State of the industry - Roy Gregory Editorial
- Thread starter Elliot G.
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Better to say why you second a suggestion than to say why you don't.
The table's name is, after all, 'American Sound 2000'.
I would second your suggestion because I believe it is one of the best tt in the world although I have yet to break bread with it. Where it is designed, built, or where parts are manufactured, is to me, unimportant.
I think this describes the writing of a couple of well-known reviewers, but I do not think this describes the writing of Michael Fremer.
Just call them out Ron. Peter and Ked won't mind!
Roy probably critisized Horns or Sets in the past , which makes him a moving target lol
Perhaps. His name is well recognized. He gets invited to speak and is hired to do product launches and events. No doubt his billing draws an audience. He is a productive writer and I really respect that even if I don't agree with some of his techniques, vocabulary or conclusions. He has learned to control his hard left spouting off that really detracted from his audio writing on his Web site before analog planet. He has put in the time.
As regards reviewing, I don't think I'm a fan of or encourage the notion of celebrity reviewers.
I suspect he would enjoy (at least secretly) someone thinking of him as a celebrity. He really wanted to be a standup comedian.
He earned it. He wrote very well, if you listen to what he has reviewed, the attributes that he has mentioned in his write ups are all there to be heard. Whether at the end he likes what you like is not as material as the honesty of being able to write what you are hearing, rather than spending time embellishing that loses the plot. He did not just fill up text for the sake of it. He also got to the bottom of the sound pretty well and unlike many other reviewers was not worried he had to talk up stuff. He was also quick to respond on email. And has been very consistent over decades plus had the experience. Unfortunately some on this forum treat him with the same skepticism for other reviewers.
On this thread I had mentioned that the only magazine I subscribe to is Stereophile to read his reviews, and I will end it when he stops writing. Now he has stopped writing there and TAS finally has someone who can both hear and write.
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Well, I think TAS has brought in someone with a lot of experience, reputation...and no new ideas.
One must remember that when J Gordon Holt and Harry Pearson started their respective magazines they were relatively young men with bold, arguably revolutionary, ideas around what is high fidelity and what listening really means AND what are the goals of being in this hobby.
Fremer, although arguably a good reviewer (I too don't agree with all his approaches and conclusions) has not contributed significantly, IMO, to the larger discussion about what the hobby is about and how to achieve the goals in the hobby.
Maybe that sounds harsh but being a good reviewer doesn't mean you have a vision for the hobby...if such a vision is even wanted.
For all his flaws (and there are many) for a while JV was looking closer to the "anointed one" to replace HP as an audio thought leader. However, he retreated from this and switched "absolute sound", which meant by HP as live, unamplified music as the reference to base all playback upon, with "closest to the recording". That might be technically more approachable but doesn't have that gestalt that HP was seeking.
In the pursuit of rich clients with spiraling prices with dubious sonic benefit, perhaps this is a dead question and so it is fine to have a pure subjective concept of "If it sounds good to me it's right" and be done with it.
After hearing a live string quartet concert in Zurich Tonhalle yesterday, I am still committed to try to get that sound in my house and it is still my "absolute sound".
One must remember that when J Gordon Holt and Harry Pearson started their respective magazines they were relatively young men with bold, arguably revolutionary, ideas around what is high fidelity and what listening really means AND what are the goals of being in this hobby.
Fremer, although arguably a good reviewer (I too don't agree with all his approaches and conclusions) has not contributed significantly, IMO, to the larger discussion about what the hobby is about and how to achieve the goals in the hobby.
Maybe that sounds harsh but being a good reviewer doesn't mean you have a vision for the hobby...if such a vision is even wanted.
For all his flaws (and there are many) for a while JV was looking closer to the "anointed one" to replace HP as an audio thought leader. However, he retreated from this and switched "absolute sound", which meant by HP as live, unamplified music as the reference to base all playback upon, with "closest to the recording". That might be technically more approachable but doesn't have that gestalt that HP was seeking.
In the pursuit of rich clients with spiraling prices with dubious sonic benefit, perhaps this is a dead question and so it is fine to have a pure subjective concept of "If it sounds good to me it's right" and be done with it.
After hearing a live string quartet concert in Zurich Tonhalle yesterday, I am still committed to try to get that sound in my house and it is still my "absolute sound".
I have a lot of respect for M fremer but i think its time to give young people a chance as well .
May be he could take a young guy as an apprentice
Reviewing is merely the opinion of a certain person and nothing more (entertainment basically)
After hearing all the big names in Munich it became even more clear to me
Buying audio gear merely on a reviewers opinion is a fools game and a good entry to secure your place in the gear buying - selling merry go round .
May be he could take a young guy as an apprentice
Reviewing is merely the opinion of a certain person and nothing more (entertainment basically)
After hearing all the big names in Munich it became even more clear to me
Buying audio gear merely on a reviewers opinion is a fools game and a good entry to secure your place in the gear buying - selling merry go round .
Ron, I defer to your native awareness the definition of celebrity.
While I agree with you in sentiment.
Worth noting is the whiff of celebrity Joe Cali and his wife Lori Lieberman most recently brought to an extended Gryphon factory demo in tandem with a member of good standing here.
I still listen to my tapes for the nostalgia of that sound that filled my youth, even if the sound is crummy
Well.....there have been lengthy threads with lots of arguments as to why home reproduction is like a whole other art and therefore trying to approach live, unamplified sound is not a relevant goal.
Richard Mak was a good writer, he put in the effort by taking the equipment he had around to different systems to understand it rather than just his own. He gave up writing too early
IMO home reproduction is different but live unamplified sound is still the goal (for me) even if it's impossible to recreate a 1:1 image of the scale of things in the concert hall it IS possible to capture it in a scaled down version. (or so I do like to think, recently having mastered reproducing the grand piano at home)
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