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You bring up some good points. My main question was that, for 5k, couldn't you just find the right amps in the first place? Yeah, I know, maybe you just have to have those mini SET amps, but still... The product seems to make sense though in a basic technical sense- it's gotta be a very small market niche that they'd apply to though. Most people just buy the amp they want and match it with compatible speakers. Not too many 25 watt amps paired with big electrostatics I'd bet, so you wonder about who will be buying them.
MF hobnobs quite extensively with Musical Fidelity's owner and Musical Fidelity is a big advertiser on MF's site, so take this review with a grain of salt. Actually, take this review with a bucket of salt.
While I agree that readers should maintain a healthy skepticism about review findings, there is a difference between such skepticism and the defamatory BS you fling about, AlexO.
John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile
How is it defamatory BS? It states in the article that Musical Fidelity is an advertiser on MF's site. MF had mentioned in his other articles about hanging out with Musical Fidelity people. What is it about my statement that's defamatory or BS?
I've made no bones about how I feel about soliciting advertising for one's own personal business from the same people whose components you review. I've made my distaste for such behavior abundantly clear. I also feel that reviews from writers who engage in such practices are highly suspect. That's neither defamatory nor BS.
Ask yourself how you know all this, AlexO? It is because _we_ tell you! Why we would tell you if we feel that we have something to hide?
We work hard to try to eliminate all influences on our reviewers' opinions other than the sound. I am spending this weekend, for example, auditioning an amplifier that is to be reviewed in our December issue because the reviewer felt there was something peculiar about the sound. I am trying the amplifier with different speakers in order to rule out or to confirm the existence of one of those occasional incompatibilities you find between an amp and specific speaker. And even when I am confident that the reviewer's description of a component's sound in his review is correct, we still give you _all_ the relevant information.
Except that it is your opinion only, not some universal truth, AlexO. It is BS because I _know_ that whether or not a company advertises on Michael's website or in Stereophile _doesn't_ affect the outcome of a Stereophile review. I took exception, not to your opinion, AlexO, but to your casual and public dismissal of so much work on my part and and of the part of other members of the Stereophile team. And if you do believe what you say to be true, AlexO, that the magazine's reviews are not appropriately impartial, then why do you even read Stereophile?
John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile
I don't know if there is an "acceptable" way to bring up some issues with the review, so here goes...
1) I admit to some Musical Fidelity burnout. It's my own problem, yeah, I know, but they show up so much I feel a little desensitized. I don't feel negatively toward them, just kind of...oh, another Musical Fidelity review, fancy that. I think it may cloud my reaction to what they are up to.
Maybe they are the engine of the industry and I am just lagging behind, but I have Mu Fi overload.
Which may also cloud my feelings about this next thing about the review...
2) Musical Fidelity "invented" the original X-10D device specifically to color the sound of one's system as an aesthetic thing, which is fine, but it was definitely a "gimmick," like it or not. I own one, it's a toy, fine. Then the product evolved and I thought, "Well, they gotta keep 'changing it' to keep sales going."
Fine, again.
Now, they have another product that is supposed to have "no sonic signature" and it makes your idiosyncratic sounding amp keep its idiosyncratic sound, only more so. Now they have a gimmicky product that is supposed to do the opposite of their previous gimmigky product.
OK, but I've also lived through the days of Bob Carver designing products that mimic the sound of certain reference components, and I feel like I'm back 20 years, only Mu Fi is the new Carver. The product hit me as "unoriginal," which is unfair to the product, I guess, but that's my reaction, nonetheless.
I'm sorry, I can't get enthused, which bothers me, actually.
3) I've read Mr. Fremer as long as he's been writing and reviewing, but I need to work through some "issues" before I can sign back on to trusting what he hears.
Last year, we had the interconnects that didn't really carry the whole signal.
Then, we had the broken 40K CD player that was the best thing ever. Even once it was fixed, he only noted improvement, but still assigned no real decrement to the original "broken" sound. If he can't hear 'broken,' then how am I to 'trust' a review and get excited about a result? I've fallen into a credibility gap with regard to his reviews - which also bums me out.
Then we had the fantastically magnetic ultra turntable (with certainly the most powerful magnets ever employed in a product I've encountered) with powerful magnets everywhere, mere inches below the cartridge, but he suddenly noticed that a degmagnetizer of nonmagnetic materials changed its sound.
I added that all together and came up questioning his ears; which is part of life as an audiophile, but then it takes some good amount of time to regain trust - so what he says in this review leaves me nonplussed, and I've never even heard this new product by Mu Fi. How long does it take to regain your trust in someone's reviews, and is it fair to judge like that?
Put all that together, and, as a consumer, this new product gets the ten foot pole treatment. Right now, like a new prescription drug hitting the market, I think I'll change to being a late adapter rather than an early one. Any chance Wes could give it a listen?
You're right. I know this because YOU told me. I always gave you credit for that. By the same token, I have always stated that disclosure is not enough.
