FUNK Firm - HOUDINI

[smoking-rob]

300 pounds is not overpriced if you think of the pricing of some super duper kettle leads lout there. I am very interested to hear it . Smoking-Rob is now non smoking Rob (finally, after 45years of tormenting my lungs). A few more months forward and I will have earned that money by not smoking

 

[Joco]

This product is interesting, surprisingly hindered by crass passive/aggressive promotion by Mato and Arthur. If it is as good as suggested then £300 is, as posted earlier, a negligible cost to the majority here and could be a perennial go to item.
I have a relatively expensive Turntable/arm with a Mid price MM cart; will Funk Firm send out a demo to see if works on my combo?
Please wind your neck in a little, you may have faith in the product but we’ve been around the block here and this sort of pompous promotion will do you no favours.it certainly irritates me.

 

[bbbiker800]

I started this thread after discovering the posts on Facebook. I thought it might be useful to see what the established experts on here thought of it. As I'd said - sensational claims but expensive. Certainly for me. No doubt they will sell a bucket load. But it's a shame that a number of members here have been irritated by the sales patter as I certainly was too (in a FB response) ... After many years in IT consultancy I've never seen such a technique!

 

[trick cyclist]

This product is interesting, surprisingly hindered by crass passive/aggressive promotion by Mato and Arthur. If it is as good as suggested then £300 is, as posted earlier, a negligible cost to the majority here and could be a perennial go to item.
I have a relatively expensive Turntable/arm with a Mid price MM cart; will Funk Firm send out a demo to see if works on my combo?
Please wind your neck in a little, you may have faith in the product but we’ve been around the block here and this sort of pompous promotion will do you no favours.it certainly irritates me.

Have to admit that this pretty much sums up my thoughts on the matter, and I don't think this thread has shown some of the main contributors from pfm and funk in a positive manner. However, it would be good to move on with a fresh approach on friendly terms. My only thoughts on this are that if you want to try one, put your money down, test it out in your own system, and if you don't like it get your money back.

 

[Joco]

Fair comment

 

[CageyH]

My only thoughts on this are that if you want to try one, put your money down, test it out in your own system, and if you don't like it get your money back.

Don’t forget the free Smarties.

 

[karma67]

a question,my cartridge is an Ortofon Kontrapunkt b,like the cadenza series it has 3 ridges on top of the cartridge for azimuth adjustment,you just tighten or loosen one of the cartridge fixing bolts and it tilts to the left or right depending on which bolt is adjusted. will this still work with a Houdini?

 

[david ellwood]

The advert states that three bolt mounting is inferior as it achieves greater coupling of the cartridge to the arm, which by Funk Houdini thinking is a bad thing.

This would explain why so many people considered the Troika a big step down from the Karma.

 

[sq225917]

Yeh, everyone I know who moved from K to T expressed that.

 

[matodono1]

I started this thread after discovering the posts on Facebook. I thought it might be useful to see what the established experts on here thought of it. As I'd said - sensational claims but expensive. Certainly for me. No doubt they will sell a bucket load. But it's a shame that a number of members here have been irritated by the sales patter as I certainly was too (in a FB response) ... After many years in IT consultancy I've never seen such a technique!

You may well have a point. However I doubt you have ever had to navigate the complexties of the UK audio industry with it's old guard vested interests. Long standing false indoctrination and LOOOOOOOOONG history of snake oil and Magazines that tout advertising in exchange for dubious reviews.

 

[matodono1]

a question,my cartridge is an Ortofon Kontrapunkt b,like the cadenza series it has 3 ridges on top of the cartridge for azimuth adjustment,you just tighten or loosen one of the cartridge fixing bolts and it tilts to the left or right depending on which bolt is adjusted. will this still work with a Houdini?

Answered over on A of S. But again Azimuth can always be adjusted by simple shimming of the Houdini between Houdini and headshell. No fancy widgets neccessary.

 

[matodono1]

Have to admit that this pretty much sums up my thoughts on the matter, and I don't think this thread has shown some of the main contributors from pfm and funk in a positive manner. However, it would be good to move on with a fresh approach on friendly terms. My only thoughts on this are that if you want to try one, put your money down, test it out in your own system, and if you don't like it get your money back.

