Interview with Roger Sanders

Sounds like the CEO of Lululemon.

http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/11/06/2902961/lululemon-thigh-gap/

Gosh, how do you put up with dealing with audiophiles? Guess he has no problem though taking their money? Guess he's a modern day Robin Hood.

I have plenty of respect for Roger Sanders knowledge about electrostatic speakers and electronic products - I learned a lot from his book "The electrostatic loudspeaker design cookbook" that I read long ago. The book was written in an accessible and direct style and its teachings were really useful while I was refurbishing some old electrostatic panels.

However, the whole style of his interview shows a bitter and even lonesome man, whose main intention seems to attack the established high end industry, while promoting himself and the products he sells. And if by curiosity, you look on his site, you will see that his site his filled with references to the TheAbsoluteSound awards and subjective reviews by the same people he openly despises in the interview.

But once you put a polite IMHO in the beginning of most of his comments - in the best WBF style - and ignore the sensationalist style, it is an additional interesting view on sound reproduction matters. If I ever have the opportunity I will not miss listening ti his system.

All IMHO.
 
If I ever have the opportunity I will not miss listening ti his system.

You should try a pair of Sanders Magtech Monos.

2K watts into your Aida's 4 ohm load.

I'm sure they'd also sound great on Myles's Martin-Logan Summit-X speakers.

I don't think the monos have ever been reviewed.
 
What I'd like to see is the reaction of the die-hard "skeptic" population who would think Roger's excellent products are still over engineered and thus overpriced.

In any case, I do admire Roger's conviction. Not many people have the balls to essentially say "My products are the best period." in the business space and actually believe it to the point where nukes are lobbed everywhere else.
 
Not sure what you mean?

Think how you would read his comments as a potential customer. Wouldn't you just take your business elsewhere?
 
I agree. My rule as an audio buyer is that I never buy gear from a dealer/manufacturer that attempts to bad mouth another's gear to make a sale.

The folks that sell the best gear know it and demean themselves with quiet confidence.

Think how you would read his comments as a potential customer. Wouldn't you just take your business elsewhere?
 
Think how you would read his comments as a potential customer. Wouldn't you just take your business elsewhere?

I am and have been a potential customer.
I bought his magtech a number of years ago after a very long and detailed email correspondence in which the views he espouses in the interview became very apparent (as they are if you have a look on his website). There's nothing new in this interview
His clear and detailed explanations were a very refreshing change from the information provided by many other manufacturers.

And I'm still struggling to find anything in what he says that you might even vaguely read as implying he takes advantage of the gullible
 
Think how you would read his comments as a potential customer. Wouldn't you just take your business elsewhere?

If I was thin skin! Having an attitude that if the manufacture did not share my world view then his product is not worthy of my consideration. Sounds a lot like what's going on in Washington!
 
i met Roger before, he's a pleasant guy and i like his speakers.

if i were to make my living in audio, id emulate someone like Dave Wilson. He gives equal billing to SS and tube gear and expresses the same zeal demoing with vinyl as he does digital files. He doesn’t hold the consumer in contempt for preferring 'obsolete' source material or hardware and lets them decide for themselves what’s best...and he's actually engineered some great recordings to boot. its no wonder he's so successful.
 
Think how you would read his comments as a potential customer. Wouldn't you just take your business elsewhere?

I'm biased because I own some Innersound product designed by Roger. I've spoken with him a few times and have not always shared his opinion. I feel it would be a mistake to dismiss everything he has done because you don't agree with his whole philosophy. You have to take the good with the bad with any manufacturer and sort out for yourself what is right for you.
 
My guess is he is addressing those who have failed to take advantage of his wisdom by purchasing his products.
 
20) Sanders Audio and vinyl? Yes?

Vinyl is a very flawed recording medium. I have produced many vinyl LPs for customers back when that was all that was available. I refuse to compromise performance so have no use for vinyl today. All the recordings I make now are stored on digital media because it can produce a perfect copy of my recordings while no analog system can.

