The Reason To Donate Life - April - March 2023

There are times and moments that I put aside my thoughts about audio, video, home theater and accessories. For while those things can bring you temporary and fleeting enjoyment, none compares in the slightest to the Gift of Life itself.

There are times where unfamiliar families become united through both joy and grief. You see, my wife was one of the very fortunate in this world to receive such a gift, a heart.

At one time, my wife Debbie suffered through a genetic heart disease known as HCM. (It is finally getting the attention it truly deserves, the medical condition known as HCM or Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. I cannot thank Lisa Salberg and her organization 4HCM.ORG enough for both the care and guidance through all of this including the transplant events.) Eventually, even medical intervention by the Cleveland Clinic could not overcome what had happened over time to her heart and the only option left was a heart transplant. Essentially, for every 10 people who need one, only 1 is so fortunate. My wife is one of the fortunate. Of course, several things occur simultaneously when the time for a transplant occurs, and without any warning. At one end is the hope and dreams of continued life while at the other end there are families saying their good-byes to a loved one. This happens for other organs too but the heart is the cultural-spiritual existence of all living things. Transplant recipients then run the gauntlet of survival (it is not a cure like plugging in a new battery) but an exchange of one set of problems for another and, well, Deb has had quite a share of those. Near death, six times is our current count. But, there's another part too. It is the recognition by the recipient that another's life came to an end to continue theirs. There's a sort of guilt/remorse to it for a family unknown. Now, UNOS, who handles the movement of such organs does provide a narrow path to contact the donor family. However, you must wait one year before you can reach out. It goes through UNOS who knows who. If the donor family declines to respond, that's pretty much the end of communications. It must be this way as some donor families do not wish to relive those painful moments and good-byes. Then, there are magic moments. Debbie was so very fortunate 6 months after her transplant to have the donor family reach out. The conversations began. These past few days Debbie and I were honored to have the mother visit us and spend time in our home. The first meeting at the airport was a powerful moment. You see, Deb now had the heart of her young son who sadly died in a tragic event. While Deb and I celebrated the Gift of Life Thanksgiving Day 2020, at the other end was the closing of a life that day as well. We were blessed to share life together and to experience that moment that no great philosopher had ever considered. We have to blaze new paths on our own. After a few days with us, it came time for her to return home. Then, came the next magic moment. A moment few get to see let alone experience. We shared the moment when the mother's desire was fulfilled to hear her son's heart beat in Debbie. I can not speak for what both emotionally felt and it would be a great injustice to even attempt it. But I am letting you see the moment of their first meeting and a moment when the mother could hear her son's heart. It is, as best as I can describe, a living legacy from her son.

It is moments like these that should help you understand why UNOS has the banner Donate Life and ask people to become organ donors in the event of their pending death for which no amount of medical intervention can overcome. I hope you also now understand why I have a search going for a Dean Exotica guitar which is posted on the Audible Elegance YouTube videos. You see, her son played it and, most unfortunately, someone decided it needed to be stolen. It remains my hope that I can, at least, with your assistance, recover the guitar and return it to her as a part of his life and a token our gratitudes.

In any event, please do consider donating life. It is, in the end, far greater than anything that will ever be done by Audible Elegance. You, alone, can do it.

-Lou

Enter The Boogieman! - February 2023

I hope you caught my play on words. The correct spelling is Boogeyman but since we deal with both music and video, it seemed right.

Before I go any further, I want to state something very clearly: There is no such thing as an audio or video emergency. Nothing is life threatening nor should it trigger anger which, unfortunately, gets leveled on us all too often. Trust me, it does not help you at all. It doesn't help anyone else either. As my wife now has a heart transplant and nearly died 6 times, trust me, I know what life threatening means and it does not include audio or video. Not even close.

So, what's up? Well, whether we like it or not, most of the products we now own are, one way or another, controlled by software. Unlike the early days, many products can take on both software and firmware upgrades. Our first mutual experience was with our cars. Yes, it can be very frustrating and I have experienced that with my two vehicles. I don't know what vehicle I am getting back once they have them. With my truck, I have lost both power and mileage for goals never explained. With my car, well, the bluetooth went from great to terrible and my driver's window works randomly. Oh, I can factory reset that but you get my drift. But maddening is not life threatening. PITA Moments: Pain in the Ass. I'll say it now: We didn't do it and sometimes we don't even know when they do it.

The same now holds true with many electronics. You can have "upgrades" that brick (lock up) the device and make it useless. We have seen this with Bluesound, Control 4, and Sonos making them completely useless. We have also seen "upgrades" play havoc on televisions with unannounced features being added like auto brightness to room light. That got us a dozen calls from people thinking their set was failing. I'll say it here: We didn't do it and sometimes we don't even know when they do it until the phones light up.