That may be so, however I came here on the back foot (figuratively) False claims were being made about both the product and our patent. Then the firefight escalated and then deescalated. I am one person fielding the enquiries and criticisms of many. I don't even like forums, My last post here was twelve years ago. ALL we are trying to achieve here is to bring to market a product which has the potential to improve the performance of every one of your turntables. And to what end. ALL of you will be hearing finer fidelity in your audio setup. If any of you care about sound (rather than talking about sound) you will in the end be appreciative that we came here.

Matt.

 

[Robert]

Was that not more about making sure it was sat absolutely square to the headshell with their 3 point system, rather than a certain torque sounding better than another?

.....and the fact that their MM carts are plastic (or Pocan, whatever), so quite a sensible idea!

I think staedtler might also make a version

 

[matodono1]

Another satisfied Houdini owner. Still 100% approval! Who's next?

Matt.

 

[Indieroehre]

I also cut over one screw. One or two screws for substitute would be nice. But the sound is fantastic. Much deeper soundstage. Explosive bass. Magical.

 

[matodono1]

I also cut over one screw. One or two screws for substitute would be nice. But the sound is fantastic. Much deeper soundstage. Explosive bass. Magical.

Full production kits will have spare bolts.

Thanks for your support. Still 100% (is the penny starting to drop yet?).

 

[matodono1]

This product is interesting, surprisingly hindered by crass passive/aggressive promotion by Mato and Arthur. If it is as good as suggested then £300 is, as posted earlier, a negligible cost to the majority here and could be a perennial go to item.
I have a relatively expensive Turntable/arm with a Mid price MM cart; will Funk Firm send out a demo to see if works on my combo?
Please wind your neck in a little, you may have faith in the product but we’ve been around the block here and this sort of pompous promotion will do you no favours.it certainly irritates me.

It's easy to be a spectator watching someone else trying to achieve something and passing comment. Not quite so easy being the lone voice in a very large crowd. Passive certainly not! Aggressive maybe.
I treat as I find. The strategy is borne out of necessity. Every tack has been tried. Funk has been very very nice in the past with the end result of struggling to survive.

Forty years of being treated badly by the industry. Well this time Arthur has produced a monster! And we are not going to apologise for either the product, it's price or the ripples that it creates (or for some earthquakes).

Houdini is a juggernaut which is coming down the track regardless. You may well have been around the block but you aint never seen nothing like this yet. Which is the point. Arthur has reinvented the wheel with this one.

Will Funk Firm send out a demo? After those comments? Erm? We'll think about it.

Matt.

 

[matodono1]

Questions are coming in about fitting Houdini to different cartridge bodies.

Regards, Matt.

 

[pocketkitchen]

I’ve avoided chipping in to this thread as I’m a fan of Arthur’s designs and happily use a Pink deck with Achromat. His Little Super Deck and Gett are bargains of audio, in my view and I wish him and Funk every success. The comments here from the Funk Firm’s rep come across as naked advertising, however. As for the old trope about “old-guard vested interests”, there’s plenty of specialist audio companies doing very nicely indeed who don’t seem to think that the old biases hold much sway anymore. Pro-Ject, for one came into being after Pink Triangle closed down and those vested interests don’t seem to have held them back very much! Linn don’t control what specialist audio dealers do anymore, although I’m sure they’d still like to try (!) and the printed press are almost an irrelevance nowadays.

 

[matodono1]

I’ve avoided chipping in to this thread as I’m a fan of Arthur’s designs and happily use a Pink deck with Achromat. His Little Super Deck and Gett are bargains of audio, in my view and I wish him and Funk every success. The comments here from the Funk Firm’s rep come across as naked advertising, however. As for the old trope about “old-guard vested interests”, there’s plenty of specialist audio companies doing very nicely indeed who don’t seem to think that the old biases hold much sway anymore. Pro-Ject, for one came into being after Pink Triangle closed down and those vested interests don’t seem to have held them back very much! Linn don’t control what specialist audio dealers do anymore, although I’m sure they’d still like to try (!) and the printed press are almost an irrelevance nowadays.

Arthur is aware of everything I am doing and many of my posts are discussed before I make the responces. As for the dealers, the old guard, the vested interests and the magazines. Well you may think what you like but you are not privy to what is happening behind the scenes and what we are currently running into.

So again. Very very easy to be a spectator and have an opinion. But you know what they say about opinions...

Matt.