Michael Fremer Leaving Stereophile?

[MattHooper]

Ha, something about putting this thread here reminds me of....

1,534 × 650

I do find Fremer's persona obnoxious at times. In fact he's told me off (with cuss words as I remember) on his or the stereophile site.

But I have always liked his reviews. (Speaker reviews in particular). For a "subjective reviewer" I think he has an excellent, succinct way of putting sound in to words.

 

[Blumlein 88]

Who cares? In my mind Fremer is the Kim Kardashian of audio reviewers. Why are either of them a thing?

 

[MCH]

I have never read or watched any of his gear reviews and i am not interested at all in them. But i have watched some of his records related videos and i see some value in them. Certainly not enough to follow his channel but if he happens to talk about records you are interested in, the guy often knows what he is talking about. He knows the engineer, the different presses, he knows the musicians, he can make connections with other records... not everybody has the knowledge and the interest in both the industry side and the music/musicians side.

Besides that, i agree that he is obnoxious (specially after reading the thread referred here) and i would prefer not to have to sit besides him during a long flight, but the guy isn't bad at making youtube videos. His videos are often a fixed camera in a ugly basement and still, he can keep you entertainded for 20 minutes if the subject is of your interest (i think he is voice actor and that might help). And from time to time he has a good story to tell, like when he found that hotel room assignment list in a Bowie record and he told the story of him accompaining the band for a few dates during the Ziggy Stardust tour (iirc). Nothing new, nothing exciting, but nothing that many other dudes doing videos in youtube can tell, and for me, this adds a bit of value.

By the way, all this prompted me to go and check one of his videos again and the video in questions seems to be the guy complaining obout a book on vinyl revival not mentioning him and the reasons why he should be there hahaha!

 

[thewas]

Am glad he is gone from Stereophile, not because to his audiophool believes but because of his abusive character and language which was in a huge discrepancy with the rest of the team.

 

[Vacceo]

I hate self-important dudes whose greatest skills are surviving the Hippie Ages and trivia knowledge about records.

"This acetate was the best Tommy from The Who..." Whatever, surviving the 90's Black Metal scene is not a merit and I did that.

I would not care for the dude even if he wrote on Terrorizer.

 

[Waxx]

I hate self-important dudes whose greatest skills are surviving the Hippie Ages and trivia knowledge about records.

"This acetate was the best Tommy from The Who..." Whatever, surviving the 90's Black Metal scene is not a merit and I did that.

I would not care for the dude even if he wrote on Terrorizer.

He probally never heared about it but think it's a tool to clean AC power or so, idem with Cradle of Filth, that is in his thought probaly an usb filter devices.

 

[Vacceo]

He probally never heared about it but think it's a tool to clean AC power or so, idem with Cradle of Filth, that is in his thought probaly an usb filter devices.

Cradle of Filth is Black Metal for kindergardens.

 

[Waxx]

Cradle of Filth is Black Metal for kindergardens.

I would not say that, but it's also not my favorite. And i'm not even really into black metal. I'm more a 90's (ragga)punk who from time to time like metal too. But this is much better than Cradle of Filth (that just fitted the joke) and one of my favorites:

 

[DSJR]

I don't have an issue with vinyl being preferred (well, not any more) and shouldn't as much of my working life was involved in setting up (fighting early samples of) Linn LP12's and having fun building and setting up other makes of deck of various vintages. It's just my pro contacts kept on at me and helped keep me grounded as to the proper sound of recordings pre mastering and the results (often great but not always) of said mastering into the commercial release. I choose music based on the music, not the recording and mastering quality as some/many audiophiles do.

As for high end speakers, the mindset I feel is basically the more expensive and fancy looking the speakers are, the 'better' they are. It doesn't look as if high end magazines ever dare to looking at proper high end studio monitors (and most of the bigger ones suitable for domestic use over the full recorded range are arguably well below $50k the pair including amps I suggest, so cheap in the Magico or large Wilson mindset). Active operation removes something for audiophiles to 'play with' and of course, speaker cables aren't needed and balanced audio interconnects help remove practically all 'cable differences' or should if the blindfolds come out

 

[Robin L]

Does anyone here really care ?

