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Was very touching and funny.
At the risk of exposing himself, Robert showed us a bit of his soul. I find that brave and endearing.
Very cool.
The only complaint I have is the Letters section. While I support rigorous debate, all of the letters sent in this month were written by people with little understanding of how the audio market progressed over the past 30 years, laying too much importance to digital audio.
Digital DID bring about massive change in the industry, but for analog devotees (and outside of digital recording process that I do find assisted recordings), it was in the area of CNC machining and precision manufacturing that bolstered the audio field. Digital, but not digital audio. We all listened to the first cd players, and they SUCKED. It took them 30 years, the same way it took the LP all those years... it was the ability for turntables, arms and carts to be manufactured in a more precise way in that the analog market benefited. I still firmly believe that analog technology would have been elevated over time, as peoples' wallets demanded more. I don't believe anyone every demanded digital outright.
Laziness was to blamed for poor LP production of the past, the same way it is today. Warped and off center records are the result of companies not caring, and they are everywhere today. Just from my last 5 LP purchases in the last 2 months, ALL of them were off center and warped, and that includes LP's pressed by QRP and other well-respected, normally QC-centric organizations.
Moreover, the 'Ad-supported services' that Mr. Von Lehmann speaks of almost NEVER see the pockets of musicians and bands that get their music streamed by services.
Lastly, the need for blind-testing is garbage. To what extent I always ask... How can one ABX test tell us anything of what one component will do in countless thousands of disparate systems that owners of hi-fi have? Not much, and only measurements and specs will tell me that a component will be compatible with my current system. Case in point- Shunyata Venom IC's... I found the speaker cables awesome, and in my system the IC's were not a fit in any way, acting more like a tone control in the wrong direction. Only in one's system do these guide-posts called reviews can assist us.
I digress, as usual. My biggest desire is for the staff to more comprehensively argue points against the letters' arguments when they need it. Yes, Jim did a solid job. But did Mr. Craig see the points he was making? I highly doubt that.