ASR's place in the hifi firmament

[DavidEdwinAston]

ASR's place in the hifi firmament​

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  • DavidEdwinAston
  • AdamG247
• Start dateYesterday at 9:56 PM

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DavidEdwinAston​

New Member​

JoinedNov 18, 2021Messages0Likes0
Yesterday at 9:56 PM
Hello, first post.
I admit to using What Hifi, Hifi News and Record review, and Stereophile as the main sources of equipment reviews, and have considered the latter as the "best". However, they do use a contributor called Fremer, who may actually have the best audiophile ears on the planet. Unfortunately he comes over as a rather unpleasant person. Therefore, it was a lovely surprise to discover this site. Extremely technical for my limited intelllect, but the reviewing and measurement led approach just seems so right.
(As things stand, I absolutely want to get rid of my Quad Artera preamp and Platinum monoblocks. Plus the ancient but still wonderful Spendor S100's. And just get some kind of Genelec!) I likely would keep the two REL subs.
So, thankyou for this refreshing source of info, and good luck to all of the contributors.

 

[raindance]

Why do you want to get rid of the Quad gear?

 

[antcollinet]

ASR's place in the hifi firmament​

• Participants
  • DavidEdwinAston
  • AdamG247
• Start dateYesterday at 9:56 PM

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DavidEdwinAston​

New Member​

JoinedNov 18, 2021Messages0Likes0
Yesterday at 9:56 PM
Hello, first post.
I admit to using What Hifi, Hifi News and Record review, and Stereophile as the main sources of equipment reviews, and have considered the latter as the "best". However, they do use a contributor called Fremer, who may actually have the best audiophile ears on the planet. Unfortunately he comes over as a rather unpleasant person. Therefore, it was a lovely surprise to discover this site. Extremely technical for my limited intelllect, but the reviewing and measurement led approach just seems so right.
(As things stand, I absolutely want to get rid of my Quad Artera preamp and Platinum monoblocks. Plus the ancient but still wonderful Spendor S100's. And just get some kind of Genelec!) I likely would keep the two REL subs.
So, thankyou for this refreshing source of info, and good luck to all of the contributors.

Welcome - pretty much how I felt when I joined 3 months ago. And as a result have cancelled spending of about £850 because I realised I'd have no benefit.

(Really must remember to send Amirm a small token) EDIT: and now I have.

 

[FrantzM]

First post, I see. Welcome! You seem to be sincere and earnest.
A few things:

• Michael Fremer can't have the best audiophile or otherwise, ears on the planet: He is past 50, at that age you lose a lot of your hearing acuity. Fact. Not opinion. Science-backed, provable, repeatedly. The subjective side of audiophilia want to keep the buzz of he audiophile-guru alive. He is the closest to that, since HP of TAS, The absolute Sound. Those are falsities. Good sound is measurable. keep that in mind. You need measurements to let ou know, not the opinions of a guru.
• Second. I (We?) second the Genelec option; if the model matches your room size and listening distance, you're almost assured of good to superlative intrinsic performances. (Setup is key in any system, however good the components could be)
• Third: Read, research learn and ask questions here. The level of knowledge on this forum is beyond anything you can imagine. In the meantime learn how to measure your system. it cost little in term of cash outlay: A calibrated microphone, the Umik-1 around $150 and a free software whose power borders the ludicrous: REW, I suggest a generous contribution to this marvel of software. A laptop (you likely already have one) and a lot of reading and pondering and failing... Measuring will take your, really any, system to the next level.

Welcome again!

 

[DavidEdwinAston]

Thank you all for your rapid responses.
raindance, I don't actually want to get rid of the Quad gear, and in fact should presumably keep the preamp. However, as far as I can make out, the correct Genelec would cover the amplification anyone would need.
FranzM, I will study and hopefully take to heart all of your comments.
tonycollinet, as you say, Amirm is the heart and soul of these forums, and he does provide huge opportunities for cost savings whilst not reducing musical enjoyment.

 

[antcollinet]

Thank you all for your rapid responses.
raindance, I don't actually want to get rid of the Quad gear, and in fact should presumably keep the preamp. However, as far as I can make out, the correct Genelec would cover the amplification anyone would need.
FranzM, I will study and hopefully take to heart all of your comments.
tonycollinet, as you say, Amirm is the heart and soul of these forums, and he does provide huge opportunities for cost savings whilst not reducing musical enjoyment.

I think the question about getting rid of the quad stuff is about considering if you will be better off replacing it.

While the monblocks may have been overpriced compared with some high end class D options, you have them now, and are unlikely to get significanlty (audibly) better amplification.

 

[abdo123]

I third the Genelecs comment, their designs (in particular 'The Ones') are sublime.

 

[raindance]

I was going to suggest using the Quad preamp with the Genelecs. Their stuff still sounds seriously good. I have the Elite preamp, which I sold and then bought back because I missed the tilt control so much.

 

[Raindog123]

A calibrated microphone, the Umik-1 around $150 and a free software whose power borders the ludicrous: REW

FYI, [in the US] you can reliably score a Umik-1 from eBay for under $100.

 

[FrantzM]

P.S.

There is clearly a Genelec love here on the forum but ... There are other brands of serious quality speaker, that match and on some aspects surpass Genelec. From the Top of my head:
Dutch and Dutch, their 8c goes flat (20 Hz to 20,000 Hz) in a large room and does 20 Hz (!!!!) at a measured 105 dB (!!!!!!!!!) , according to an objective reviewer @mitchco,
JBL They have some interesting speaker, their 708 is a serious contender ... they have others among thse the stupendous M2.
Kii Their Kii3 is another speaker worthy of serious consideration
Neumann.. another brand that produces stellar speakers all across, the KH120 seems to be one of the best measured speakers here and they have the KH 420 that is apparently (waiting on reviews) a Genelec 8361 competitor..

