We are doing our very best to keep you up to date with all that is happening in the Hifi Industry during the global pandemic. Here is the latest from what Hifi brands and dealers are doing to adapt, and to help the community.

It has recently been announced that both AXPONA and CanJam London have been cancelled for 2020, you can keep up to date with all the changes to Hifi Shows and Events around the world here, with the Hifi Pig Hifi Diary, where we are adding the new show dates as soon as we get them.

Cardas Audio

Cardas Audio, of Bandon, Oregon, USA, have gone into overdrive to help out of work service workers in their area. Angela, Josh and the team are selling super covetable ‘Stay Home And Listen To Music’ T shirts, facemasks, and also lots of the fantastic merch that they usually give away at shows, on a special website, to raise money. Every penny goes to help the community.

Watch their promo video here!

“I can’t wait to start giving shirts away for free at audio shows again!” Angela Cardas told us. “We created this store to raise funds for people in need in our community. Every dollar spent at this store benefits Bandon’s out-of-work service industry employees. We’re not even covering our own costs. Cardas Audio is famous for giving away shirts and other cool stuff at audio shows. Well, we’re still giving it away, but it isn’t free anymore. At least not for now”.

You can visit the charity website here to buy the T shirts and other gear

MidlandAudioXchange

John Roberts, of MidlandAudioXchange in the UK, got in touch to let us know how they are managing the current situation.

“Hi everyone, hope you not getting too stir crazy and are observing all guidelines set by gov.uk
Testing times for manufacturers and retailers, but the introduction of our new website and our 25th anniversary year has seen unprecedented interest in some of the items up for grabs. Over the last 4-5 weeks we have sent out over 70 packages to our customers far and wide. You can see that we are selling higher ended items alongside small accessories.
Thankfully UPS and DPD have been fabulous and we all take our hats off to these frontline workers who put themselves at risk every day to keep the country moving.
Now more than ever music has become so important as the perfect Distraction away from Covid19
Stay home and listen to music!
Protect the NHS
And stay safe
John”

GIK Acoustics

GIK Acoustics has taken many steps to combat the spread of the COVID-19 virus, and will now be making masks from random colour off-cut fabrics from the factory, in order to promote better health amid the pandemic.

When you buy masks, you are giving back: You are promoting better health throughout the world, giving people work during the economic hardships, and donating to where it is most needed. You may also donate additional funds.

The masks are professionally sewn, Multi-Layered loop-masks cut made from GIKs random coloured fabric off-cuts and lined with drill cotton inserts.

GIK are selling their masks through their UK, German and USA websites, with proceeds going to the Red Cross and NHS charities, depending on location…so click through now to get some proper face treatment from the room treatment experts!

Naim Audio

In late March, Naim Audio made the tough but necessary decision to temporarily close their Salisbury factory during these unprecedented times.

Naim told us “During this time, our departments were working to find solutions that would go beyond the government’s guidelines to ensure the well-being of our dedicated staff. We are elated to announce that we have now started a phased return to production, under a distanced regime designed to ensure the safety of our teams. It is great to see our hand-crafted hifi now once again being created here in Salisbury.

While planning our phased return, we also thought about your welfare too. UK customers will now be able to receive products directly from the Naim warehouse. Please ask your retailer for this option when you place your order. Many of our great dealers, worldwide are also offering direct shipping options for in-stock items.

We are also pleased to share that our skilled Naim Service & Repair team will now start accepting units. In the meantime, the team is working to get pre-lockdown units back to their owners”.

Naim is also working to support a local Salisbury Schol, who are raising money to produce visors for the NHS. Over 32,000 visors have been made and distributed so far, you can find out more on the school’s Go Fund Me Page, here!

Titan Audio

Gary Campbell, of Titan Audio who manufacture mains cables and audio accessories, got in touch to tell us what they are doing to help the NHS and vulnerable people, by manufacturing visors and masks and sending them out for free.

“Titan Audio has decided to shut down their R&D department temporarily, in order to produce a range of face shields to offer protection to our front line workers. All of these masks are created to NHS specifications, and use high-quality materials, in order to offer the best protection possible. These are all being produced on our in house 3D printing machines, which are developed for precise accuracy and detail. They have been created in luminous green so they can be spotted easily and offer a colourful signal on medical staff so anyone who needs assistance can easily spot them.

Alongside this, we have also begun creating face masks. These are created from Non-Woven Polypropylene, (the same as NHS Surgical masks) and are all heat sealed, rather than stitched to offer superior effectiveness as well as longevity. There are also a number of more vulnerable people out there, and getting supplies is becoming more and more difficult every day. We are happy to ship face shields and masks to anyone living with, or helping anyone who is more vulnerable at this time.

Both the face shields and face masks are available to anyone who requires them, and will be shipped out directly to your home or work. This is all done totally free of charge. We hope that this is small gesture is a step towards beating this virus, and offers vulnerable people & essential workers some protection.

If anyone would like any of these masks or face shields, please contact us at [email protected]. We are operating on a first come first serve basis, and while we have our machines working around the clock, they do take some time to print each, so we are producing them as fast as possible”.

Smart Home Sounds

Smart Home Sounds is a Gloucester-based smart speaker retailer founded by ex England and Gloucester Rugby player Andy Hazell. The company is a retailer for smart speakers and stocks ranges by Sonos, Bluesound, Kef, Bowers and Wilkins and, most recently, Marshall.

With more people than ever working from home,  the team at smart speaker retailer Smart Home Sounds has been busy during lockdown – uploading and posting more videos on their You Tube channel and blog posts on their website so customers can get help and visual advice more easily. Their onsite recording studio enables the team to safely make online tutorials and advice videos to answer those burning question seeing as high street stores are closed. (Team picture was taken before the pandemic)

VPI Industries

VPI, the American turntable manufacturer, turned their hand to making sanitizer, 3D printed ventilator parts and face shields some weeks ago, now they have brought out the Safe Hand.

The Safe Hand has been designed to ensure that when opening a door, the user does not have to touch the handle. Configured to work with most types of door handles, it also has a contact point to allow the safe operation of checkout touchscreens in supermarkets, bank ATMs, lift buttons, door entry keypads and touch screens on ‘phones and tablets. Its clever ergonomic form means that it can even be used in the bathroom!

Manufactured from antimicrobial copper, the VPI Safe Hand limits the chances of the user coming into contact with germs and reduces the spread of any possible infection. Its lightweight design ensures it is easy to carry around. VPI will be offering the Safe Hand free of charge to the medical services and selling it online at $20.

Mat Weisfeld, commented, ‘The VPI Safe Hand is a great next step for us in our efforts to help combat COVID-19. I am delighted to be able to offer it to the medical services at no cost and I am certain many of our customers will want one too. The Safe Hand’s functionality and durability ensure that it is something people will want to continue to use long after this crisis has passed.’

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