Filed under: Music | Tags: Adobe Air, B&W, Firefox, FLAC, hi-fi, hifi, music, Society of Sound
B&W speakers have a great download service called “Society of Sound.” For a modest subscription fee you can download high quality audio files from some great artists.
But there’s a potential bug for some users. The download manager uses Adobe Air, and on some combinations of computer/browswer/OS, it can refuse to load properly. After a bit of online searching, I found the strangest of fixes – but it works. Just download the Firefox web browser (if not already installed) and then have Firefox open and running before you attempt to open the B&W Download Manager. For some dumb-ass reason, this will allow Adobe Air to run properly. I don’t know why either.
Someone posted this as a fix for an Abode Air hang-up (thank you!) as it worked for them and it worked for me too, so if you’re having a similar problem, it’s worth a try (a quick Google search shows a lot of user issues with Adobe Air, so I suspect this solution may help more than those stuck with the B&W download manager)
Filed under: Media, Music | Tags: B&W, hi-fi, hifi, music, speakers, stereo
B&W’s Diamond tweeter range of speakers are amazing, likewise the new PM1 – pictured above (which was really, really impressive when I auditioned it). I was heading down the B&W way for an overdue speaker upgrade, and was really pleased with what I had learnt and heard about this brand – and the in-store audition was fantastic. But then a final question about the nautilus style tweeter on the top – “I understand the grill cap on the tweeter is held on by small magnets, so it’s readily removed – but can you fix it in place if you wish?”
The salesman rolled his eyes. Long story short, no you can’t, and he confirmed the tweeter is a “kid magnet” with the ones in-store frequently being grabbed by children coming in with their parents. They are readily damaged and as a result, after a recent product refresh, the store contacted B&W to order replacement tweeters to repair their demo stock – but there was a three month delay as stores all over the world were doing the same.
Sadly, this is a knock-out for me. Your circumstances may vary of course, but its something to consider for sure. A shame the grill can’t somehow be locked on as an option, as these speakers are great value, the technology is impressive, and they sound absolutely beautiful.
