Editorial May 2023

May 2023

‘sup?!

Yes. We are adding some motoring to our site – the shock and horror has been deafening. Still, we are nothing if not thick skinned and with the idea of cost consolidations and content generation these days in the face of ChatGPT now making as yet unmeasured effects on what we all consume as readers these days we think it prudent to be conservative. It’s a side bar, hopefully of interest and hopefully, with the advent of high end audio names aligning with car environments at what has now become almost an expected norm these days we can cross over coverage between the two.

In other news there have been some brand shakeups on the local front with representatives of brands changing hands. The knee jerk gut reaction to this is that this can only be a good thing for we consumers and part of me wonders, just wonders, if we may not be seeing a return (from the brink of oblivion it must be stated) of that much missed retail species – the specialist audio dealer?

After all, when one can test in store physically, go home and shop online, and still end up with a similar price without that relationship (the early twenty teens model of disruptive online shopping) – it makes sense that a highly personalised specialist offering that is AV is dealt with via bricks and mortar based human interaction.

The simple fact that a physical presence is required to audition in the first place also exposes one to other things. I have found this to be a dangerous precedent when it comes to my wallet health overall but that is part and parcel of this hobby based audio enlightenment that we all enjoy so much. Get out there, support the dealers and enjoy the experience of listening to something different.

After all, if I had to do it so can you!

William Kelly

Publisher