Audiophiles constantly make false assumptions because they fail to do valid testing that will reveal the true cause of what they hear. They commonly believe that digital recordings sound badly due to the digital media upon which the recordings are stored. But the true cause of the poor sound they hear is due to the recording itself -- not the digital media, which is essentially perfect.

In other words, garbage in gets you garbage out. Many digital recordings sound truly awful, despite the fact that the digital media is superb. But the bad sound is not caused by the digital media -- it is caused by the poor recording stored on it.

Many vinyl recordings were made long ago before modern processing (compressors, equalizers, artificial reverb) was available. They were recorded in quality acoustical environments and recorded in true stereo (rather than in mono using only one microphone) so they sounded very natural and realistic. Some older recordings on LPs are really wonderful. These recordings sound great despite the flaws and limitations of the LP storage medium.

I have thousands of LPs. I have recorded all the music on them to one of my digital flash recorders so that I can listen to my vinyl music conveniently (LPs are a hassle to find and use).

Since digital recordings are perfect, they sound absolutely identical to the LP. Therefore I never actually play my LPs anymore. I listen to the digital copy instead. This also saves my LPs from wear and tear (each time you play an LP, you damage it). I keep my LPs in my museum rather than playing them.

I have no problem with audiophiles who enjoy old vinyl recordings. That's great. But PLEASE don't try to tell me that vinyl recordings are better than digital ones. That is simply not true.

I accommodate those audiophiles who like playing LPs by having a phono stage in my preamp. It includes all the important features like adjustable gain for moving coil or moving magnet cartridges and it has adjustable resistance and capacitance for ideal loading of cartridges.

21) What were your explorations on of Class D?

I do not consider switch mode (Class D) amplifiers to be high fidelity devices. This is because they do not have linear frequency response.

Their high frequency response depends on the character of the load (the loudspeaker). Therefore they must be specifically adjusted to your specific speaker to have linear frequency response. Since this is not practical, I do not use or recommend switch mode amps for full bandwidth speakers.

However, they usually have a lot of power and are relatively efficient. So switch mode amps are excellent for driving woofers (which require a lot of power). Because woofers do not reproduce high frequencies, the poor high frequency response of switch mode amps is not an issue when driving woofers.

For all these reasons, you commonly find switch mode amps used in sub woofers. In that application, I think they are excellent. But I will only use linea
 
(...) There's nothing new in this interview

His clear and detailed explanations were a very refreshing change from the information provided by many other manufacturers.

Whatmore,

Perhaps your private correspondence was more interesting than his public writings.
IMHO, his explanations are not clear or detailed - just a superficial and coarse oversimplification of audio design.
 
But there is something very strange about high end audio. Although sound reproduction is a highly scientific, engineering exercise, most audiophiles base their purchase decisions almost totally on subjective listening tests, anecdotal information, and testimonials from self-proclaimed "experts" instead of from engineering measurements. Therefore, it is hard to know for a fact what components really have high sound quality.

Subjective listening tests can be useful and accurate. But if not done well, their results can be confusing, misleading, and invalid. Worse yet, poor testing makes it possible for unsuspecting music lovers to be deceived and fail to get the performance they are seeking.
 
What I'd like to see is the reaction of the die-hard "skeptic" population who would think Roger's excellent products are still over engineered and thus overpriced.

Overengineering is almost always a good thing, if it's affordable. Not sure what "skeptic" population you are addressing here.

In any case, leave it the individuals' preference in the end, right?
 
In any case, leave it the individuals' preference in the end, right?

Right, and also what he considers affordable.
 
...Vinyl is a very flawed recording medium. I have produced many vinyl LPs for customers back when that was all that was available. I refuse to compromise performance so have no use for vinyl today. All the recordings I make now are stored on digital media because it can produce a perfect copy of my recordings while no analog system can...

I'm really surprised you guys didn't already know that :p
 

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