Now, many people rely on a feature called "automatic update" or something similar much like what you may have on your computer. While this can get you the latest and greatest (I say with a word of caution), it can come with a price. Certainly computer upgrades can come with all sorts of nasty surprises for either Windows or Apple. The same is true for audio and video products. In that regard, you may want to seriously consider turning off that automatic feature so that you have the opportunity to search the web for problems before you download it onto yourself. Sometimes, you don't have a choice about upgrading firmware or software and it becomes a forced march but at least you get to choose when and what will happen. They even might have a revision to fix what they did so you don't download the mess. Again, I will say it: We didn't do it and we don't know when they will do it. You, however, can.

Then, there's another issue that has struck numerous customers. Their network is deficient. This can be caused by poor service, modems, routers, wiring, or even poor electric. This is very common today and we have had to do quite a few network systems. It's not dial-up AOL anymore, folks. There can also be communication issues with certain pieces. Of course, all along, you better have your passwords ready. We have also seen where installation companies do not give that to the owners which makes it impossible for either the owner or another company to effect changes. Most sincerely, if we didn't build your network, that can be the real issue and yet again "It's not our fault." Old modems and routers, those good ole friends that still work, can also be a problem. They get outdated too.

Then, there's power. The greatest fear in doing any "upgrade" is the loss of power while it is being performed. Sometimes, the loss of power can create an irreversible disaster. It is case by case. This is the risk of not controlling when an upgrade is done. This is where having an uninterrupted power supply, a battery backup, can become crucial. Battery backup for modems and routers is the first target. Then, something for the item actually being "upgraded." We have a couple of pieces in the store that got caught in the middle of an upgrade and they make great door stoppers. And, yet still again, it's not our fault if you do automatic upgrades without being sure you system will have the proper power to complete it. So, as we head towards spring and all those lovely storms, think about where you are now and where you want to be and plan for it.

Meanwhile, if you do have a problem, handle it as coolly as Jim Lovel in the movie Apollo 13 with "Houston, we have a problem". Don't be like the control room going into a panic when the shit hits the fan. One thing at a time and let's work the problem together.

And now, Boogie on!

Lou

Perfect Sound Forever (Again) - January 2023

I would like to wander into the world many of you are considering: Streaming.

Hold onto your hats and open your ears. This all began after I visited the owner of another dealer who is out of state. He presented to me his best system using both Audio Research and Wilson Speakers using exceptional cables. When he streamed what he wanted to play, it was truly excellent. However, things went quickly amiss when Debbie and I started to choose the music we wanted to hear. Dreadful, actually. I do not fault either the dealer or the equipment.

I have done multiple comparisons with my LPs (original pressings) in the store with what is available via streaming. I have been investigating this and repeatedly found the LP far more musically satisfying. I proceeded to purchase a personal favorite rock album from the 70s, a new reissue, to provide further demonstration material to drive this point home after hearing how terrible this had sounded on the other dealers system. Much to my staff's horror, the reissue LP sounded absolutely dreadful and was easily crushed by the Bel Canto streamer.

It was at this point that I realized that it wasn't so much the format used, as it was that the quality of the source, the music itself, was the answer. Much like when CDs first came out, they did not bother to go to the original master but rather grabbed any version, however many generations later, to make the product. Some of you may recall the early days of photocopiers and what happened 6 or 7 generations later. Same thing. So, in the case of my LP, it was the exact same problem: some miserable digital remaster of lord knows what generation copy. I now have a 1975 pressing in bound to show that not all is happy in LP land either.

I think, as well, that there are fundamental differences between our interactions with the music itself. Without question, the use of LPs requires a decision, an intent, to sit down and enjoy it much like a fine meal. The blind assumption given to streaming is that the meal presented is equally so. Like meals, we have come to learn there can be quite a difference between restaurants. Convenience does not always satisfy. It may be a trade-off you are willing to accept and I have no problem with that as long as it is an informed choice. It’s sorta like cutting the air conditioning belt on a car. Yep, better mileage and pep as long as you are willing to sweat.

Marketing is also a funny thing as CDs were marketed for years as "perfect sound forever." Well, they were not perfect and I also have plenty of examples of CD rot (the deterioration of the metal). So, here we go again and now it's hard to find a nice player for those CDs. We are doing what we can.

There's not much point in arguing this and we have chosen to merely present the reality of the formats and if they insist on demonstrations only by streaming, then they need to be made aware that depending upon their choices, the better the system the poorer results may and will likely occur. As for many other stores, who rely solely on streaming, I consider them to be lazy and that you, the buyer, are not likely being given proper demonstrations nor do they either care or know. The truth be told, the better the system, the worse it will either sound or leave you pondering why should I spend that sort of money. I TOTALLY AGREE. If only steaming is available, everyone may become a victim of what I call electronic scoliosis (everyone hunched over a phone or tablet) served on a dish of mediocrity. Don’t get me wrong, there is some excellent streaming available but is what you want streamed any good? Oddly enough, were are now challenged with the old two source rule which use to be used in reporting.

So don’t be surprised if Audible Elegance simply takes a few moments to alert you to this situation as you try to make an intelligent investment in your life and home. Rarely do the educated take the easy and simple path. It's our lot in life to understand and, if possible, to teach others.

And so it goes, again.

Lou