In 2015, LP and EP sales rose to their highest level since 1988 The sale of vinyl albums in the U.S. brought in more money than the recording industry made from advertising on the free tier of services like YouTube and Spotify last year, according to the RIAA. Vinyl LP/EP sales rose 32% in 2015 to $416 million, their highest level since 1988, the U.S. record industry group said. That’s still a fraction of overall industry revenues, which edged higher by 0.9% over 2014 to an estimated $7 billion. But it’s more than the revenue generated from on-demand, ad-supported streaming,...
At the top of Yamaha’s new PRO line of headphones, the $399.95 (direct) Yamaha PRO 500 is a formidable beast. At first glance, it may appear to take its cues from the Beats school of design, with a focus on glossy plastic and logos. But the PRO 500 is no knock-off, and it sounds flat-out excellent. Armed with a nice array of accessories and a detachable cable that helps extend its value, the PRO 500 is, nonetheless, not a bargain. It’s a luxury and an investment—but its rich bass and wide stereo field earn it our Editors’ Choice award for high-end...
For our 30th anniversary we wanted to achieve new heights of greatness…so we did just that. Meet the worlds first ever intelligent subwoofer and amplifier combination, SPG Z6-30. The SPG Z6-30’s main feature is our brand new Accelerated Force Mechanism technology, or AFM for short. Instead of a single voice coil driving the moving parts of the woofer, we’re driving the moving parts of the woofer with 26 radially distributed intelligent electro magnets. Using similar technology to modern Gauss cannons (which is essentially a Stupid Potato Gun), we were able to create the most powerful yet sonically accurate subwoofer in...
Easter is here again! Hooray!! This year we will be closing and spending time with our families… We will be closed…. Good Friday 25th March 2016 Holy Saturday 26th March 2016 Easter Sunday 27th March 2016 Easter Monday 28th March 2016 Our Abtec Petone team will return back to our normal business hours Tuesday 29th March 2016 Have a great Easter break, and a big thank you for supporting us!!
It’s been a while since we tested anything from Klipsch’s home cinema line-up, but with its new Reference range hitting the shelves, it seems like the perfect time to take a fresh look. Sitting just below the pricier Reference II Series, the new Reference line-up is made up of a standard home cinema package and two soundbars, the R-10B and R-20B. It’s the flagship R-20B we’re concentrating on here: a soundbar and subwoofer duo wading in at a price-point to take on Dali and Yamaha in this increasingly competitive world. Build and design Design-wise it doesn’t stand out like the...
It’s that time again, time for the V 4 & Rotary Jamboree Sounds Alive & Extreme Bass Battle Sound Off March 2016! Its hard to believe its been a whole year since the last sound off (Many thanks to Aaron Bublitz, when I arrived, most of the competitors were already and prepped. First runs of the morning were the “Kiwi Classes” and I was amazed on how smooth this ran, with a lot of the competitors getting personal best’s or very close to it. Once we had all the runs completed for the “Kiwi Classes” everybody had a quick break. One...
Abtec NZ has been at the forefront of Car and Home Audio since our opening in February 1993. Abtec NZ opened it’s doors at 49 Hutt Road, Petone April 2013. Now in February 2016 our Petone store has had a full makeover bringing the best of both worlds together, Car and Home Audio all under one roof and with addition of a full installation workshop at 49a Hutt Road, Petone. We also provide a full mobile installation service locally for Home Audio products and delivery is also available if required. See below photos of our Petone store after it’s new makeover 2016. Main...
Released in late 2014, these Sony personal audio products are part of an ongoing roll out of numerous products rated for playback of high resolution audio. The products under review here are the Sony MDR-Z7 Headphones, the Sony PHA-3 battery powered DAC/headphone amp and the Kimber Kable MUC-B20BL1 balanced headphone cable. Despite that they were not the most neutral sounding products I’ve heard, I nevertheless fell in love with their open sound and their special qualities in the treble. I also found all three of these products to be very well made and one would expect them to retain their...
Arriving at the venue just after 7am, I knew the day was going to be a scorcher and I was not wrong! With the Gazebo, PA gear, PC, and lanes now setup I went through to check out the cars, and number, and mark the mic placement. Looking at the setups people had it was also going to be a very LOUD day… again I was not wrong! The day ran like a well-oiled machine with competitors and crowd working well together to help competitors to and from the lanes. The days temperatures played a big part for a couple...
So a couple of months ago I was contacted by Mr Burrell, who asked me to come in and have a chat with him. I felt like I had been sent to the principal’s office at school. Ashley and I talked about our history of audio for a good 20 minutes, until he asked me about my Digital Designs Redline 712, which I ran for about 4 months before moving and sadly having to give it up. Because I was such a fan of the 712 as it was my first above average subwoofer and the clean, clear quality of...
