Audeze pioneered planar magnetic in-ear headphones, which sound very coherent and spacious, with low distortion. This small, two-way bookshelf speaker sports a 1-inch (25mm) soft dome tweeter and a 6-inch (165mm) woven Kevlar mid-bass woofer in a ported cabinet. Nobody cares who you trust either. (Of course, this is entirely different for reviews that measure equipment, but we are not talking about that here.). The price is no typo; the Dayton Audio B652 is a midsize, black vinyl-covered monitor speaker, 11.7 inches high, 7.1 inches wide, and 6.5 inches deep. All rights reserved. It's nearly impossible to learn what sounds good with bad-sounding recordings. The C316BEE V2 may be rated at just 40 watts per channel, but it sounds great with less sensitive speakers like the Magnepan .7s. ($800, 499, AU$999 per pair), This midsize bookshelf speaker has a rock and roll heart. If there's one catch, it's that you'll need to partner the Uni-Fi UB5 with high-powered, quality electronics to hear it at its best. The Persuasions are an a cappella group, and this recording of the men singing Frank Zappa's music is a great way to see if your speakers or headphones sound natural. Both the Utopia and Stellia are completely handmade in France, and produced in small batches, with usually not more than a dozen leaving the factory each day. This curve is a bit like the headphone equivalent to the famous B&K speaker curve, and in my experience the Stellia provides a very balanced sound as result, with very satisfying bass, smooth treble thats never harsh, and a present,clear midrange. The subwoofer out means you can add your own sub for more bass. Lets take a look at the line. The opposite, reaching a deal on a product you have reviewed favorably is not. The high-resolution sound redefines the standard for speakers of this size. If you buy through our links, we may get a commission. Which leads us to blind testing. Nobody except Harmon Labs and that Olive guy, probably the most authoritative people in Audio ( consumer & Pro ). And again, you have zippo idea what they make in other ways than writing. Cable risers, footers, damping material the performance can all be quantified and created cheaply at home. The Take Classic has the full balance that you only get with a perfectly matched satellite subwoofer system. I stopped listening to him immediately when I saw the wall of headphones behind him. And on the compensation comment you are still wrong. Vlatko Stefanovski & Miroslav Tadic, "Krushevo". I'd suggest you apply for work at Consumer Reports, but even though they're not audiophiles per se, and they don't have the perspective to properly review most botique or esoteric goods, they are pretty honest. The Audiophiliac's speaker(s) of the year for 2015 - CNET It's a bit bigger, and unlike the A2, it needs to be used with a separate power amp. The A2+s sell for $249 a pair in the US, 200 in the UK and AU$379 in Australia. I'm not even going to get into the "will those reviews be favorable" question. Cabasse is known for its dynamic accuracy, and Steve especially notes how the Muranos reminded him that a piano is a percussion instrument, accurately conveying that transient energy of felt-tipped hammers hitting strings. In fact, they can be particularly revealing of all the addictive qualities found ingreat source gear, such as the Pathos Aurium or Chord Hugo. I wouldn't waste a penny or a second of my time if it didn't sound better to my ears. The RP 600M is a lot of fun -- it's the sort of speaker that's hard to stop listening to. It's downright lovable! You mean like this? Bad publicity is better than no publicity. If you're getting into vinyl and just bought a decent turntable, your next move should be a nice phono preamp, and Schiit's Mani is a doozy! You have no idea how much he makes as salary, let alone speaking and jury engagements, investments, real estate, inheritance, gambling, etc. The sound had a deliciously organic feel to it. Titanium Hestia Review - Steve Guttenberg Audiophiliac, 12/16/17 Steve Guttenberg - Audiophiliac | Page 5 - Audio Science Review (ASR) Forum Our expert, award-winning staff selects the products we cover and rigorously researches and tests our top picks. He owns a pair of Zu's as his reference system. This is another audiophile classic; listen and you'll see why. These made-in-Denmark speakers can play surprisingly loud in small to midsize rooms. I am also always amazed with the size (or lack there of) of listening rooms in New YorkCheers! Now, today, I'm in the Future Looking "Cult" of Digital and interesting Engineering stuff like those Kii Active Loudspeakers that KR reviewed in this exact same Issue of Stereophile. Government intervention.. right.. Everyone's lying to you to make a buck. So you can't infer their capacity for affording gear. just saying! I review because I genuinely love this hobby. Dayton B652 ($40) There's a lot of