You'll find us looking at sites like Turntable Lab, Vinyl Me Please and The Vinyl Factory, along with the many great record stores across Australia like Dutch Vinyl in Melbourne (our hometown), Record Store in Sydney, Beatniks in the Gold Coast and Urban Records in Perth.
"We're into design and enjoy stuff that looks as nice as it sounds."
The principles of great-sounding audio haven't really changed in the past 50 years, but convenience and 'fashion' have taken us backwards.
The earbuds that come with your phone aren't great, as anyone who's listened to the same music on a proper sound system knows.
A portable Bluetooth speaker is fine for travel, but it's a suboptimal way to listen to things at home. And those record players that look like little suitcases? Please, for the love of god, stay away.
You'll see some great products out there under the umbrella of high-end audio or hi-fi, but they can be obscured by abstract specs and scary prices.
"We can take you from 50% to 90% without spending mega bucks."
We're not vinyl snobs - it's a beautiful and fun medium to get into, but if CD or streaming is your flavour, we've got you covered there too. Here are the rules we went by when deciding what audio products to put on our site.
Long-lasting and upgradeable.
All of the products we sell are built to last for years and years. They come from brands that have been in the business for decades like Pro-Ject Audio, Rotel and Monitor Audio. These folks build by hand using quality materials like wood and aluminium with a minimum of plastics.
As our products are separate components (just like traditional hi-fi always was), you can upgrade them one-by-one rather than having to replace everything when you want to make upgrades or additions on your journey.
Separate components for separate jobs.
It's common to see audio products trying to be a jack-of-all trades. E.g. turntables with built in speakers (this is heresy) or Bluetooth speakers / active desktop speakers that have an amp inside them too.
Separation of components (source, amplifier and speakers) is what you want as it avoids electromagnetic and vibration interference from one part to the other.
Stereo sound.
A good set of two speakers helps reproduce the full width and depth of the recording, tending to both of your ears and helping you feel sound in the space around you.