To what end? Serious question. They have their brand and their audience and have been very financially successful with that. Why would they give a flying fornication what I think?
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40K preamp measurements
- Thread starter Unclevanya
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To what end? Serious question. They have their brand and their audience and have been very financially successful with that. Why would they give a flying fornication what I think?
Robin L
Master Contributor
Jason's real nice too. FWIW, he had the best system I have heard based on Large Advents. And I've heard a lot of systems anchored on Large Advents. Mind you, that was 35 years ago.
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I appreciate anmpr1's post on this topic. After all, we are confronting 'product' and 'marketing.' Regarding the casework of the preamp under discussion, the casework maketh of it (the product) as or like the Arch of the Covenant. We all can clearly see in the display of audiophile equipment organization within the home of the proud owner an unconscious attempt to manifest an altar--or a especial holy nave for the Arch of the Covenant. Do you believe in subconscious motivation. He who holds the holy of holy's must indeed be the High Priest. Come to my temple to worship! Oh, I am just musing and letting my thoughts run. Nothing uncommon here. This is how men engage.
Well, you would not be alone as there are a number of folks expressing similar opinions over there already.To what end? Serious question. They have their brand and their audience and have been very financially successful with that. Why would they give a flying fornication what I think?
To no effect. Other than providing more clicks.
No disrespect intended toward you, of course; I do, however, have a great deal of disrespect for many/most of the other writers there. I do confess a sick amusement at watching Atkinson's dance when an item having effusive praise shows horrific performance, but I'll count that as my personality defect.
These days he gets pretty testy in the Stereophile comments section, and in recent years, his tastes evidently have gravitated toward stuff that costs a lot more than the old Advents did in their day (adjusted for inflation of course) and may not sound as good.
Robin L
Master Contributor
I've made comments in Stereophile's posts about how they used to have Sam Tellig and report on cheapskate audiophile electronics back in the day. They really don't want to talk about it. I've found their site sufficiently frustrating and transparently classist ["if it isn't overpriced, we're not interested"] as to stop visiting their website.
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Magazines: I take much of what I read by individual columnists with a grain of salt. I'm not into analog sources as a matter of convenience, never mind specs, and I even worked for a tape recorder manufacturer (Otari). Consequently half of the book is useless to me. I don't hear what half those guys hear anyway, especially when it comes to tweaks. I don't express myself using words like "I cried when I heard that." I don't listen to the same music most reviewers do. I never owned a Norah Jones or Diana Krall record (yeah, I know she's good but not for me). I don't condone the near criminal waste and obsessive compulsive behavior of some audiophiles in a starving world especially when they are wasting money on crystal rocks, suspension bridge cables, $200 dollar fuses, cable risers and all that jive and I am an audiophile by any measure and victim to I want it-itis. And, I believe thoroughly in expectation bias....I am guilty of it. I think some of the reviewers exhibit that to a very large degree. I outright don't trust some of them, especially the more obsessively flowery ones, but there are those I do trust. I often find the writing forced, possibly by deadlines. It can be repetitive and not all that creative, sometimes bordering on pompous. I have caught errors (though nowhere near as many as the Audiophiliac provides us daily) and I'm not even a trained engineer. Some of the reviewers and columnists avoid that, are entertaining, do inform me sensibly and so in balance I take the good with the not so interesting. But I read and subscribe to it and enjoy getting it.
I read Stereophile for the news, the consistent focus on measurements as a critical element of analysis and gauge of quality and the general approach to producing what is after all, an entertainment about my hobby, not needing a science journal or AES white paper for that. I glean in the margins that a certain social/ethical humanity based focus I adhere to is part of the magazines ethos. I do wonder how a device can measure so very poorly and still get a positive review. Surely a unit can measure well (loudspeakers, say) and sound meh but I believe anything that doesn't first measure well and then sound good is not for me. In other words, good sound and good measurements must go hand in hand or I'm out.
However, I consider Stereophile the best general circulation American hifi mag an enthusiast can read due to JA's (there are two now...Austin and Atkinson) measurements and of course reviewers like KR who are active on fora and dole it out straight to help inform us what's possible and what works for them. I eat what I like and leave the rest on the plate.
I read Stereophile for the news, the consistent focus on measurements as a critical element of analysis and gauge of quality and the general approach to producing what is after all, an entertainment about my hobby, not needing a science journal or AES white paper for that. I glean in the margins that a certain social/ethical humanity based focus I adhere to is part of the magazines ethos. I do wonder how a device can measure so very poorly and still get a positive review. Surely a unit can measure well (loudspeakers, say) and sound meh but I believe anything that doesn't first measure well and then sound good is not for me. In other words, good sound and good measurements must go hand in hand or I'm out.