I'm glad to see that his anti-social tendencies can be held in check.

Absolute BS casts its fertilizer to a smaller audience.

Also, it's long past due for him to get out of his mother's basement.

The cherry on top is that somebody's gonna expose his lyin' ass with a hearing test, sooner rather than later.

 

[Robin L]

Am glad he is gone from Stereophile, not because to his audiophool believes but because of his abusive character and language which was in a huge discrepancy with the rest of the team.

Very much on point.

 

[Vacceo]

I would not say that, but it's also not my favorite. And i'm not even really into black metal. I'm more a 90's (ragga)punk who from time to time like metal too. But this is much better than Cradle of Filth (that just fitted the joke) and one of my favorites:

Good choice! Along with Salem, they are some of the best in Israel.

 

[anmpr1]

In the scheme of hi-fi journalism (is that even a thing?), Fremer was ultimately bottom man on the totem pole. At first I though his brand of shtick it was just 'performance art'-- I mean, who would really do and say the things he did? But even a master such as Andy Kauffman wouldn't have been able to pull off a Fremer, for as long as Mike went at it. So I came to the conclusion that Mr. Analog wasn't a simple shameless shill, but a true believer. That realization certainly made him less interesting to read; without the kayfabe angle there's not much point in working up enthusiasm via suspended disbelief.

But compared to the top tier, he was/is no more than a piker. Tops in my book goes to Enid Lumley. I've mentioned her before. At first I thought Enid was Harry Pearson writing 'tongue in cheek', in order to provide some humor, making light fun of the 'high-end'. Until I realized that Harry had no sense of humor.

But Enid was a champion. A true professional. You can't readily find Enid's stuff on line, but I've tracked down a few random paragraphs of her Absolute Sound material. Thanks for that, Enid, and may your RIP, wherever you wound up after you beamed up.

___________________
I have also noticed many other flying Gremlins in my house and decided to chase them down and stomp on them, in hopes of getting better music from my system. I hope to help you get same from yours too. These damned Gremlins are everywhere...

Virtually everything. If it's not busy radiating an electromagnetic field, it's busy radiating an electrostatic one. Even your drapes, the paint on the walls, paper, your records, the record jackets, the turntable dust cover - all are doing their thing to your stereo—and it's audible. Being aware of these offenders and what they do to your sound is the first step toward controlling them.

The sonic effects the Gremlins have are unpredictable, and so I cannot describe to you a set of individual symptoms to listen for in hunting down each one. One thing that is a constant: the degradation of true transparency, that is, images of instruments and voices that are palpable in a palpable space containing the air of the hall. The feeling that you are there.

We've just gotten started. How about all those metal objects in the house, for example, the sinks, the faucets, the fridge and stove, the metal frame in your listening chair, the metal fencing in the ASC Tube Traps so popular with most of us... From personal experience, all of these things degrade the sound.

Your main components themselves are potent sources of radiated fields, both electrostatic and electromagnetic...​

For your own ears, turn on a CD machine whilst playing your analogue records on the turntable and hear the junk put into your music. The CD player is not even hooked into the system. It's just sitting there, playing a CD. If you want to hear something really grotesque, try playing a string quartet or massed violins on your analogue turntable while the CD is operating.

You may decide to remove components not in use rather than just unplugging them. Listen to your big stereo as you remove that unused component from the room entirely.

Do not try shielding these sources of interference by using metal of any kind, as you will see why it is wrong to do so in the next issue.

 

[Martin]

I think I was there too. The one where he was sharing some rare presssings?

Yes - the Led Zeppelin II RL hot mix and Duke Ellington's Mood Indigo from Masterpieces by Ellington sung by Yvonne Luanauze. Very entertaining. Great system, too. I love my Von Schweikert VR-5 Anniversary speakers.

Martin

 

[Vacceo]

In the scheme of hi-fi journalism (is that even a thing?), Fremer was ultimately bottom man on the totem pole. At first I though his brand of shtick it was just 'performance art'-- I mean, who would really do and say the things he did? But even a master such as Andy Kauffman wouldn't have been able to pull off a Fremer, for as long as Mike went at it. So I came to the conclusion that Mr. Analog wasn't a simple shameless shill, but a true believer. That realization certainly made him less interesting to read; without the kayfabe angle there's not much point in working up enthusiasm via suspended disbelief.

