AXPONA 2024 Who's Going?
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Yes, that's about fairly close. There's a minimum wage per hour that employers / companies have to adhere to. There are strict laws in place, however quite often we do come across the dodgy ones where they always underpay their staff and exploit big time! These are mostly huge companies, very big and powerful, like to bully their suppliers and flex their muscles. They engage in all sorts of shenanigans... at the end they get slammed with huge fines. Like 15 to 20mil payouts for being naughty getting caught with their pants down. Shame on them!
Speaking of currency conversion... I found that the Japanese Yen wasn't to shabby against our $AUD. When I got my Esoteric digital player brand new, the price was nearly on par. That was great compared to purchasing from either Euro or USD, would have been double.
Cheers mate, RJ
amey01
Well-known member
You've got it about right.
To be fair, your guys probably get tips, allowances and other things maybe ??
And taxation is likely higher here too.
You've got to be certain you are comparing apples-with-apples - certainly no tips here, and we do get universal healthcare.
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No, fast-food workers get no tips. Most here get about $12/hr in Ohio. Tipped workers here all get $5.25/hr.
amey01
Well-known member
Wow - thanks for the clarification. Certainly is interesting. I'm sure there's more to it to help explain the difference, but I'm no expert.
The main thing I'm trying to conflate here is that - from a macroeconomic point of view - wages must be tied to productivity. And it's next to impossible to see how Australian fast food workers could be that more productive!
Right. I think its just that the Australian dollar is more inflated than the US dollar. A gallon of milk here at our grocery costs $2.62. Gasoline is about $3.25 per gallon here. We know its at least $1 US = 1.5 AUS $
amey01
Well-known member
Not sure what you mean by “inflated”? Do you mean that the AUD is worth less than the USD? Absolutely, but there are more economic reasons for that than we are discussing here.
Milk is $3.10 here for 2 litres.
It used to be $1 a litre, but all hell broke loose that “the farmers were being ripped off”.
Petrol probably not a good one to compare as I think everyone knows the US is the land of free flowing cheap fuel
But for reference, we are currently paying about $1.85 a litre. And a good chunk of that is tax
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Yep, Roger that captain 
Our tax is through the roof! And that's why I've stated this many times before, for us to be able to afford highend audio gear, it doesn't take a lot of hard work and being able to afford decent hifi, no chance (used to be though back in the good old days..).
Now, it takes a whole lot of savings, careful gear selection and a boat load of luck!
Oh! And of course a reputed dealer, who may like you enough to make a good deal then you're set for life!
Things are so damn expensive here, even a simple coffee!
Anyway, life goes on... and do enjoy those fine tunes!
Cheers, RJ
Our tax is through the roof! And that's why I've stated this many times before, for us to be able to afford highend audio gear, it doesn't take a lot of hard work and being able to afford decent hifi, no chance (used to be though back in the good old days..).
Now, it takes a whole lot of savings, careful gear selection and a boat load of luck!
Oh! And of course a reputed dealer, who may like you enough to make a good deal then you're set for life!
Things are so damn expensive here, even a simple coffee!
Anyway, life goes on... and do enjoy those fine tunes!
Cheers, RJ
sleepysurf
Well-known member
Yep, Roger that captain
Our tax is through the roof! And that's why I've stated this many times before, for us to be able to afford highend audio gear, it doesn't take a lot of hard work and being able to afford decent hifi, no chance (used to be though back in the good old days..).
Now, it takes a whole lot of savings, careful gear selection and a boat load of luck!
Oh! And of course a reputed dealer, who may like you enough to make a good deal then you're set for life!
Things are so damn expensive here, even a simple coffee!
Anyway, life goes on... and do enjoy those fine tunes!
Cheers, RJ
Just got back from Axpona. I'm happy to report that both ML rooms were very impressive.
Rm 1117 had ML Expressions, but I forget which pre/amps they were using. Interestingly, ARC was turned off, and the bass controls were at their default neutral settings, yet the dynamics and imaging were superb. IMHO, it was one of the best ML demo's I've heard in a long time, and much better than the Neolith demo's they typically "blasted" in the past.
Rm 672 had a very impressive surround sound demo using the Motion XT series (R, L, center, subs, side surrounds and in-ceilings suspended in a frame).
