Stereophile 2020 Products of the Year

Well as Kal pointed out - the reviewer chooses what they want to review. Art Dudley was largely the "tube guy" at Stereophile and in most cases you could tell what Art generally liked - he was the guy reviewing Shindo, Audio Note, Sugden, and HE speakers.

With regards the to second hand circuit I am always somewhat cautious about that because the stuff that sells the most - just going by the numbers - will work its way to the second hand market. Plus, with some products we don't actually know the reason why it is on the second hand market.

Take the AN dealer in Hong Kong - besides AN he also sells Rogers speakers, Einstein, and Roksan - and they are a full studio installer of professional gear for movie theaters, concerts, buildings etc.

He noted something interesting about carrying a company like an Audio Note over carrying a company like Roksan. I paraphrase what he said as "the dream factor."

So if you are a dealer and a guy walks into your store - you want a customer for life not a customer for a day. If the guy comes in and buys Roksan - okay he buys the $2000 Roksan integrated and CD player. Chances are you never see that guy again. Because there is no "next level" The OTO owner dreams of one day getting a Meishu or a Jinro. If the guy is happy - he wants to be more happy. Same with cars really - people love their Toyota Yaris so in 8 years they have more money they save up and buy a Camry or a Lexus ES 350.

You can follow the Strictly for AN thread over the last 5 years and you can see the people upgrading to the next level. So the customer comes in and buys an M1 and PS1 - 3 years later he has saved and buys an M2 and Empress. 3 years later he comes back and buy a Jinro or whatever.

So you see the M1 and PS1 on the used market but the guy selling it is often going up the food chain.

This happens with other companies too of course someone buys a P3ESR and decides they can take on a bigger more full range speaker and will trade it n for a HL5+. So it's not that the P3ESR wasn't good or well liked but rather that they wanted a bigger sound but still somewhat the house sound from the brand.

To your point - While I am Canadian - to use the ole capitalism argument of "the market will determine all" it doesn't matter what one reviewer thinks of something or what a magazine gets behind - or forum posters think. The market ultimately decides what is "good" by how long the product sells, the growth of the company, and in part the resale value one can get over a fairly long period of time.

The market decides that Magnepan is a good speaker and the LS-3/5a is worth $2500. It largely mystifies me because the sound isn't commensurate to their popularity IMO but again my opinion is secondary to the "market" demand for the gear.

Generally, I prefer to go with companies who have long track records. I still may not like the sound but chances are they're reputable and will service the products.

When buying blind, I want to see track records, product stability and longevity (greatly aids resale value) and reviews from people I trust.

I still think it's wise not to judge harshly some things on the second hand market. You're going to see a lot of KEF LS-50s because they sold a boatload of them but it doesn't mean because you see a lot of those and you never see many Totem Model 1s that Totem is better. Kef probably sold more LS-50s in one year that all the Totem Model 1s combined over the last 20 years.

And some stuff is sold for fear of a lack of parts. The Parasound dealer noted that with some of the older Krell and Levinson on the used market that you can't get the original parts should they fail. So owners try to get rid of them to get some money to buy new just in case.

Lastly, public perception of brands can be altered depending where you live as well. What is perceived as king of the hill in the US isn't necessarily the case in Europe or Asia. For instance - here in Hong Kong DeVore Fidelity is a complete unknown. No dealers. Nothing. But, to read the western press this is a big major speaker brand. When Soundhounds was carrying they told me they had not sold a single pair in the first 5 months! They did eventually obviously but again - audiophiles in America and Canada know of them but over here - "who?" Even AN which gets some love on this forum is not a major player in the US - Peter Q noted that a mere 5% of his business is in Canada/America.

Wyred4Sound has no dealer in Hong Kong - although there is a dealer in China, Taiwan, and Singapore - so they're circling.