But compared to the top tier, he was/is no more than a piker. Tops in my book goes to Enid Lumley. I've mentioned her before. At first I thought Enid was Harry Pearson writing 'tongue in cheek', in order to provide some humor, making light fun of the 'high-end'. Until I realized that Harry had no sense of humor.

But Enid was a champion. A true professional. You can't readily find Enid's stuff on line, but I've tracked down a few random paragraphs of her Absolute Sound material. Thanks for that, Enid, and may your RIP, wherever you wound up after you beamed up.

___________________
I have also noticed many other flying Gremlins in my house and decided to chase them down and stomp on them, in hopes of getting better music from my system. I hope to help you get same from yours too. These damned Gremlins are everywhere...

Virtually everything. If it's not busy radiating an electromagnetic field, it's busy radiating an electrostatic one. Even your drapes, the paint on the walls, paper, your records, the record jackets, the turntable dust cover - all are doing their thing to your stereo—and it's audible. Being aware of these offenders and what they do to your sound is the first step toward controlling them.

The sonic effects the Gremlins have are unpredictable, and so I cannot describe to you a set of individual symptoms to listen for in hunting down each one. One thing that is a constant: the degradation of true transparency, that is, images of instruments and voices that are palpable in a palpable space containing the air of the hall. The feeling that you are there.

We've just gotten started. How about all those metal objects in the house, for example, the sinks, the faucets, the fridge and stove, the metal frame in your listening chair, the metal fencing in the ASC Tube Traps so popular with most of us... From personal experience, all of these things degrade the sound.

Your main components themselves are potent sources of radiated fields, both electrostatic and electromagnetic...​

For your own ears, turn on a CD machine whilst playing your analogue records on the turntable and hear the junk put into your music. The CD player is not even hooked into the system. It's just sitting there, playing a CD. If you want to hear something really grotesque, try playing a string quartet or massed violins on your analogue turntable while the CD is operating.

You may decide to remove components not in use rather than just unplugging them. Listen to your big stereo as you remove that unused component from the room entirely.

Do not try shielding these sources of interference by using metal of any kind, as you will see why it is wrong to do so in the next issue.

Phlogiston is what allows combustion and current is made of the flight of fairies.

 

[MattHooper]

But Enid was a champion. A true professional. You can't readily find Enid's stuff on line, but I've tracked down a few random paragraphs of her Absolute Sound material. Thanks for that, Enid, and may your RIP, wherever you wound up after you beamed up.

___________________
I have also noticed many other flying Gremlins in my house and decided to chase them down and stomp on them, in hopes of getting better music from my system. I hope to help you get same from yours too. These damned Gremlins are everywhere...

Virtually everything. If it's not busy radiating an electromagnetic field, it's busy radiating an electrostatic one. Even your drapes, the paint on the walls, paper, your records, the record jackets, the turntable dust cover - all are doing their thing to your stereo—and it's audible. Being aware of these offenders and what they do to your sound is the first step toward controlling them.

The sonic effects the Gremlins have are unpredictable, and so I cannot describe to you a set of individual symptoms to listen for in hunting down each one. One thing that is a constant: the degradation of true transparency, that is, images of instruments and voices that are palpable in a palpable space containing the air of the hall. The feeling that you are there.

We've just gotten started. How about all those metal objects in the house, for example, the sinks, the faucets, the fridge and stove, the metal frame in your listening chair, the metal fencing in the ASC Tube Traps so popular with most of us... From personal experience, all of these things degrade the sound.

Your main components themselves are potent sources of radiated fields, both electrostatic and electromagnetic...​

For your own ears, turn on a CD machine whilst playing your analogue records on the turntable and hear the junk put into your music. The CD player is not even hooked into the system. It's just sitting there, playing a CD. If you want to hear something really grotesque, try playing a string quartet or massed violins on your analogue turntable while the CD is operating.

You may decide to remove components not in use rather than just unplugging them. Listen to your big stereo as you remove that unused component from the room entirely.

Do not try shielding these sources of interference by using metal of any kind, as you will see why it is wrong to do so in the next issue.

