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In his review of the MMF 7.3 which got the recent cover shot, Ken Micallef slams the inexpensive Ortolon 2M Bronze cartridge that came on it and then for reasons only he can know, likened it to the Ortofon Quintet Bronze he had reviewed for Positive Feedback as a cartridge that provided "small and recessed images with individual instruments clustered together and of almost tiny stature" with "tonal and spatial problems that prevented a true appraisal of the accompanying turntable". Then, if one goes and takes a look at the very same review of the Quintet Bronze he needlessly dragged through the mud, one finds that he made no such observations of the Quintet Bronze. Not anything remotely similar. If I were Ortofon or an Ortofon distributor, I would be livid. What gives Mr. Micallef? I am not an Ortofon guy, I use Benz and Soundsmith. But I tend to agree with the Scotch loving Roy Hall, I don't enjoy your writing.
Edits: 08/21/16Follow Ups:
Are you applying for the job of "Audio Censor"?
Like it or not Micallef has a right to his own opinion, and Stereophile has a right to publish it.
...the concern is that Micallef has two different opinions which are in opposition to each other.
Seems valid to raise it.
Perhaps Micallef just changed his mind?
A right that's not just limited to the fair sex!
Seems valid to raise this point;-)
would it not be appropriate to state in the later review that, upon further thought, his opinion had changed? And perhaps some discussion of what led to the change? As it stands, it just looks like he assumed his prior prose was either never read, or forgotten about.
Personally, I find those cartridges to be lacking in dynamics, life, incisiveness, and to be generally boring, so I have no issues with negative comments about them.
Me thinks somebodies bull got gored.
When they discover the center of the universe, a lot of people will be disappointed to discover they are not it. ~ Bernard Bailey
Snide responses are boring. They don't add a dang thing to the discussion and it only shows badly upon you. You evidently did not read my post very closely. I don't use Ortofon cartridges. By the way, I also don't own a Pro-ject or MMF table. Also, just so you know, the saying is "who's OX got gored", not "bull".
I posted hoping that JA might chime in as to why one of his reviewers would talk about a cartridge that had nothing, zippo, de nada to do with his review of the turntable in question and on top of that, refer to a review of that cartridge that he had previously written when that review was entirely inconsistent with his comments. I read the review of the MMF table and though he didn't trash the table, he did trash Ortofon. I just couldn't figure out what his motivation was. I will stick with what I said above-the drop off on turntable reviewers after Mikey and Art is huge.
Feeling a tad pedantic today, I see.
When they discover the center of the universe, a lot of people will be disappointed to discover they are not it. ~ Bernard Bailey
On the other hand, it is uncommon for a reviewer to dislike a "reviewed" product/piece of gear, in 2016.
Well, the listening impressions of anyone using a MoFi Geodisc, Shure scale, and "azimuth by eyeball" for setting up a high end cartridge are pretty much worthless.
"Well, the listening impressions of anyone using a MoFi Geodisc, Shure scale, and "azimuth by eyeball" for setting up a high end cartridge are pretty much worthless."
Yep. So why is this guy reviewing for S'phile? Methinks JA has this problem; with vinyl's resurgence he can no longer rely on Art and Mikey to do reviews on all analogue gear and he has to reach out to others despite the fact that there is a huge drop off after Art and Mikey. But again, what accounts for Micallef needlessly slamming an Ortofon cartridge that was in no manner involved in the review and even then, being inconsistent as to his assessment of that irrelevant cartridge? And why did he not take the diplomatic approach of suggesting that the Goldring was a better match for the table than the Ortofon? Overall, he was positive about the table but it was almost as if he wanted the reader to know that the table under review was beneath him and did not deserve a serious audition but instead a glib approach.
Negative feedback is universally hated ... :)
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