I also heard all the Clarisys models. As noted above, I also thought the large (? Auditorium or Studio Plus) demo in the large 2nd floor room was overly harsh sounding, but the Minuet, in a smaller room upstairs, was much warmer. Both presentations, no doubt, also reflected their choice of upstream gear and music selection. On Sunday, they were demo'ing the brand new Piccolo model in the large 2nd floor room, and it had great tonality and imaging. However, they declined to play any bass heavy tracks (understandably, as there's no way the diminutive model could pressurize such a large space). The Piccolo size and styling reminded me of the Apogee Stage, which I used to own, and which, I'm sure, Florian had in mind when designing that model. BTW, I was fortunate to have dinner with Florian last year at the Florida Audio Expo, and he really knows his stuff. However, I don't personally care for the more industrial design of the Clarisys models, which, IMHO, have even less WAF than the legacy Apogee models they evolved from. For that reason, IMHO, they really need a dedicated listening room.
Just as ML offered the CLX Art as a more stylish version of the base model, I'm hoping Clarisys might eventually do that with their lineup.
Excellent write up Sleepysurf, thanks for sharing. Certainly sounds like an outstanding show and well received. We don't get this kind of exposure here, hence some of us have to travel overseas (like Spore for ex) to visit the Adelphi and go bonkers! Or of course private demos through dealers.
Very happy to hear that ML did well, definitely seems like the ML crew made the effort.
So it sounds like Clarisys is slowly getting noticed but there are obvious factors to consider as you mentioned, price, looks and proper room set-up.
Good stuff indeed, cheers mate
RJ
Very happy to hear that ML did well, definitely seems like the ML crew made the effort.
So it sounds like Clarisys is slowly getting noticed but there are obvious factors to consider as you mentioned, price, looks and proper room set-up.
Good stuff indeed, cheers mate
RJ
I've just received reports on the new Clarisys line of panels. Considering their views (mostly from my trusted dealer mates) it seems like custom made orders for the Neodymium version, pushes that high frequency range on a higher level. Hence, some may like it and others may not.
This can be sort of tamed by placing them well away from the front wall, which requires very large rooms or by carefully selected gear to smoothly drive these panels without having major "jump factor" like horns.
It seems that it's not only limited to the tweeters but also to the mid ribbon array. This may be the reason why these frequency ranges would sound overpowering....
Having the Neodymium's on the bass section of the ribbon panels is a significant improvement, such that more force and control is obtained when these Neodymium's are added. On a positive side of things, adding Neodymium's increases the efficiency factor by quite a margin and allows for low to moderate amplifiers as an option.
Therefore, those who don't like this Neodymium version and prefer an improvement without overpowering frequency ranges, can opt for the standard version, which is still very good, according to them...
So, this was their evaluation on the Clarisys (made by three mates of mine based in Spore). Another minor point made by them was at the price points given, considering so many other options on panel type speakers, the Clarisys line is still over-priced. Regardless of that Swiss touch... there are other options / brands that are equally outstanding.
For example, this MLO forum, we all love our Stats! And those mates of mine all own ML stats, hooray! Maybe bias...? I don't know.
So cheers to stats!
Woof! RJ
This can be sort of tamed by placing them well away from the front wall, which requires very large rooms or by carefully selected gear to smoothly drive these panels without having major "jump factor" like horns.
It seems that it's not only limited to the tweeters but also to the mid ribbon array. This may be the reason why these frequency ranges would sound overpowering....
Having the Neodymium's on the bass section of the ribbon panels is a significant improvement, such that more force and control is obtained when these Neodymium's are added. On a positive side of things, adding Neodymium's increases the efficiency factor by quite a margin and allows for low to moderate amplifiers as an option.
Therefore, those who don't like this Neodymium version and prefer an improvement without overpowering frequency ranges, can opt for the standard version, which is still very good, according to them...
So, this was their evaluation on the Clarisys (made by three mates of mine based in Spore). Another minor point made by them was at the price points given, considering so many other options on panel type speakers, the Clarisys line is still over-priced. Regardless of that Swiss touch... there are other options / brands that are equally outstanding.
For example, this MLO forum, we all love our Stats! And those mates of mine all own ML stats, hooray! Maybe bias...? I don't know.
So cheers to stats!
Woof! RJ
