| .....the kiss of death....
In Analog we will find everything but in my opinion, lots of those units became a Boutique
Character (expensive bottle, cheap fluid inside). All those expensive units have one in
common (when we look back):
GREAT Reviews, lots of Hype and at the end of Day it was more or less nothing to write
home about (sonically). Some examples?
Goldmund Reference
The Mother of Hype, but the moving Arm changes Azimuth in every groove, the table itself
has a good soundstage, but details are all smeared AND it destroys every cantilever after
some time.
Rockport Sirius III
The American Altar, but the Arm wire inside is so stiff that the Arm can not track the inner 3
tracks properly, it skips, the only way out is to use a very heavy cartridge, but the
cantilever will be destroyed very soon. And the sound is ultra thin, completely lifeless
without any body. Great engineering, missing the sonic target by a mile.
Montegiro
A super expensive German Turntable 30k+, endless rave and hype and during its demo at
the High End Show the bearing broke. A typical example for Boutique. Now they are
available for 1/5th price, company is out of business.
Continuum
Framers Finest. I listened to it 3 times, professionally set up from the Importer. 2x it was
defect and the 3 time the connected Phonostage had a problem (or the Arm wire,
Phonamp, Cartridge). I always said "Mono IS interesting" Anyway, that Company is also
more or less out of Business what Australians wrote me. Buy replacement Parts NOW.
Airtangent
The Mother of of all Airliners. Super, super expensive at that time, Hype endless, bloody
knees from Audiophiles - from kneeling in front of it - was normal, even more expensive
with optional remote VTA....but it never worked properly. The Airflow in some areas was
not constant, so..well, you can imagine...
NVS
The Mother of a "Game-Changer" Product, defect bearing while RMAF but some wrote,
even with that defect bearing it sounded fantastic (great or?) and in some discussions in
Seattle area some buyers wrote how happy they are now "being a member of the Club."
A pity that the thread about was deleted :-)
No knowledge (from the whole Chain Manufacturer-Distributor-User) about shipping, no
knowledge about platter mechanism, no damping was a result of that damage and
honestly, buying a product from "Engineers" who have absolutely no idea about technical
connections ...well, good luck.
Thorens Reference
The Audiophile Answer from Germany to Arnold Schwarzenegger.Heavy and it will show
every visitor "Hey, I am something serious"In real life you can get the identical sonic quality
from every 2-3k$ turntable
today. But the motor management is good.
Wood Arms
Well, let's face the truth, a piece of wood at a string or 'in long' for 16K$ has to be touched
from God AND made from some ultra secret, mystic material, stolen from the
NASA...Energy transfer? What is THAT, we want Emotion... well, Boutique,...Geometry?
Pardon, WHAT? The best bearing is no bearing... blubber...Of course you need a 12k+++
Cartridge to get the full sonic impact the Arm is able to deliver
Linn
Well, even after 30 years they find revolutionary 'improvements'...in a way the ARC
Company in analog. To catch the same customer again and again, that's brilliant.
Sonically? When you want a different sound, all you have to do is to open the window...
Of course, all owners, no matter from what expensive product, will write that their unit is an
exception and is working like a charm etc. But let's face the facts: It is the money what
counts. The wealthy Audiophile likes to show others how clever he is and what expensive
units he owns, he wants the Respect to be accepted as an "Experienced Audiophile" but at
the end of day, he also wants money when he sells that Sonic Wonder. Who writes "Yes, I
have that T3F, Rockport, ...and it is really inferior, but I like it?"
No one.
Is there a way out?
Of course.
Let's visit Dover and steal his Turntable :-) |