On the passive front
Kef , many gems in their lineup, the R3, R5, R7, etc ...
Revel ... Same and in some ways for many their top of the line remains a reference, the Salon 2.

There are other brands I may have forgotten.. So it is not a Genelec -only affair.

FYI, [in the US] you can reliably score a Umik-1 from eBay for under $100.

Thanks on that. I tend to just go to Amazon to check prices, that'll teach me to rely on one source .. interesting that's almost $50% ...

 

[youngho]

(As things stand, I absolutely want to get rid of my Quad Artera preamp and Platinum monoblocks. Plus the ancient but still wonderful Spendor S100's. And just get some kind of Genelec!) I likely would keep the two REL subs.

Personally, I don't understand why you want to get rid of your existing gear, especially since you described the Spendor S100s as "wonderful," unless perhaps you're feeling measurement envy and chasing degrees of SINAD that you might not be able to hear. The Spendor S100s actually measured exceptionally well in its day (look at the averaged on-axis response at https://www.stereophile.com/content/spendor-s100-loudspeaker-measurements, and you can use absorption to reduce the effects of off-axis unevenness). The S100 is a wide baffle speaker and has what appears to be a relative dip in the off-axis response around 3 kHz, both of which some listeners seem to prefer, especially for classical music (for former, see https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...of-lokki-bech-toole-et-al.27540/#post-950580; for latter, see https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/gundry-dip-in-loudspeakers.23180/).

What are you looking for in the Genelecs that you're not getting now?

 

[DavidEdwinAston]

Youngho,
You are absolutely right! I have been beguiled by the Genelec reviews. However, the S100's are thirty years old, and must presumably fail at some point. But thank you for your comments

 

[Robin L]

Regarding Michael Fremer: He touts LPs as state of the art. They are not. He claims that inner-groove distortion is fixable with the right gear and adjustments. It isn't, most of inner-groove distortion comes from the groove functionally slowing down. The distortion will go up as the stylus moves towards the deadwax. Nothing can be done about it. Michael Fremer is also frequently incredibly rude. Disabuse yourself of the notion that he has " best audiophile ears on the planet". He doesn't.

 

[Phorize]

ASR's place in the hifi firmament​

• Participants
  • DavidEdwinAston
  • AdamG247
• Start dateYesterday at 9:56 PM

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DavidEdwinAston​

New Member​

JoinedNov 18, 2021Messages0Likes0
Yesterday at 9:56 PM
Hello, first post.
I admit to using What Hifi, Hifi News and Record review, and Stereophile as the main sources of equipment reviews, and have considered the latter as the "best". However, they do use a contributor called Fremer, who may actually have the best audiophile ears on the planet. Unfortunately he comes over as a rather unpleasant person. Therefore, it was a lovely surprise to discover this site. Extremely technical for my limited intelllect, but the reviewing and measurement led approach just seems so right.
(As things stand, I absolutely want to get rid of my Quad Artera preamp and Platinum monoblocks. Plus the ancient but still wonderful Spendor S100's. And just get some kind of Genelec!) I likely would keep the two REL subs.
So, thankyou for this refreshing source of info, and good luck to all of the contributors.

Perhaps you could send the Artera to @amirm

 

[MattHooper]

Regarding Michael Fremer: He touts LPs as state of the art. They are not. He claims that inner-groove distortion is fixable with the right gear and adjustments. It isn't, most of inner-groove distortion comes from the groove functionally slowing down. The distortion will go up as the stylus moves towards the deadwax. Nothing can be done about it. Michael Fremer is also frequently incredibly rude. Disabuse yourself of the notion that he has " best audiophile ears on the planet". He doesn't.

Even as someone who enjoys some of Fremer's reviews, I can't disagree with any of that

 

[TheWalkman]

After all of the glorious Genelec posts this week, I think I want Genelec stock more than I want their speakers.

I'm not sure my ears are golden enough to appreciate how good these speakers are and, instead, I'll settle for my JBLs or Elac UBR62 reference speakers.

However, my wallet isn't too old to appreciate a good investment and something tells me Genelec sales are going up, up, up!

 

[youngho]

Youngho,
You are absolutely right! I have been beguiled by the Genelec reviews. However, the S100's are thirty years old, and must presumably fail at some point. But thank you for your comments

You might check out the Spendor user forum if you're not already a member: https://groups.io/g/spendor
Also, you will find fans of the BBC heritage speakers on Robert E Greene's forum: https://groups.io/g/REGsAudioForum

 

[DavidEdwinAston]

phorize
How much to ship the Artera to Amirm?
And how do I play music whilst it ships to and from the States?
youngho
Thanks for those links.
In my 78th year I wonder, do we fall in love with our loudspeakers?
I do hope it is always just the music.

 

[brimble]

Youngho,
You are absolutely right! I have been beguiled by the Genelec reviews. However, the S100's are thirty years old, and must presumably fail at some point. But thank you for your comments

I don't think speakers are likely to fail. I haven't seen statistics, but mine are 40 years old and not showing any sign of age at all.

 

[MattHooper]

I hope Amirm's star keeps rising. ASR and his youtube videos are IMO one of the most important "new" contributions to the high end audio
community.