extremely deep bass coming from these drums, you can just about feel the texture of their sounds. The fact that the BasX A-100 even has a 4-ohm rating is noteworthy; few AV receivers selling for three or four times the BasX A-100's modest price can happily drive low-impedance speakers. It's like comparing Hi Fi gear amongst a group of friends, and it was nice of him to do. Steve Guttenberg, Audiophiliac "ELAC's new Carina BS243.4 loudspeaker sounded more refined than any similarly priced loudspeaker I know of" An unbelievable value in speakers. Not counting other expenses. Steve Guttenberg Audiophiliac reviews the Ai61 Steve Guttenberg Reviews the Fluance Ai61 Powered Speakers and provides comparison and his own personal thoughts on the Speakers. It's not golden ears and it's not magic - it's learning and work. Obviously not the TAD Speakers. ($300 a pair), The Dayton Audio MK402, may be small in size and price, but tucked into a cozy bedroom or office it'll sound sweet. Anyway, so OF COURSE some audiophile reviewers don'tt pay for their systems if by pay you mean give over the rent and food money. A personal photographer/ guide fora few hours in stockholm. Ironically, you will never know until you hear it. You be the judge. Ex-movie theater projectionist Steve Guttenberg has also worked as a high-end audio salesman, and as a record producer. Need support, you got it. There are some reviewers out there that demand free equipment in exchange for positive reviews. You can always read something else, you know. ($6,000; 4,500; AU$8,500 per pair), Andrew Jones has done it again with the ELAC UB5. $15,000. You won't hear any differences.". Build quality is decent enough for a $349 audiophile-grade component built in the US. Connectivity is better than average with two HDMI inputs, an optical audio input, and a minijack input. The M50x sells for $164 in the US, 113 in the UK and AU$199 in Australia. Ernst Reijseger's soundtrack to Werner Herzog's film sounds almost holographic. The Wharfedale Diamond has a long history as a budget audiophile favorite, and the Diamond 225 is the best one yet! You just want to keep playing one more song, or even one more album. Regardless of any disclaimers on the part of the manufacturer or reviewer, the only thing you're really going to know is the review itself, and whether it's credible or not. Because you were using the compensation amount to infer whether the writer could afford the equipment and thus estimate whether they were getting it for free or not. With a modest impedance and a short single-ended cable supplied, one might be tempted to think the Stellia is an expensive proposition for travel. There is room for publishing measurements and nothing else. To and end consumer they could not, because they would be competing with their own dealers. The Harman Headphone Target Curve is an industry gold standard for the frequency response of headphones. I'm in it for the friendships I've made and the knowledge I gain, not the gear I can get for myself. It sells for $200 in the US and AU$349 in Australia. Pioneer SP-BS22-LR ($130) His podcast will take three forms: Equipment Reviews, Rants, and Interviews. There is hardly an ounce of actual, useful information in his reviews that couldn't be acquired from reading the spec sheet of the given item he's reviewing. The C 316BEE V2 goes for $400 in the US, 299 in the UKand AU$539 in Australia. Then you back up and start subtracting the items they have to return, and it amounts to a loss that only gets made up by monetization of the review. Our Saturday newsletter is kinda famous. Steve Guttenberg, Audiophiliac "ELAC's new Carina BS243.4 loudspeaker sounded more refined than any similarly priced loudspeaker I know of" An unbelievable value in speakers. Only music majors with a diploma should be musicians. RE: LRS made Steve Guttenberg Audiophiliac - "best ever speaker list " oh the humanity ! The AT-LP60 sells for just $99 in the US, 99 in the UK and AU$249 in Australia. Let's take as an example a $10,000 turntable. In Reply to: LRS made Steve Guttenberg Audiophiliac - "best ever speaker list " . Kali Audio is the new kid in town, it's just one year old, and its LP-6 is a knockout. Don't walk, run out and listen to the ELAC DEBUT 2.0 SERIES Home Theater HiFi I do that myself. Secondly I have not seen a shot of the whole listening room in any part of the video, so how would you know the size of the room? This [insert random hi-fi gear] is simply wonderful, its sound is [insert random flowery highly metaphorical laudatives]. But we still need the proof that such practiced ears hear things that others cannot. This starter audiophile system sounds outrageously good for $88 Hsu Research makes some of the very best subwoofers I've tested. Too many DACs> Too many amps> Too many headphones. Don't be surprised if the results are inconsistent; some tracks might be a lot better, and some might