Is a "Review" of a Component in an Unfamiliar System in an Unfamiliar Room Really a Review?

[Ron Resnick]

Tom Martin, CEO of The Absolute Sound, posted his YouTube review of the Magico M7.

Entitled "Best Speaker Series: Magico M7 Loudspeaker Review" here is the link:

In this video Tom describes repeatedly his reporting as a "review." He describes his reporting as "objective observations."

I am starting this thread to question whether Tom should be describing his reporting of the M7 as a "review."

I believe that going to someone else's listening room with which you are unfamiliar and listening to a collection of components none of which are familiar and purporting to opine on the sonic attributes of one particular component in that system is methodologically invalid.

I believe that it is invalid to go to an unfamiliar room and listen to a system composed entirely of unfamiliar components and claim to isolate the sound of one of those component and characterize one's comments on that one component as a "review."

Words are useful only to the extent they help us to distinguish certain things from other things.

When I visit someone and listen to an unfamiliar system in an unfamiliar room I call it a "visit report."

Professional reviewers: when you go to listen to an unfamiliar system in an unfamiliar room and purport to report on the sonic contributions of one component in that system, please do not call it a "review." Please call it a visit report.

What do you think about this matter?

 

[Elliot G.]

Hi Ron,
I look at this in the same way aI looka t show "reviews". They may be effective as a report on what was shown and may give the listener an idea of what the system is doing but to make a review of a single component with a unnumbered set of variables that you can't factor is IMO very very questionable.
Won't Magico provide thier speakers for the magazine?
This is the second time this has happened no?

 

[andromedaaudio]

Who cares , its all entertainment .
I thought its quit an interesting talk , and i personally don t care whether he heard them at Magico or somewhere else .
I heard the M7 on Dagostino relentless and WADAX .
I know what WADAX can do so it was probably the amps that hold it back .
Magico ..... with tubes please CAT ARC VTL

 

[Lee]

I think it really depends on how familiar you are with the system. I do know Tom spent a bit of time in Hayward.

In an odd way perhaps this is a bit like Mofi's digital misstep. Mofi was forced to visit Sony to digitize the tapes at Quad DSD since Sony won't let the tapes out. Quad DSD is so damn close to tape I think this is actually fine albeit Mofi should have been forthcoming.

Tom has to go to the factory to hear the M7s because it is hard to ship a limited production to Tom's house in Austin.

Same with the M9. I did a listening impressions video of the M9 for the TAS YouTube channel and Robert Harley I believe spent two days listening to the M9s for his impressions review.

Is it as good as having them in the reviewer's home system? Probably not.

But I believe it is valid for quality listening impressions.

My Positive Feedback review of the dCS Varese is about to be published. I went to my local dealer Evolution Hifi which has a Wilson XVX, Dagostino Relentless, Transparent flagship system. I listen to this system every week, sometimes twice a week and I have been involved in some setup and various iterations over the past couple of years. The owner Scott has both a Vivald APEX stack and the new Varese stack.

It was obvious to my ears what was changed when I began the review. I believe I captured what I heard. I will let you judge the quality of my review.

 

[andromedaaudio]

Dagostino Relentless,

Lee you shouldnt start a race for gold with a handicap

 

[Elliot G.]

Tom has to go to the factory to hear the M7s because it is hard to ship a limited production to Tom's house in Austin.

Same with the M9. I did a listening impressions video of the M9 for the TAS YouTube channel and Robert Harley I believe spent two days listening to the M9s for his impressions review.

huge pile of Bull Shit sorry

 

[Lee]

huge pile of Bull Shit sorry

In which way?

 

[Elliot G.]

We shipped a Noblesse and two subs , and paid for the freight and the delivery as well as after sending the speaker somewhere else to be photographed all on my dime
Lee , truly you are making stuff up or are really ill informed.
If Magico won’t send them and every other company will that alone says a lot!!!!!

 

[Doc76]

I found the video rather interesting. It explained a lot about how the M7 operates. Tom kept using the word “believability.” IMO it doesn't matter if one is familiar with the room or not, when the music sounds real!