However, I consider Stereophile the best general circulation American hifi mag an enthusiast can read due to JA's (there are two now...Austin and Atkinson) measurements and of course reviewers like KR who are active on fora and dole it out straight to help inform us what's possible and what works for them. I eat what I like and leave the rest on the plate.
Sure but JA doesn't do the measurements until after we write our reviews.
It makes sense not to prejudice the subjective impressions that are part of the mag's evaluation technique but the precise order of inquiry is less important to me than to the magazine. It's just about impossible for me to divorce objective measurements from subjective impressions at this point in my "education." . Even had I the wherewithal I could never buy, say, DarTZeel mono blocks to name a recent example of something embarrassingly expensive that measured "not so well." I couldn't shell out the dosh for such unimpressive measured performance even if I enjoyed the sound and decided a home amplifier merited that level of sacrifice.
Obsequious sucking up: I've enjoyed following you on all the fora and in print. You're everywhere! Stereophile's published measurements distinguish it from the others just as this forum is distinguished from those offering only opinion.
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I wish all readers were as "educated."
Retirement give me the opportunity to do whatever I want.
Me too! I love the freedom to be indolent, irreverent and very occasionally insightful as a result of raw time in rank.
When I was working I wouldn't post on fora. It just felt.....exposed. Now, I can reasonably be me everywhere. Any mistakes or misunderstandings I generate don't reflect on anybody but me. It's liberating.
When I was working I wouldn't post on fora. It just felt.....exposed. Now, I can reasonably be me everywhere. Any mistakes or misunderstandings I generate don't reflect on anybody but me. It's liberating.
Indeed. Paliwal was all about getting the company sold off. Even while Sidney Harman was the nominal head of the company, the Pro division managed to diminish its assets and resources by ignoring and demeaning successful brands it acquired including dbx, Lexicon (now neither of significance in pro audio), Soundcraft which is a fine name going nowhere. One of the original owners of Soundcraft (Phil Dudridge) of course went on to form Focusrite and commissioned and successfully sold designs with Neve's engineering help. UREI's legacy exists outside Harman only as Universal Audio. And so on. They somehow submerge most of their acquisitions and mire them in badge engineering although one has to appreciate Revel. I do and own a pair of Salon2s, one high end audio product where you get your value expectations met. I like McIntosh too.
I speak with some experience in this. I was the Harman Pro rep (had other lines as well) in the Northwest for over 30 years and the thing was coming visibly unglued some years before I retired in 2010. I hear from my friends it just keeps getting harder and more frustrating. JBL, once the pride of my portfolio, is a (manufacturing) shadow of itself and nothing is made here anymore. Say goodnight Gracie!
My handle (Siwel) is my name spelled backwards....Lewis. Couldn't come upon with a brighter idea on the spur of the moment ! That may suggest to some of you in the PNW who were in pro business during my tenure who I am. Or it may not! Doesn't matter.....great site, happy to learn from you all!
How's that for a first introductory post?
It was just announced. Paliwal is out, Mauser is in. Hmmm...
https://news.harman.com/releases/ha...ser-to-succeed-paliwal-effective-april-1-2020
Ah, didn't see that. Not a surprise. I recall hearing he had signed on for two years for the transition. The timing sort of lines up. They danced starting in 2016 (formally by announcement but probably earlier than that) and the acquisition was completed in March '17.
That seems reasonably likely with a bit over two years now elapsed. The new owners are likely finished Hoovering out whatever was left. The senior engineers probably still have work along with sales guys and order processing. I think nobody knows what's happening in Pro. I wouldn't' be surprised if warehousing is outsourced but who knows. Paliwal's work here is done and I'd imagine he's laughing all the way to the bank(s). He needs more than one!
They often hire people like Dinesh to organize the outsourcing and downsizing to make a pretty picture for a sale. Those guys always make out themselves, regardless what happens to the work force. He lives among the gods now.
That seems reasonably likely with a bit over two years now elapsed. The new owners are likely finished Hoovering out whatever was left. The senior engineers probably still have work along with sales guys and order processing. I think nobody knows what's happening in Pro. I wouldn't' be surprised if warehousing is outsourced but who knows. Paliwal's work here is done and I'd imagine he's laughing all the way to the bank(s). He needs more than one!
They often hire people like Dinesh to organize the outsourcing and downsizing to make a pretty picture for a sale. Those guys always make out themselves, regardless what happens to the work force. He lives among the gods now.
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