Steve,
Absolutely not, and I should have thought that was taken as a given. The parallel-running Croft thread on PFM understandably piqued my interest and therefore so did some of the comments which I felt were worth mentioning. I also know you've got an excellent relationship with Tasha where matters of hi-fi are concerned.Quote:
Lets just be clear on this, there is no criticism of PFM here and certainly not of the Admin/mod team...
Del and me are the same. Ok, I'm fortunate that I've got a separate room for my hi-fi but if I didn't, and the system lived downstairs in the lounge, Del wouldn't give a flying fig what type of volume control was on the preamp. She would simply get used to it - in fact she would be more interested in the fact that it sounded superb than any issues of minor operational inconvenience.
What do people do I wonder who use computers only to access their music? It's not just simply a case of hitting the 'play' button - you have to access the relevant music files you wish to play and that takes more effort than quickly twiddling two volume knobs on a preamp. So if their beloveds can get used to that extra 'phaff' they can surely get used to using dual-mono volume controls!
I also don't know about you but I generally find that there is a 'set level' I tend to listen at which rarely varies. For me it's four clicks from zero on the volume control of the Croft. I rarely deviate from that listening position using CD or vinyl unless cranking it when people come round for a sesh. Therefore the dual-mono controls could simply be set to one's favourite position and left there.
The thing that I mainly find ridiculous though apart from the fact that someone would be daft enough to forgo owning a superb sounding preamp for the sake of its volume control arrangement is that people's wife’s are apparently so concerned about this issue. Surely there has to be some 'come and go' and mutual understanding in a relationship?
I mean, if Del wants a new cooker or washing machine she picks what she wants and decides on the relevant facilities of the products she's buying because it's mainly her who will be using them. However on the occasions where I use those items (and it is fairly regularly) I wouldn't kick up a fuss if I had to press two more knobs on the cooker to heat up my pasta or on the washing machine to spin-dry my jeans! Of far more importance is that the cooker and washing machine are more efficient and do their job better. Similarly, I wouldn't expect her to kick up a fuss if I bought a new preamp that used twin volume control knobs that was obviously far superior to what I had before - she would just get used to it as I would get used to using the new cooker or washing machine...
Or am I being too rational and simplistic? ;)
Marco.
