinin]

Cards are ubiquitous here. I see you also fall into the European cultural trap of assuming that if one uses a card, one can't afford to pay cash. You and my dad would have got along!

Nah. It's not that harsh. I do think however that if one does not have the money to buy "it", they shouldn't.
Credit Card points, incentives, extended guarantees etc. cost money and in the end it's always the customer who pays for it.
Almost nobody carries cash here and debit cards are universally accepted everywhere.
Credit cards too but not in the branches where the costs evidently are turned over to the users.
Then there are the branches that do not accept credit cards so they can give a client the extra discount themselves.
Credit Card companies have waaay to much power and there's people who don't just accept it and i think that's good.

 

[Robert Padgett]

I buy everything via a credit card and rarely use cash.

I tried to buy my car that way, but they wouldn't........

I purchased a Plymouth Reliant K-car with a green Amex card. Got a cash discount. Paid the bill. That was back in 1980s.