That looks like full blown psychosis.

But then again, she received some level of endorsement from Paul McGowan:

Separating fact from fiction

It's not always easy to separate fact from fiction because few things in life are black and white enough to make simple judgments. For example, years ago a young technician who became a reviewer, Enid Lumley, drove three and a half hours to PS Audio headquarters to report a discovery she had...

www.psaudio.com

So maybe she was just ahead of the curve ;-)

 

[Jmudrick]

I don't have an issue with vinyl being preferred (well, not any more) and shouldn't as much of my working life was involved in setting up (fighting early samples of) Linn LP12's and having fun building and setting up other makes of deck of various vintages. It's just my pro contacts kept on at me and helped keep me grounded as to the proper sound of recordings pre mastering and the results (often great but not always) of said mastering into the commercial release. I choose music based on the music, not the recording and mastering quality as some/many audiophiles do.

As for high end speakers, the mindset I feel is basically the more expensive and fancy looking the speakers are, the 'better' they are. It doesn't look as if high end magazines ever dare to looking at proper high end studio monitors (and most of the bigger ones suitable for domestic use over the full recorded range are arguably well below $50k the pair including amps I suggest, so cheap in the Magico or large Wilson mindset). Active operation removes something for audiophiles to 'play with' and of course, speaker cables aren't needed and balanced audio interconnects help remove practically all 'cable differences' or should if the blindfolds come out

Not a high end speaker but Guttenberg did review and rate highly the Kali LP-6 which was a step in the right direction.

 

[blueone]

Who cares? In my mind Fremer is the Kim Kardashian of audio reviewers. Why are either of them a thing?

Fremer is a thing because he tells people who want to believe that meaningless minutia results in audible differences that indeed they do. And they find him a compelling and engaging writer, however obnoxious many find him. Kardashian is a thing because she's attractive, interesting, and smart enough to be a billionaire, according to Forbes magazine.

Kim Kardashian West Is Officially A Billionaire

With KKW Beauty and popular shapewear firm Skims, Kardashian West’s net worth increases to $1 billion, earning her a spot on Forbes’ World’s Billionaires List.

www.forbes.com

 

[DSJR]

Enid Lumley influenced (I believe) the whole Peter Belt craze championed over here by an old pal of mine back then (we've lost touch now but I do wonder if he still does all that stuff in his very full apartment). I still have one or two CD's with foils, green pens (oh yes indeedy) and so on still there after thirty five years or so. The thing is, in the company of these people, one could hear these differences, but tried at home with a system that didn't sound bad to begin with, they made no difference at all!

I thought EL was absolutely out of her tree - did she ever go to live concerts? She used to claim that she could hear nuclear vs. coal generated mains supply, she was first to suspend all her cables at a fixed point above the ground I seem to remember (ignoring the miles of wires in a studio often laying all over the floor and crossing each other at all kinds of angles, this in addition to the wiring of a mixing desk innards). Totally bonkers...

 

[MattHooper]

Enid Lumley influenced (I believe) the whole Peter Belt craze championed over here by an old pal of mine back then (we've lost touch now but I do wonder if he still does all that stuff in his very full apartment). I still have one or two CD's with foils, green pens (oh yes indeedy) and so on still there after thirty five years or so. The thing is, in the company of these people, one could hear these differences, but tried at home with a system that didn't sound bad to begin with, they made no difference at all!

I thought EL was absolutely out of her tree - did she ever go to live concerts? She used to claim that she could hear nuclear vs. coal generated mains supply, she was first to suspend all her cables at a fixed point above the ground I seem to remember (ignoring the miles of wires in a studio often laying all over the floor and crossing each other at all kinds of angles, this in addition to the wiring of a mixing desk innards). Totally bonkers...

Hey don't knock it until you've tried it! There are still audiophiles doing Important Research that Amir and co are missing!

Take for example this gentleman's system posted at Audigon. Amir could spend months testing all these resonance reducing materials plastered in every inch of the room:

Hi-Fi Audio Systems & Audiophile Listening Rooms

Explore audiophile equipment, hi-fi audio systems and listening rooms for inspiration and ideas.

systems.audiogon.com