stackowax
pfm Member
Not sure it has much to do with flat earth but this article appeared in HiFi + on line
http://www.hifiplus.com/articles/the-new-flat-earth/
http://www.hifiplus.com/articles/the-new-flat-earth/
Flat Earth Revival?
- Thread starter stackowax
- Start date
wiresandmore
pfm Member
I had a pair of Abbots for a long time on the end of some Naim amps, I remember very fondly a CD 3.5/FC/72/Hi/140 system sounding especially good with them. Nice to see them back, hope the new company does well!
Daniel Quinn
Banned
As far as I can ascertain the only similarity between Joe Ackroyd's royd and the new one is the name . It must surely take more than the resurrection of a name to define a revival ?
merlin
Avatar changed - Town names deemed offensive.
The original flat earth was about simple solutions, good sound, and good value.
Where some of that expensive kit (to anyone other than a committed audio nut) comes into the equation I've no idea (other than the need for Alan to fill some print space).
Surely the modern flat earth is the likes of Sonos and inexpensive Pro monitors?
Where some of that expensive kit (to anyone other than a committed audio nut) comes into the equation I've no idea (other than the need for Alan to fill some print space).
Surely the modern flat earth is the likes of Sonos and inexpensive Pro monitors?
''Flat earth'' seems to be one of those definitions which is in constant flux. The origin must surely have been a term for those who held beliefs in naked contradiction to reality.
What it means now...who knows? It seems to operate as a term of both abuse and praise. Perhaps mutating into a term like ''freedom'' which can mean whatever you want it to mean.
What it means now...who knows? It seems to operate as a term of both abuse and praise. Perhaps mutating into a term like ''freedom'' which can mean whatever you want it to mean.
Martyn Miles
pfm Member
I was never a 'Flat Eather' in the true sense, having been brought up with tone controls. After all, my first amp. was two Tripletone valve amps in a very large box. Probably worth a few quid these days...
My local shop ( Witney Audio ) wasn't a Linn/Naim emporium, but things like Cambridge Audio speakers and Sonab tuner amplifiers were stocked. I once tried a pair of Cambridge R40s. They weren't for me...
My closest approach to FE was a Linn LP12. I still have it.
As for Royd, all the best I say. At least it is designed and made in England. In my home County actually.
I'm not sure about those Naim Clone amps...
My local shop ( Witney Audio ) wasn't a Linn/Naim emporium, but things like Cambridge Audio speakers and Sonab tuner amplifiers were stocked. I once tried a pair of Cambridge R40s. They weren't for me...
My closest approach to FE was a Linn LP12. I still have it.
As for Royd, all the best I say. At least it is designed and made in England. In my home County actually.
I'm not sure about those Naim Clone amps...
Joe Hutch
Mate of the bloke
Flat earth to me means Linn/Naim; a never-ending upgrade ladder backed up by some dubious marketing practices (mods please delete if libellous). I don't understand why anyone would want to revive the phrase as a badge of honour, unless it's the Millwall syndrome ('everyone hates us, we don't care').
Paul R
pfm Member
It was the group that didn't 'move with the times' of the early 80s and jump onto the Absolute Sounds 'high end' bandwagon with Audio Research, Krell, Magneplanar, Apogee, Oracle, Koetsu et al. On the basis that systems configured from those components didn't work very well. The name was 'coined' by (IIRC) Alvin Gold as a derogatory term.
I think it is more likely to be exemplified by the retro trend, Tannoys, Quads, Garrards (although I'm not sure all idlers earn their place on merit...).
Paul
Alan Sircom
I dü werds, me
To some it was a never-ending ladder of upgrades. For others it was a step-by-step way of getting an increasingly better system in bite-sized pieces that were easy to both exchange on a frisky second-hand market, and suitably similar-looking enough to not draw too much enemy fire from the domestic overlord.
A lot of the practices of that time might not translate well to today's market (we were a nation of incremental step upgraders in general 30 years ago, just ask anyone who worked in a BMW dealership and how much more obsessed people were with getting a bigger engine or a more exclusive badge than the other guy back then), but even if the names have changed, that idea of starting in a good place and building up a better system still has its merits.
Steven Toy
Accuphase newbie
Sonos probably fails the source-first aspect of flat earth.
Adam N
pfm Member
Joe evolved his designs like any good engineer. A lot of people have pointed and said your design isn't like Joe's but I ask to which of his designs do you refer? Do you have a definitive choice? If it's his approach you are talking of then ours has a lot in common.
The Troubadour is the successor to the Minstrel. As for the Royd "sound" I was heartened when a lot of Minstrel owners felt the similarity, one going so far as to say it was like stepping back into his lounge when he heard them at Whittlebury, albeit a lounge with noisy neighbours and 10 other people sat next to him!
As for the Flat Earth monika, I'll take it as a positive endearing term irrespective of its origins.
That's how I saw it too.
With a dose of having to be a "true believer" in The One and Only True Path, as typified by what I saw as Vereker's "my way or the highway" approach.
I can't believe the ignorance shown here. It's "no one likes us, we don't care". It's an old trick even Manu(re) used it with Fergie.
Flat earth also included Nytech and Rega etc so it wasn't that small a world. Having sold Linn and Naim it wasn't all about upgrades but it was about demonstratable improvements with the addition of a SNAPS or HICAP etc