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In Reply to: RE: Musical Fidelity V90-DAC rating posted by rick_m on March 16, 2014 at 08:47:45
Issue with Musical Fidelity though is that its products are very mediocre, very far from the top performers in pretty much any price range. This is based on my first-hand experience with 2 different pieces, and reading various sources.
Regarding Sam Tellig - based on his history (Triangle etc.), I wouldn't pay any attention to anything he feels stimulated enough to proclaim the next best thing.
If we're to speak about relation between price and quality, or lack thereof - there's one area where I would agree with you wholeheartedly, and that's being Rye Whiskeys. Based on my first-hand experience, here are some rankings and corresponding prices:
- High West Rendezvous Rye. Rank: Exceptional, Price: $48.
- Whistlepig. Rank: Mediocre, Price: $60.
- George Dickel Rye. Rank: Very good to Exceptional, Price: $25.
- Ravenswood Rye. Rank: Garbage, Price: $40.
- Russel's Reserve. Rank: OK to good, Price: $40.
Follow Ups:
"Based on my first-hand experience, here are some rankings and corresponding prices:"
I'd suppose that whiskey is easier to evaluate than stereos. Outside of the glass, environment and companionship, it's just you and the chemicals. Many fewer variables than even a simple home-audio system.
I don't drink that stuff as my pedestrian tastes lean towards beer and wine but they, especially the latter, are iffy propositions if the goal is to have truly consistent products.
Moderate variety seems to be the nature of Nature... *
Rick
* Is this because natural selection needs options?
Moderate variety seems to be the nature of Nature... *
See my moniker. :=)
Tony Lauck
"Diversity is the law of nature; no two entities in this universe are uniform." - P.R. Sarkar
..........excuses, excuses, and more excuses!
More self-serving tripe from the "Editor".
Printing filler because the reviewer didn't have anything else to write about in his column this month is a disservice to your subscribers, and ranking the V90-DAC as A+ under the present circumstances is nothing short of dishonest!
Al
> ...excuses, excuses, and more excuses!
No, I offered an explanation in response to a direct question from
another inmate. That you didn't like it or failed to comprehend it
doesn't magically turn what I wrote into an "excuse." Or would you
prefer I _not_ answer questions put to me?
> More self-serving tripe from the "Editor".
You don't like it, please don't read the magazine. I don't have any
problem with that.
> Printing filler because the reviewer didn't have anything else to write
> about in his column this month is a disservice to your subscribers...
No-one said anything about "filler." That is your projection.
John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile
Apparently companies are not encouraged to send gear unsolicited but yet MF does it anyway and it seems they do get rewarded handsomely for the risk (pfft) involved.
You really should consider packing it in and turning it over to the young gun while there's still something worth passing on.
--
And Oh, if interested in a reasonable evaluation of this $300 Class A wonder send it to Micheal Lavorgna.
Never trust an Atom, they Make Up everything!
"You should really consider packing it in and turning it over to the young gun while there is still something worth passing on."
+1
But didn't you know that JA can do no wrong, at least according to JA?
He screwed up big-time but doesn't seem to be man enough to admit it. Then, when I complain he suggests that I should just stop reading his magazine. Nice customer service, JA. If I pulled that kind of crap in either of my careers I would have been out on my ass looking for any kind of scut work to keep my head above water instead of being very comfortably retired helping my wife raise horses in Western Colorado!
Cheers,
Al
I think a few assumptions are being made.
1) First the reviewer may indeed think the product deserves the rating is valid. I suppose it would be nice if people could at least hold out the possibility.
Indeed, I a bit surprised at the backlash for a $300 product - on the one hand on this forum people are ripping Stereophile for only reviewing froo froo expensive products - then when they rave about affordable stuff they get ripped.
So umm which is it because they can't do both?
2) The recommended component listings are a bit silly - Some of their reviewers "BUY" more expensive stuff from the class B list pile and not from the class A pile (that is cheaper) - umm Class B is often better than class A. Their reviewer's have established this several times!
Fact is all the stuff is recommended that's why they call it the "recommended components list" The fact they give one thing class A or B or C - is the opinion of very few people.
