The Fremer lays an ostrich egg thread

[caesar]

Hilarious read, DaveyF! Thank you for sharing.

I have no idea what the underlying technologies are in ML, but since the '90's Levinson has been emotionally dead to my ears. They definitely engineer their products to show off the detail of the recording to their target market instead of presenting the musical whole. Kind of an anti-NOLA approach.

 

[jazdoc]

I have a great deal of gratitude for Mr. Fremer. In the dark days, he was one of the few people advocating for analog and he deserves no small measure of gratitude for the current vinyl renaissance. More importantly, his love of music clearly comes through in all types of his reviews.

That said, reviewers are there to guide you, not to tell you what to do. While I envy Mr. Fremer's access to great gear and generally find his reviews most informative, it's my ears that are important to me. He can certainly help the audiophile narrow down a list of gear to audition, but ultimately each individual must find the gear that makes them happy. Similarly, while I have a grudging admiration for his lifestyle choices (okay I'm green with envy), but I'm not sure Charlie Sheen is the go to guy for marriage advice.

 

[Shaffer]

I have a great deal of gratitude for Mr. Fremer. In the dark days, he was one of the few people advocating for analog and he deserves no small measure of gratitude for the current vinyl renaissance.

Agree 100%.

As a side note, I vividly recall going to a local record store in the mid-90s. The shop specialized in imports, indies, and the like. They were dumpling their vinyl. Toward the end, the records were 3 for $1. The staff would literally point and laugh, as yours truly walked up to the record racks at least once a week. Flash forward to 2012 and the store's window display is covered in LPs. FWIW, I haven't set foot in the place in almost 15 years.

Felix

 

[MylesBAstor]

There are tons of pics of Fremer's room on the internet.

BTW I believe this hobby is 100% subjective...any other type of review is a lab report.

Yeah Hirsch-Houk Labs circa 2012.

 

[Gregadd]

If Fremers' review was so impoirtant why didn't they delay the purchase until he came down from the mountain?.

 

[A.wayne]

What if he had said it was the best amp in the world , a mad rush to purchase ..?


Hillarious ..

 

[asiufy]

To everybody that's citing TAS' review in defense of the amp... The ML is not listed in their 2013 Buyer's Guide. Most of the other amps, big and small, that they have reviewed this year are listed, while the ML isn't... Subtle indeed.


alexandre

 

[Gregadd]

What if he had said it was the best amp in the world , a mad rush to purchase ..?


Hillarious ..

He would have pissed off the other contenders. Besides it is Fremer whio is under attack not the review.

 

[MylesBAstor]

That said, I'm also a fan of Arthur Salvatore whom I've met ... and we all know about his "relationship" with MF.

tb1

And pretty much the rest of the world.

The rest of the world calls them conspiracists.

BTW, I'd be glad to trade any London Treasury for an original Decca. Bwahahahaha.......

 

[microstrip]

(...) That said, reviewers are there to guide you, not to tell you what to do. While I envy Mr. Fremer's access to great gear and generally find his reviews most informative, it's my ears that are important to me. He can certainly help the audiophile narrow down a list of gear to audition, but ultimately each individual must find the gear that makes them happy. (...)

Great words! But you should add entertainment to guidance - and for me a good style and enjoyable writing is mandatory in a review.

 

[Andre Marc]

Yeah Hirsch-Houk Labs circa 2012.

Good one!

The most interesting type of review is what one manufacturer called a "sealed box" review.
They had sent out samples to a reviewer, who wrote a glowing review, without ever opening
the box and installing the unit! They knew this because the original logo'd packing tape was unbroken!

 

[andromedaaudio]

I agree reviews should be a pleasurable read and could give some info on the products one might consider , but reviewers are also human beings

My amp has never been reviewed , i dont care .

i would consider M fremer and john atkinson quite knowledgable hifi reviewers , ones preference cannot be measured .

 

[andromedaaudio]

Easy money

note i still love the ML 32 436 and other madrigal/levinson products , i would like to own them one day, i did own the 431 exellent amp

Good one!

The most interesting type of review is what one manufacturer called a "sealed box" review.
They had sent out samples to a reviewer, who wrote a glowing review, without ever opening
the box and installing the unit! They knew this because the original logo'd packing tape was unbroken!

 

[A.wayne]

Good one!

The most interesting type of review is what one manufacturer called a "sealed box" review.
They had sent out samples to a reviewer, who wrote a glowing review, without ever opening
the box and installing the unit! They knew this because the original logo'd packing tape was unbroken!

Unusual ..? careful how you open that can of worms , lots of cans , lots of worms ..

 

[Shaffer]

Good one!

The most interesting type of review is what one manufacturer called a "sealed box" review.
They had sent out samples to a reviewer, who wrote a glowing review, without ever opening
the box and installing the unit! They knew this because the original logo'd packing tape was unbroken!

"Of all the amplifiers we have tested, this was one of them."

 

[Andre Marc]

Unusual ..? careful how you open that can of worms , lots of cans , lots of worms ..

Care to elaborate? Are you saying this is widespread?

 

[DaveyF]

Care to elaborate? Are you saying this is widespread?

Yes A.Wayne, inquiring minds want to know..

 

[A.wayne]

I'm saying , it was not as unusually as one would think , things and things happen, not going to name names and point fingers , only the accepted ones or the pay to play ones get thru, and like the music business, the internet has changed things a lot over the last decade .

The vig was very important ....

 

[Mike Lavigne]

Good one!

The most interesting type of review is what one manufacturer called a "sealed box" review.
They had sent out samples to a reviewer, who wrote a glowing review, without ever opening
the box and installing the unit! They knew this because the original logo'd packing tape was unbroken!

then there is the "review from emails" where a person with an on-line High End audio blog sends emails to manufacturers (from his real name), asks lots of questions over emails and asks for lots of pictures (never buys anything). then assembles the review from this information quoting verbatum from those emails in his 'review' of gear he has never even ever had. since it's positive (using the manufacturer's own words) the manufacturer has no problem and some manufacturers even continue to feed the 'habit'. said blogger becomes a BMOC since he apparently has all the neat stuff to those who frequent his blog........until he decides to go too far. he has become a fanboy of a particular very esoteric brand and decides to do a phantom comparison favoring his brand over another. a customer of this other brand wonders how this guy got hold of this gear to do the comparison and sniffs around. facade melts like a popsicle and cover blown.

 

[Tonepub]

I think the toughest part of a review like this (the Fremer/Levinson thing) is that most of us that do this have chosen a set of core components to work with on a daily and not everything is going to sound awesome with our set of toys/tools, etc.

And being that some of us are chasing some kind of "absolute" where others are looking for pleasing sound, compounds the issue.

I remember when MF wrote a similar review on some Bryston amps a while back, to the same result, and I've heard those amps sound somewhat thin on numerous occasion, yet I've heard them sound spectacular driving Magnepans, especially the 20.1s.

So, how do you make the call? As a number of people have mentioned here, you have to be the final judge on sound "quality."

Hopefully a great review (whether you consider it positive or negative) will help you make a short list of things to audition.