In Reply to: Is Valin an idiot or what? posted by Don_C on May 19, 2010 at 10:19:06:
I happened to be visiting Jonathan on one occasion when one of the TB amps stopped working. I did get to hear, and help carry in the BA LabO gear and found the sound to be exceptional through the M5 speakers. His blog seems to match his stated experience at the time so I don't think him an idiot or insincere. I was impressed at how good the sound was given that the listening room is angular and had a lot of CD media and electronics laying about. I had anticipated some over-hang or other low-freq issue seeing the big M5's in a more modest space but was surprised at how balanced, powerful and coherent the sound was.Reviewers like Valin and Fremer at SP get opportunities to hear gear I'll likely never own or experience so its fun to read about them. Especially fulfilling is knowing that some of this cutting edge gear may be a little _too cutting edge_ . A cautionary tale for those considering pursuit of more esoteric import gear. To me, his blog makes US made electronic brands seem that much more attractive. Better to do some serious homework first on support and repair history before laying out even modest money for any "new/best". "Best Ever" or not, the TB gear track record, support issues + prohibitive price combine for one big warning sign. Good to know.
Edits: 05/19/10
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Follow Ups
- Don't think so... - Grant 16:11:06 05/19/10 (12)
- Should he be evaluating State of the Art in a lousy room? nt - Don_C 20:38:44 05/19/10 (11)
- What's with you? - Grant 07:48:57 05/20/10 (5)
- RE: What's with you? - Don_C 19:01:05 05/20/10 (4)
- RE: What's with you? - mrr 08:34:02 05/21/10 (0)
- At the expense of confusing the issue with facts - E-Stat 19:05:08 05/20/10 (2)
- At least he didn't get snarky and ask - cdb 19:54:23 05/20/10 (0)
- My mistake nt - Don_C 19:34:07 05/20/10 (0)
- Your one-line responses aren't helping. - robert young 02:40:42 05/20/10 (4)
- RE: Your one-line responses aren't helping. - Don_C 17:56:31 05/20/10 (3)
- so it continues... - robert young 08:21:40 06/01/10 (0)
- RE: Your one-line responses aren't helping. - Blackout 14:39:37 05/23/10 (1)
- RE: Your one-line responses aren't helping. - lord addleford 15:12:21 05/23/10 (0)