 

[Lee]

We shipped a Noblesse and two subs , and paid for the freight and the delivery as well as after sending the speaker somewhere else to be photographed all on my dime
Lee , truly you are making stuff up or are really ill informed.
If Magico won’t send them and every other company will that alone says a lot!!!!!

Everything I wrote is true. I was at TAS at the time and Alon did not have a pair of M9s to send out at the time.

Production has now ramped up and they are more available.

 

[Elliot G.]

I found the video rather interesting. It explained a lot about how the M7 operates. Tom kept using the word “believability.” IMO it doesn't matter if one is familiar with the room or not, when the music sounds real!

So you’re saying the result was only the speaker ? Had nothing to do with a purpose built room, state of art gear, hours and hours of set up it’s just a speaker that’s just that good.
Sorry that’s an report on a system not a review
How do you know that any speaker in their would not be as good or better ?Maybe it sounds that way because of the Wadax?
What that is a report on a system not a review

 

[Elliot G.]

Everything I wrote is true. I was at TAS at the time and Alon did not have a pair of M9s to send out at the time.

Production has now ramped up and they are more available.

And yet they aren’t at TAS in either version
I know three people that have them

Lee, I have some real estate in the palisades you can buy really cheap

 

[Lee]

We shipped a Noblesse and two subs , and paid for the freight and the delivery as well as after sending the speaker somewhere else to be photographed all on my dime
Lee , truly you are making stuff up or are really ill informed.
If Magico won’t send them and every other company will that alone says a lot!!!!!

It's not physically hard in terms of the shipping. It's the limited number of units available. Alon prioritizes his customers over reviewers on some models.

 

[Elliot G.]

It's not physically hard in terms of the shipping. It's the limited number of units available.

That’s an excuse and I call BS
Rockport , Gobel , Wilson , MBL etc etc all can but not Magico
There’s more real estate for sale cheap

 

[Lee]

So you’re saying the result was only the speaker ? Had nothing to do with a purpose built room, state of art gear, hours and hours of set up it’s just a speaker that’s just that good.
Sorry that’s an report on a system not a review
How do you know that any speaker in their would not be as good or better ?Maybe it sounds that way because of the Wadax?
What that is a report on a system not a review

By this logic, any DAC review in a reviewer's home system is only a system report unless there is a comparison with the same level product.

That conveniently benefits Wadax as that logic allows one to dismiss any review where a Wadax wasn't made available.

 

[Elliot G.]

By this logic, any DAC review in a reviewer's home is only a system report unless there is a comparison with the same level product.

That conveniently benefits Wadax as that logic allows one to dismiss any review where a Wadax wasn't made available.

No that’s why reviewers have a system and that is their base line or reference as you guys want to call it. This was and has been the methodology for ever.

 

[Lee]

That’s an excuse and I call BS
Rockport , Gobel , Wilson , MBL etc etc all can but not Magico
There’s more real estate for sale cheap

One can argue with Alon's process but TAS was not able to obtain a pair of M9s. I will give this to Alon, prioritizing customers makes sense. Remember, this was when the M9 was just out. Totally different story when the initial orders have shipped. Same for M7.

 

[Elliot G.]

changing every variable creates no path to making conclusions on a single product
So by your logic every piece in the system is what? They all must be the best? They are all equally great? If the sound is nit to your liking then they are all bad? Equally

Why review anything by this standard of Willy bully Chaos

 

[Audiohertz2]

Hello Ron,

Yes this can be considered a review because that"s exactly the intent as expressed in the write up. Any Experienced listener can express an opinion on what is being heard without being familiar with the setup of course one can draw the line if opinion drifts to which component is superior to another without direct comparisons.

This is all academic really ....

 

[Lee]

Hello Ron,

Yes this can be considered a review because that"s exactly the intent as expressed in the write up. Any Experienced listener can express an opinion on what is being heard without being familiar with the setup of course one can draw the line if opinion drifts to which component is superior to another without direct comparisons.

This is all academic really ....

Agreed. But if you are intimately familiar with the system, then the sonic differences are even more evident.