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Post by Deleted on Jun 4, 2018 14:25:10 GMT
I used to read complaints from people. Talking about, how reviewers always get the best examples. Be it amplifier, CD Player etc.
Compared to the regular home user example. The latter is doesn't look as nice inside, and internal parts not as good etc. Resulting in a poorer sound. MF (I hear) was one prime example.
Talk about receiving the fecking silver platter.
S.
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Post by dsjr on Jun 4, 2018 15:07:25 GMT
The MF B1 amp was the one which opened all these cans of worms, but before then, the Pioneer CTF 2121 cassette deck which got the rave reviews was one hand tuned example which did the rounds. A later review pulled one from boxed stock and the results weren't as favourable I seem to remember.
A reviewer pal had a Yamaha AV receiver for review once, decades ago mind, which had come from another magazine which had raved about it I understand. Guess what, this unit had NEVER been taken out of its box!
I can't really say about the whole Linn-Naim stranglehold, as I rather think it was the mags following the dealer-sheeple rather than the other way round in all honesty. One-time reviewer Chris(t) Frankland fell hook line and sinker for it though and he made a tidy living for a while as first editor of HiFi Review, the earlier version (Flat Response?) which I understand was Naim sponsored if memory serves
There's another story told me recently about an iffy Levinson UK review, the Levinson engineers being so concerned I was told they flew over here and checked the reviewer's measuring test equipment, which turned out to be out of spec so the story goes. HFN never had Levinson for review afterwards and of course this mag became the mouthpiece of the UK Absolute Sound portfolio for many years, if it isn't still. HFN related, ken Kessler used to say one thing in HFN, but 'almost' another in the trade publication we used to get back then. After this, I totally ignored him as an irrelevance, albeit with a bit of an ego at times I felt. Another reviewer did a lot of paid consultancy work behind the scenes for many manufacturers, a benefit being the items consulted on would be put into his reference system, so much so that later on, any reviews of gear he'd consulted on needed some form of reporting that he'd done some form of consultancy work on them prior to the review.
All little cliques in this tiny UK backwater and a bit of back-slapping going on I reckon. The ones who didn't make it into the cliques suffered. |
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Jun 4, 2018 18:28:00 GMT
The A1was another they sold lots of B200s pretending to be A1s because they didn’t have Anouilh A1s to go round. AM is someone I wouldn’t trust as far as I could throw. Jez and others have often reported under specked components. Then there was the nuvista cd debacle. To me MF simply cashed in on the Tim De P association. Without him they are nothing.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 4, 2018 20:55:58 GMT
The real A1 is a nice amp to my ears. Jez Arkless despises that amp. Considering his bright tastes I'm not surprised.
A1 is a little bit like the blue-pill. Nice and pleasant sounding.
S.
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Post by antonio on Jun 5, 2018 4:45:01 GMT
The A1 is like Viagra.  |
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Post by dsjr on Jun 5, 2018 13:01:27 GMT
The A1 is weak and limp, not like Viagra at all  No top, no deep bass and a wooly mid - and you people LIKE it? Mind you, there were several versions of the A1, all different inside I gather. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 5, 2018 13:14:36 GMT
Interesting video -
Not surprised by this engineers attitude towards the caps. The comment section below is an interesting read.
S.
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Post by antonio on Jun 5, 2018 13:57:15 GMT
I was referring the Viagra to the blue pill Shane mentioned in his previous post.  Certainly not the sound of MF amps, yet to hear one I liked. |
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Jun 5, 2018 14:03:24 GMT
Ive lost count of the number of A1s I've had. Two stonkers and the rest just ok. Get a good one and it's that liquid quality that grabs you. Hear a good one through Glastonburys and it's as good as anything you'll ever hear. Pair if up with lesser stuff and it doesn't always shine.....assuming it is an A1 on the inside anyway.
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Post by dsjr on Jun 5, 2018 17:34:35 GMT
Another review disaster at the time, but interesting reading now... Audio consultant engineer Angus McKenzie was a cussed man at the best of times I believe and could be a bit grumpy to put it politely (maybe it was his adult blindness that made him worse, I don't know). He compiled the very first HiFi Choice, which was a speaker group review. His opinions of most models tested was scathing and he didn't mince words in his criticisms either. The two Audiomaster speakers were panned (Image 2 and their version of the LS3/5A). Audiomaster speakers were designed by the great Robin Marshall who then, was into fairly complex crossover design in a big way (one step removed from the guy who designed the Linn Nexus crossovers ) - Years later, the Audiomatsr LS3/5A was regarded as probably the best of all the early models (in HFN some time back as K Kessler raves about the effers…) Anyway, these two pairs of speakers came back from the review sessions and Robin walked into our dem room furious and showed us the crossovers, both were burned and the Image 2 ones were knackered through burning out the tweeter networks. Turns out the high-power testing was done before the measurements and listening tests, the 'animals' he had doing these tests basically blew them up, together with some other smaller speaker models he didn't subsequently like. There was a huge industry hoo-ha about it and Angus was quickly side-lined in favour of Martin Colloms, another 'VIP' in audio circles then, yet able to hide criticism well (you need to read between the lines and what he 'doesn't say). Not a word though about the behind the scenes consultancy work MC was doing on many speakers at that time I remember, which didn't come out in print until some issues in... |
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Jun 7, 2018 18:29:25 GMT
Just read this and can't believe the incompetence. Robin Marshall made some great speakers and they didn't cost the earth either, he's a it of a hero of mine.
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No top, no deep bass and a wooly mid - and you people LIKE it?