Audio may be a mystery. Music is a wonder.
I always love it when a dealer talks down the gear the other dealer in town carries.
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This why the original The Absolute Sound didn’t take advertising...however that was apparently not economically viable...
A little story about it, there was once a German magazine called "Klartext". in the third edition, the Teac X1s and the Swoboda Sony CD player were compared. the author wrote that Swoboda Sony would sound like children’s brass instruments. 4 weeks later the magazine was no longer available. Sony has sued them.
Amar Bose had the same Dictum--he'd sue the ass of anyone who dared print a bad reviewA little story about it, there was once a German magazine called "Klartext". in the third edition, the Teac X1s and the Swoboda Sony CD player were compared. the author wrote that Swoboda Sony would sound like children’s brass instruments. 4 weeks later the magazine was no longer available. Sony has sued them.
!BD
You said you like his honesty. Odd as it may seem, the audio press is people - just like in any office or business and it just is that there are sometimes jealousies, squabbles, territories, different points of view and occasionally a kook or two. I'd be a wee bit cautious with that thread - it's not evidence of much.
Dudley was a columnist who also wrote reviews and talked about rabbits. It's a bit different when you have to produce a column every issue.
There was a time when I was told by the publisher/editor what I was to write about. That was the price I paid for being a novice. I could say 'no' once in a while, but I was fairly open to exploring stuff I otherwise would not have tried. Nowadays I write about what I want to write about - that's a blessing as far as I am concerned - whether I choose the product or it is offered to me. I won't write about something I have no interest in or do not like. I have no problem saying that is a built in bias. That's where Austen is not quite on it - it's not a salesman/dealer that is setting the review agenda if the reviewer has the ability to decline.
Sure totally understand there are some products one can decline, but I think everyone has many products they would like to investigate
I was never told what I had to review...I was always just informing the magazine what I would review...I guess with an online mag it's different...
Glad you enjoyed it!LMFAO !! good one Howie, I almost spat out my drink reading that
Too bad he is smeared in Audio Note gear, the biggest Bah Humbug brand of all !
If not the source of too much infighting or some form of NDA/unwritten rule dictating principled silence. Who among the established pool of reviewers is getting a set of Magico M9 for review?
Nobody is a reply that would fail to surprise.
Nobody is a reply that would fail to surprise.
Thanks for the kind words Tang, much appreciated.I like your response Bob West
I am a crappy reviewer because I have not developed a set of criteria of my own, though I do think doing so will be good for me. I have an engineering background but have never really approached this hobby from an analytical perspective, mostly letting my subjective senses determine what I like or do not like. Does a system move me, grab me, connect me with the music? Is it balanced? Can it rock? Can it be delicate, nuanced, and sensual? Beyond that, speaking for myself, I am not confident making quick judgement as I have been infatuated with something only for that to pass when I learn the shortcomings — which sometimes means living with a new component for a while.
Back to my WAMM vs M9 comparison. The WAMM were part of a Dagostino / dCS / Transparent system. They were in a dealer showroom in Seattle. I was invited for a private audition and travelled up from Portland with a friend. It was a snotty, rainy, wet day and the drive sucked — on the freeway with road spray from semi-trucks and heavy traffic. I was tired, stressed, and probably carrying some anxiety from the drive. (argh, Seattle traffic!) The dealer showroom was too small for the speakers, so it was a very near-field setup. And, it isn’t a great showroom overall to begin with. The dealer had a list of music he played, lots of classical which was boring, but the sound was very, very good. Depth, detail, power and slam. When we turned off the subs it was still very, very good but the subs definitely added visceral energy to the room, adding meat to the bone. When it was over I remember thinking awesome speakers, but I specifically remember talking about the experience on the drive home. My friend and I both had the same conclusion — amazing speakers but neither of us had a real “wow” experience. When I got home my wife was afraid — she was worried I‘d be talking about speakers for the next several week. I did not. I described the experience and that was that. I spoke very little about the WAMM.
In comparison, after hearing the Diesis Roma at Bob’s place a couple years back, I couldn’t stop talking about them. Perhaps these speakers, while they would have been a stretch, were within the realm of affordability so that fueled my passion? I told all my audio buddies about them, wishing we could make a trip to NYC for a listen. I blogged about them here in the forum. I told everyone in the Portland Audio Club. I compared them to my Wilsons every time I listened for the next several weeks at least. I was smitten.
When I flew to California to hear the M9 it was during covid last spring. I do not carry much Covid anxiety, but the anxiety was everywhere. Traveling with a mask sucked. I hate masks. When we landed I was hoping there would be food at the airport but nothing. We got to Magico and Alon very graciously had one of his crew drive over and pickup some sandwiches. We sat in the company lunchroom, socially distanced, and got acquainted. I had lots of questions, and Alon was kind and patient in answering them all. Then we got a great tour of the factory before stepping into the listening room. The real reason for my trip was to hear the Pilium kit, Alon was showing the M9 with the Alexander pre-amp and two pair of Hercules mono-blocks. The DAC was the MSB Select, I do not recall the cable loom. The showroom at Magico sounded and felt a lot like my own listening room, it was quiet yet not dead, and it was large so we didn’t have a near-field seat. Sadly, we weren’t able to spend as long as we wished (I was accompanied by the same friend who’d traveled with me to hear the WAMM.) Alon was choosing the music, he did not subject me to endless classical, but from the very first notes I was gobsmacked. The speakers, for all their imposing stature, disappeared and there was only glorious music that filled the room, wall to wall, floor to ceiling. Small triangles and bells floated six feet above the speakers (no, I don’t recall any of the tracks played.) Everything was in perfect proportion and scale (OK, if I had one little nit there was one track where the singer’s voice seemed scaled up a little bit like she had a very large head.) Bass was remarkably clean, fast, deep, tight with incredible tonal density.
On the flight back my friend and I remarked how much more we were impressed by the M9 vs. the WAMM, how much more we were drawn into the music. I blogged a little about it here, and my wife heard about it for days. It was covid time, so we were not having audio club meetings — I’m sure I would have told everyone.
Not much of a detailed reviewer’s notes of comparison. One pair of speakers/system left me with a “yeah, so?” experience, the other pair had me thinking about, talking about them for days. That is my experience. If The WAMM were shown in a suitable room I may have had a completely different take on them. (I would love to hear them with the Pilium kit — the Dagostino gear is the only thing the Seattle dealer seems to pair with the bigger Wilson models, and while excellent gear I have never really been wowed. But that‘s just me.)
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Cables are free and everything else is 50% retail. Its well known and is what it is.
If you see industry accommodation as "part of your compensation" then you are not an impartial reviewer. This is why I only trust Consumer Reports for reviews on consumer goods.
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Cables are free? You mean you can be a poor reviewer, struggling to put food on the table, but a stupidly expensive loom sits in your room, gratis?
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Be gentle. He is stressed from reviewing Lamm, SRA, ARC phonos, and such. Job can lead to burnout pretty quickly
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