Seriously I don't know why people get so "live and die" on how gear places on their list.
Most of the stuff sounds so different from each other - just compare some class A speakers - you may love one and be totally indifferent to the other.
Nothing is perfect - they give a class A+ to a cheap DAC - who cares. Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater if you disagree on the occasional thing.
I disagree with numerous things (and rant I have) but I still think it's a good magazine, entertaining, and offers excellent value. Heck it would be pretty boring if you agreed with them all the time on everything - why bother to read it if that were the case.
Maybe listen to this VDAC thing first before calling for their heads. I dunno but speaking as a generally cheap bastard it would be real nice to get great sound for $299 - it would leave money for me to put elsewhere.
I also think it is a good magazine. The proof is in the pudding; I keep getting it.
In this case though, I differentiate between a review (if you can even call it that) of an inexpensive product - which is a good thing - and it's warp speed inclusion in A+.
The reviews I read have been mixed; but on balance positive to good (I recall one gushing review).
Right, wrong or indifferent, I guess I just can't reconcile the Wall Wart with A+.
Though I do recall that Pangea Audio came out with a power supply for the DacMagic which significantly improved performance over that with the Wall Wart.
Maybe there is potential here. Let's see what JA finds.
"I guess I just can't reconcile the Wall Wart with A+."
Fortunately you don't have to, the manufacturer has done that for you...
Have you every looked at your power-line with a scope or spectrum? My recommendation is to only do so on an empty stomach. Mine is about the last thing on earth I want anywhere near any signal that I care about. External supplies have the advantage of dumping most of that and even if they do introduce some noise of their own it's a known that can be intelligently addressed in the device.
And, as others have mentioned, you also have the opportunity to buy or build fancier supplies. IMHO one of the worst issues with home audio is having the power supply and it's distortion components in-band, the external DC supply "fixes" that after a fashion.
Regards, Rick
> when I complain he suggests that I should just stop reading his magazine.
> Nice customer service, JA.
The times when the customer was always right ended the day that Web forums
opened for business :-)
John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile
''The times when the customer was always right ended the day that Web forums
opened for business :-)
John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile''
Good formula for eventual terminal decline; do any business course.
> > The times when the customer was always right ended the day that Web forums
> > opened for business :-)
>
> Good formula for eventual terminal decline; do any business course.Guess you missd the smiley :-)
But let's take you seriously. I conjecture that you disagree with my
statement, meaning that you feel I _should_ accommodate every customer.As a Stereophile reader, you have used a lot of bandwidth on this forum
complaining that the Zinio edition is not optimized for reading on a PC.
You first complained about this a few years back and I explained to you
at that time why we felt optimizing the edition for tablets was a better
strategy. Nevertheless, you have popped up repeatedly since then, making
the same point in threads involving Stereophile that are not related to
our Zinio edition.
So, of course you are our customer, but are you right? I suggest not,
not because I don't care about your criticism but because: a) you are
the _only_ reader since we launched the Zinio edition to complain to
me directly about this; b) the increase in subscriptions of our Zinio
edition suggests that our business decision was the correct one; and
c) we must address the consensus of our readers' needs, not that of an
obsessed outlier who can't take no for an answer.
John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile
Edits: 03/19/14
Hi John:
As I've mentioned to you before, WFB had the best response for the occasional habitual carper criticizing his magazine: "Cancel your own goddamn subscription."
Succinct and to the point; he was saying it 40 years ago and NR is still going strong today. You, however, tend to be overly indulgent when it comes to chronic complainers. A quality publication such as yours can survive quite nicely without accommodating the lunatic fringe. Why not give it a try?
+1
In this case it's become evident that ego trumps good sense.
Cheers,
Al
I always wonder why certain inmates get their knickers all bunched up over the audio mags. Stereophile is a little more than a dollar an issue if you subscribe from them. Do you go into the grocery store and piss and moan when you buy a dollar product that doesn't meet up to your exacting standards?? Go listen your Monkees albums and chill out.
Some don't find BS entertaining, regardless of cost ... YMMV
Never trust an Atom, they Make Up everything!
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