Yes, you do. You work really hard and I appreciate the fact that you really go out of your way to do your best. I've stated that on these forums. Alas, my praises don't get as much attention as my criticism.
That is absolutely correct. It is my opinion. I'm not privy to universal truths. However, my opinions are based on certain facts. One of the facts is that Musical Fidelity advertises on MF's site. I see that as a conflict of interest. Hence, I form an opinion that MF's reviews of manufacturers who advertise on his site are suspect. I don't see this as an unreasonable deduction.
I don't see how you can know this for a fact. You can trust that MF is doing his best not to be biased, but you really don't know that his relationships with manufacturers, financial transactions and the obvious conflict of interest that these relationships generate don't affect his reviews.
I never dismissed the work that YOU and other members put in each and every issue and review. What I did dismiss was this particular review from this particular reviewer for reasons outlined above. I don't find MF credible when it comes to certain manufacturers.
I never said Stereophile has no value. You don't throw out the baby with the bath water. Perhaps I haven't been ardent enough in stating the things I do like about Stereophile, so I will take this opportunity to list the things I think Stereophile does right:
I do not wish to come off one sided as a Stereophile basher. As you can see, there are many things I like about Stereophile. Enough to have been a subscriber for ten years. However, there are things that I feel need improvement, some of them being quite serious. I feel those things need to be addressed and as a dedicated Stereophile reader, I want to see certain things improve, rather than simply throw up my hands and let my subscription expire.
It would be good if we had a measuremnt of MF's ears? Let's see what kind of hearing he has, cus he sure do hear things, most mortals cannot. JA measuremnts brings back the sanity. When $40K CD only players are mis wired out of the box. That's un acceptable, I'm sure they ain't stamping them out like $200 mass produced units, that ARE wired correctly. How is that possible? Then there is the usual array of "magic" components, from another fav company that makes some mystery science items, only heard by non mortals. Have you listened to your vibrating wall outlets lately?
'Tis an interesting read across that the very single thing which inspired me to get back into this wonderful world of Hi Fi was an article about an amp I felt I just had to buy - and many other sites would not touch it (apparently) at the time of first release...so I waited a while...and then bought one anyway...no big deal, just slightly under "retail" whatever that might mean - I kept it the box for a long time and in the meantime did loads of research so I could maybe join ONE site's forum's to maybe do some fast track relearning all the other stuff associated with such a purchase after taking time out for a few years...
Huge power, modern solid state and certainly the absolute pinnacle of what I was trying to achieve at the time - I did (maybe still do?) have aspirations of seeking out some USA manufacturers of highend gear items to perhaps set up a European distributorship of some kind...(seriously, no joke)...and the one minor problem I had with the review was that the reviewer advised that the XLR connections were not working on his test rig....which at the time I figured was no big deal as any reviewer worth a dime would never make such a mistake in real life and that it must have been a joke of some kind I could not understand as I was a relative 'newbie' to such things...balanced XLR versus RCA??? Jings it had to be a joke of some kind....so I ignored that one small comment in an otherwise brilliant review...and joined these forums which are...interesting...to maybe learn about cables...
So, I then spent a few more dollars on finding a maker of pre-amps and imported some of his kit to trial alongside a brand new power amp which was unquestionable in terms of what it could do...
And I unboxed loads of old stuff...and away I went...well, not quite...the old stuff worked better than the new until I finally found a great company which made passive pre's using something other than crappy pot's and WOW does that power amp do the business with a decent passive or what!!! Everything the reviewer said and then some...unbelievable, untapped, unreserved, unlimited pure power which I cannot handle with any speakers I have...simply a brilliant amp which deserves more than passive Kabers, old Dimension's or el cheapo anything...
So anyway, after the manufacturer decided to withdraw the amp after less than two years of trying to sell them AND never once being able to sell a matching preamp in the UK (or anywhere ouside maybe the Far East?) I decided to try direct contact with them to see if maybe a genuine user (??? that might be a joke!) could maybe assist in some way...negotiations are ongoing...basically they do not believe they could ever have got a sales strategy so wrong...(my words and interpretation).
Simple basic mistakes that the lowest pleb on any production line would never make in a dozen years? Lousy review by someone who should know better? Lousy product from one of most respected manufacturers in the world for the past many decades? Lousy decision to try the market for seriously highend amps without getting the basics correct? Lousy product doomed to failure anyway?
So many questions?
I decided a few days ago to get away from this site...but decided to hang around because of the vibes I was getting that someone needed to break this whole mess so that it could be fixed...an editor...who seems like a good guy that just needs to go back to basics for a wee while rather than try to be clever and/or defensive on forums...forums is for us plebs...you is a thee boss...no mess with us lower folks...
http://stereophile.com/solidpoweramps/405yamaha/
Talk any language you choose John...except swearing or poetry because I have regained my principles...I am ready and waiting..and my amp glows a nice shade of blue...with XLR connections just drooling to be tested...or maybe they have been already...tee hee...