Hi Srajan,
It was good to meet you at the Marriott on Friday with Martin Gateley at the Ppfff room. I try to support Soundkaos in the UK as much as I can, and I am an admirer of Martin and Ursula both as lovely people but also for the emotional draw of the Soundkaos style. Thanks also for taking time to ask about 8th Dimension Audio. As I mentioned, I have been an avid 6moons reader probably since Yamamoto in your reviewing timeline and, along with John Darko's site, you are both my reading of choice for your uninhibited reviewing style and valued opinion. Even today on KIH #56 I can learn about the 'elevator pitch' – plenty of room to improve in my case, and as my Shotokan Karate instructor kept saying, "always practice the most basic moves and never think you have perfected anything".
For me 8DA is an experiment and a learning experience too. I am attempting within the generic bounds of 'lifestyle' to transition people beyond Sonos and into our world albeit in a selective way. Eventually I hope to add music therapy to the business model to assist with our growing mental health challenges, hence the attachment to Martin's sound. That journey started with Voxativ and has evolved to Soundkaos, although Cube at the Marriott also stirred something 'inside'. Its more of a 'consultancy with sales' concept rather than just transactional and with the Samphire Web App I hope to replicate the Interiors' approach of room and decor consideration along with a musical vibe to create a look book to start the conversation. It's a new approach and probably a long journey which is fine by me as I'm enjoying every minute.
This was one of the reasons I chose Davone. Glad everything arrived ok and I caught up on the review progress today. I did raise a smile when you wrote that Paul had already been in touch mid-review. I mentioned to you his nervousness from a previous review but when Debby asked who could they contact, I instantly recommended you. I am their only UK retailer. I love his product and also his efforts to create speakers to play all sorts of recordings – I seem to remember you saying something similar about Simon Lee some while back. I'm sure everyone finds it difficult to find the perfect spot to place their products on price and performance so I doff my hat to those bold enough to try. With that in mind I'll contact Sally re the Nativ Vita and see what she wants to do. If it all works out for everyone, I can send you my demo unit. I'm not sure when that would be and Martin is toying with running it at the North West Show at he end of June – if we can test it in time with the Bakoon and Waves/Liberation. I have been using the Vita with the Resolution Audio Cantata. I'm not sure if you managed to catch up with Jeff at the show, but the Cantata 3.0 with the ladder Dac is a significant upgrade on the version 2.0.
Thanks again, and all the best
Richard