 

I agree with all of the above as reasons people sell off. We have all done it. However what I am talking about are instances where people buy newly introduced products with large amounts of media buzz that seems almost too good to be true.
The piece gets bought, fails to satisfy and is quickly dumped. Sure there were decent sales but the rapid turnaround- multiple for sale listings less than a year after product launch- leaves one with questions.
Same for hyped products that fail to sell. They have some kind of fatal flaw or lack competitive value that was not written about in the review community.
Compelling reasons to buy from vendors that offer lengthy return windows.

 

in general, if I hear about "class D" I get a certain dislike.
Wrongly, probably, I should investigate better.

I am one of those "old-fashioned" ones, who, Imaybe mistakenly assume, evaluates an amplifier EVEN from the transformer (the bigger it is, the more refined ... the better the sound...).

It is also true, however, that Class D HiFi products, which I listened to, seemed a bit cold, unpersonal.
And yes .. there were certainly also valuable things (and cost).

But ... I didn't listen to this NAD M33, I could (why not) change my mind too.

Of course ... the fact that they have also invested in streaming and bluetooth is, for most people, the most important thing there is.
I don't think I'm wrong that of these 5,750 euros needed to get hold of the NAD M33 at least 1,000 / 1,500 will be spent on that technology that I am not interested in.

Well ... for those who can afford it, I assume, an interesting amplifier.
for me, personally, absolutely NOT.

for that money, I'll look at more, and something else.
and, of course ... I WILL LISTEN to something else

 

As far as safety is concerned we have in Europe a two way protection, both in the switchboard where the power line comes in.

First is a residual current circuit breaker (RCCD). It is mandatory safety device to avoid electrocution. It switches off any excess current goes through the ground, i.e. if a current flows through your body into the ground.

Second, downstream of the RCCD there is a separate current breaker which switches in case of a short circuit, to avoid fire. It is installed for each power section/ group in a home. It can be a fuse or a electromagnetic switch.

If you replace the latter with an audiophile fuse/switch you improve all connected audio/video equipment rather than having to replace fuses in each plug. At last an advantage of the European system.

 

Although I differ from you in my position on Class D, your argument for disregarding the M33 is reasonable. Same logic for my disregard of SUVs.

 

I am sure they will have similar regulations in the UK but the fuse in the plug will generally be rated at much lower current than the house circuit. Safety may not equal best audio but having the fuse in the plug will protect against any shorts or malfunctions including in the cable.

To give an example there could be a short between L and N in the cable, not drawing sufficient current to trip the house MCB but causing enough heat to start a fire, the fuse in the UK plug will likely protect against that but the RCD is unlikely to trip in that case.

The EU system is still pretty good but it is just another different voltage to deal with.

 

When I received my annual copy of the Music Direct catalog, I thought 'this is just like my Stereophile subscription, but without all those wordy articles'!

 

I think the issue with a lot of new technology, similar to some new video games or computer platforms, first year of a new model car is that they haven't gotten the kinks out. CD got a lot better over time but people declared that it stunk and never moved off their opinion.

Class D when I first auditioned it was bloody terrible. But that was way WAY back. I have heard class D over the last couple of years and it has greatly improved. And it seems greatly improved for a lot less money so that is a double bonus. I am a SET guy and even I am contemplating the purchase of class D amplifiers to be used for review purposes for speakers that need more than my current 8 watt per channel amps can muster (which is most speakers). I may give it a whirl and see what happens.

 

Well, you certainly seemed to.

"Equal time" would be difficult to quantify with any degree of accuracy. However, one thing I have noticed is that a mfr whose product received a rave review then began advertising in SP. And why not? I'd certainly do it myself, not only from a sense of gratitude but from the knowledge that readers were thus likely disposed in my favor. What's SP supposed to do in a case like that--refuse the advertising?

That being said, I'd decline the opportunity to place my ad directly opposite a positive review, which I have also seen and which looks a bit suspect.

Well there's a certain four-letter brand which has been wildly popular over the years with non-audiophiles and I don't mean Polk!

As time goes by, more and more people are discovering this.

 

Reread what I said in whole, can you read ?