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 May 1, 2008 SoundStageV.com: V is for Video, the Next Step . . .
The V stands for Video, and in this case it refers to our own videos -- videos that include news, reviews, information, and education pertinent to audio and video enthusiasts worldwide. We’re quite proud of this, but instead of making a big deal of it right off the bat, we launched it quietly because it was breaking new ground, not only for us but for the specialty A/V industry. April was a testing phase to make sure everything was working fine and we knew we were on target; effective May 1, SoundStage! V is officially live. While the concept of streaming videos is hardly original, we believe that SoundStageV.com stands out for two key reasons. First, all the videos are relevant to specialty audio and video enthusiasts: those who are looking to buy something a cut above the rest and who are eager to learn more about it. This area is sorely neglected by the mainstream A/V press, and that’s the spot we plan to fill. Second, the videos are all short -- usually two minutes or less. This is in stark contrast to the long videos we’ve seen in the past, which can usually be summed up in one word: boring. Our goal with SoundStage! V is to make the videos highly informative, but quick and easy to digest. Based on the feedback we’ve received, the videos already posted online achieve that. When we launched in April, SoundStageV.com hosted nine videos: three educational videos featuring Paul Barton of PSB speakers at Canada’s National Research Council (NRC); a follow-up review of the Axiom Audio W22 in-/on-wall speaker (which I originally wrote about here on SoundStage! AV last year); and five videos from the Festival Son & Image, held at the beginning of April in Montreal, Canada. By the time this article is posted, we’ll have added a video about the making of Paradigm’s Atom Monitor v.5 speaker, as well as at least half a dozen videos from this year’s High End event, which takes place near the end of April each year in Munich, Germany. Following that, we’ll be adding plenty more. We believe that this kind of video-based content is the next step in online audio/video coverage. We also believe that, sooner or later, all publications will have to adopt this technology in order to stay competitive. Quite simply, videos allow us to show things that traditional, text-based print or online publications can’t. For example, although NRC’s anechoic chamber has been written about countless times over the decades, other than the few industry people who have been allowed inside it, the public has rarely seen this facility the way our videos show it. And when it comes to show coverage, even the exhaustive online show reports we’ve been producing for years don’t do justice to some of the exhibits the way video can. Take a look at our videos of the KEF, Blue Circle Audio, Reference 3A, and GutWire exhibits and see if you agree. Finally, in terms of reviews, I believe the video format can be beneficial for certain types of products. For example, I never thought my text review of the Axiom Audio W22 did justice to the way the speakers can be easily installed on and in walls and then cleverly lock into place. Even the images that accompanied the review couldn’t capture that. The single two-minute video now online at SoundStage! V does a much better job of showcasing such things. The April launch of SoundStageV.com may have been deliberately quiet, but now we want the world to know about it. From now on, it will be a key part of the SoundStage! Network, and will help deliver more valuable content to audio and video enthusiasts for many years to come. As it grows, it will continue to evolve, so expect to see some changes here and there. In the meantime, download, watch, listen, and enjoy! ...Doug Schneider
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Last month, we quietly launched a new
addition to our SoundStage! Network. The site is called SoundStage! V, located at 