Here’s the Hifi Pig latest round-up of updates from the global Hifi Industry telling you what they are doing during the current situation.

Leema Acoustics Free Speaker Calibration PDF Guide  

With the UK lockdown extended until May at the earliest, Leema Acoustics has published a free comprehensive speaker calibration guide for locked-down music lovers wanting to get the best from the hardware they already own.

The Welshpool-based manufacturer, founded by two ex-BBC sound engineers in 1998, has teamed up with Andy Moore, Leema Acoustics’ Export Sales Business Manager at MIAN Audio Distribution (Leema’s UK distributor), to produce the ‘Grid Method’ speaker calibration guide, which is based on Moore’s 30 years’ industry experience. The seven-page full-colour PDF is available for free download and can be accessed here.

Leema Acoustics has a long history with loudspeakers: the company’s first product was a compact five-litre micro monitor, the Xen (MkII pictured below). Founder Lee Taylor said, “I couldn’t find a really high-quality micro monitor for home and studio use; they were either compromised in the bass, or in SPL capability. My co-founder and I decided to design a micro monitor of only 5l volume with a bass response from 55Hz -6dB to 25kHz +/-1.5dB.”

This was quite a tall order and took a long time to achieve, but we managed it and produced some speakers for our own use. I took them in to commercial studios to use while mixing and other engineers said, ‘Can you make some for me?’ and things evolved.”

The free speaker calibration guide has been produced by Leema in recognition of the importance of the loudspeaker as the final interface into the room. It has been designed to help Leema Acoustics’ customers (and others) ensure correct speaker placement and, therefore, realise the full potential of their electronics.

Ophidian Audio 25% Discount

Ophidian are offering 25% off all P-series Evolution speakers until 6th May to customers in the UK. To redeem simply contact any UK Ophidian dealer to place an order and the speakers will be sent directly to you.

VPI Live Stream Events

Mat Weisfeld from VPI got in touch to tell us what else they are doing, as they have moved into medical supply production during the pandemic.

“Mark your calendars for VPI’s Second Live stream E-Event!! We had major success with our first E-Event based around the Salon Audio Montréal / Audio Fest. We had to put our E-Events on hold while we ramped up our medical supplies production for our front line heroes. We are now taking a breath and getting back to some music.

We invite you to join us April 24th, 25th, and 26th for an even bigger and better listening experience at the VPI House while enjoying it from the safety and comfort of your home. Hosted by VPI Owner Mat Weisfeld, we will go through multiple systems, products, guest speakers, and much more! Stay tuned for more information throughout the week.

COVID-19 has impacted our lives, but we can still find ways to join together, share music, and connections with each other! See you all soon.”

Bowers & Wilkins

We wanted to update you as to what we are doing at Bowers & Wilkins in light of the coronavirus crisis. These last few weeks have been completely unprecedented: the global pandemic is affecting all our families, our businesses, our communities and our way of life.

Our hearts go out to anyone impacted directly or indirectly by the virus and especially to those who are sick, to whom we wish a full and speedy recovery. We are truly inspired by and very grateful to the selfless healthcare staff across the world who are working tirelessly to care for people in need.

The safety of our colleagues, customers and suppliers is at the forefront of our minds at this time. We are monitoring the situation closely in each region and are strictly following the guidelines and best practices put in place by each country’s respective governments. Wherever possible throughout our global operations our support and administration staff have been asked to work from home. Whilst our production and warehouse facilities remain open, staff are following guidelines on social distancing and hygiene, while appropriate personal protection equipment has been introduced. This is supplemented by stringent and regular deep-cleaning routines, while all non-essential visits to our sites have been cancelled to minimise contact risk. Any colleagues showing symptoms have been requested to immediately self-isolate, with flexibility being provided to staff who need to look after family members or isolate as a group.

We are working with our suppliers, distributors, dealers and service agents to safely provide the best possible product and after-sales service to our customers. Our online store at remains open should you wish to make a purchase and our support staff are at hand as always to answer your calls and emails. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all our teams for their dedication and continued support to our customers under these difficult circumstances. These are uncharted territories for us all and we thank you for your continued support during this time.

Stay safe.

Hifi Lounge ‘Home Loan Scheme’ With Melco, CAD, Quadraspire And Iso Acoustics

Paul from Hifi Lounge got in touch to tell me what they have been doing:

“I have to say that the new normal at Hifi Lounge of sending kit out daily for customers to try at home has proved very popular indeed, as the below picture shows, and needless to say I am happy to carry on with this so if you fancy trying anything just let me know and we’ll make the necessary arrangements.

We have also teamed up with manufacturer’s to offer something similar but with their support which is very much appreciated as I only have one of each product in most cases so I have now got a ‘Covid-19 HiFi Loan waiting list’ but the support like this will really help, please find more details below and any interest of question just give me a shout.

Melco

So for me Melco offer the best range of servers out there, in the old days we all used NAS drives and lap tops for servers but there really is no need for this any longer with Melco offering a full range of servers / Players which give a big upgrade in sound quality compared to a NAS or computer, they also offer a ripper and the new network switch so if you would like to discover the benefits of adding any of their products into your system please get in touch then I will speak with Melco to arrange the loan.

Computer Audio Design

We were supposed to be holding a CAD open day next month to demo and explain the performance benefits of their grounding blocks and other equipment but obviously that has been postponed but this is is arguably a better alternative as CAD are happy to send out their grounding blocks for you to try at home, these really are a great upgrade, totally passive and funnily enough work brilliantly with Melco, so if you have a Server, DAC, CD Player, Phono Stage, all in one player, basically most things and would like better performance then please get in touch to arrange a home demo, the beauty is that the grounding blocks are extremely easy to try, no setting up and no mains, just connect it up with the supplied cable and enjoy the upgrade which basically lowers the noise floor improving transients, clarity and making the music more rhythmic, please find the CAD range below and check out the downloads tab in each product for more information. I’m actually home trialling their USB cables at the moment on my system to see how they compare to what I currently use and so far so good I have to say.

Quadraspire

Obviously Quadraspire are not going to send out HiFi Racks to try but their QPlus range of HiFi isolation feet are perfect to test at home under any hifi kit really, the idea is that if you haven’t got the room for a dedicated Quadraspire rack then put these under your equipment and it is just like putting them on one of their racks, they really do make a difference so well worth a go.

IsoAcoustics

I have to say that the IsoAcoustics Gaia Speaker isolation feet really do make a difference, we recently installed a set to a pair of Magico S5 speakers and the difference in bass control and mid range clarity really wasn’t subtle and they do work on any floorstanding speaker with the same effect so if you want to unleash the true performance of your speakers then I would most definitely recommend these and the great news is that they are not silly money, I know, rare in HiFi.

Anyway at the moment IsoAcoustics are offering for every set of 8 Gaia Isolation feet sold they will also throw in for free 3 IsoAcoustics Graphite Orea equipment isolation supports and they are so confident that as we can’t demo this at the moment that if for any reason they are not giving you the performance boost you were hoping for they will give you your money back, can’t ask for more than that really so if of any interest just let me know and I can get the required set of Gaia’s sent out to you, all I need to know is what speakers you have to determine which Gaia’s are suitable for you”

Black Rhodium Temporary Closure 

Black Rhodium closed from 24/03/20 in accordance with government directives. During this period they will be able unable to process and ship orders, any orders received during this period will be processed as soon as business resumes.

Graham Nalty told us ”At this time we would like to thank our loyal customers for their continued support and wish you the best of health during this period”.

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