be a lot worse on different speakers and headphones. However, they will demonstrateclear gains provided bybetter amplification and digital-to-analogconverters. Though he resists using the cliche, Steve finally can't help describing the Murano's imaging as "holographic", reaching far left and right, with great height and depth. Steve, Thank you for inviting us in and sharing some of your "stuff". => Person X's claims about the sonic differences between A and B are BS. Moving up, we have the first serious open-back of the Focal lineup, theClear MG. Back to the ability of these speakers to convey greater emotions, Steve says, "It portrays beauty so well. Article by Steve Guttenberg July 20, 2019 6:47 AM PDT Vintage high-end audio looks. Full stop. Ex-movie theater projectionist Steve Guttenberg has also worked as a high-end audio salesman, and as a record producer. (I am always sad to see estate sales breaking up what one person assembledit's entropy taking hold over the decedent's small bit of order that he/she had set aside from the rest of the universe.). We think you'll like it. My reviews generally run between 2200-3200 words. The Emotiva Airmotiv B1 is a small, affordable two-way bookshelf speaker with a folded-ribbon tweeter and a 5.25-inch (160mm) mid-woofer. I had an interesting conversation with Eric at Magnepan. I want to determine how the review product colors or changes the sound of music, so a lot of my favorite test albums have minimal production, compression, processing, equalization, and so on. The speaker is a total chameleon, because it so faithfully serves the music. Any guess as to how many old Phono Cartridges & Interconnects are lurking? This gives $63 for the cost of the report -- a much more realistic number than the one you came up with. It does have a phono input and a subwoofer output. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ac9LQfamYo4&t=758s (Open in New Window) This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors: McShane Design By Steve Guttenberg Audiophiliac Overview of these fabulous stand mount loudspeakers, designed and built on Long Island, NY. Ive turned down truly amazing sounding accommodation-priced gear that was still way out of my price range, often at the amazement of audio friends with deeper pockets. So, the key question is: are there negative externalities associated with subjective audio reviews? So how much of this system was comp'd and how much is yours. The slightly larger RP-160M packs a bigger wallop than the RP-150M. travel sim card. The 606 runs $799 per pair in the US, 549 in the UK. On my own Blind Testing: I kinda remember doing plenty of testing whist being blind drunk, does it count? NHT SuperZero 2.0 ($198) LRS made Steve Guttenberg Audiophiliac - "best ever speaker list The best speakers I ever heard! - YouTube Six hours for people who don't measure anything, just publish their "enlightened views" is generous in the extreme. FREE Dynamically Uncompressed Audiophile Music Sampler from MA Recordings Steve Guttenberg (Audiophiliac) has a new video where he's promoting a free music sampler. If you buy through our links, we may get a commission. The Audiophiliac's top music tracks for testing speakers and headphones It's nearly impossible to learn what sounds good with bad-sounding recordings. Also, many amplifiers and receivers you can get at Best Buy are as good as (or better) than a lot of the snobbish "artisanal" and/or "audiophile" stuff that is peddled in trade magazines. I wish you had a little more time to elaborate some more, but I guess then Jana would be there for a week! In sum, the current minimum wage in NYC for small employers is $10.50. Google "disinformation techniques" sometime. Perhaps he has previewed it in an audio show. I've reviewed well over 500 speakers, and the Audioengine A2 is one of the few I keep coming back to. The reasons can be found in his exquisitely designed, Guttenberg-approved OJAS speaker systems. This made-in-Brooklyn, NY headphone sounds more open and spacious than most, and it has lively dynamics, but bassheads my be unsatisfied by the SR80e's lightweight sound balance. I'll sum up your arguments thusly: 1) You don't need to come here, all the reviews you need are on youtube or are in magazines at the 7-11. In this video, Steve Guttenberg, "The Audiophiliac" and a regular contributor to, The room is the most important part of a system, Not so sure about that all that engineering. You'd think by this stage of the audio game, we'd have hit the bottom of the mix by now. The album is available for free download here: https://www.marecordings.com/ Look for: Rob. oh the humanity ! I trust machines, not subjective reviewers. The curve applies slightly elevated bass and treble response, and is considered the most preferred sonic quality of headphones, as it mimics the sound of perfectly set up loudspeakers in a treated room. your "evaluation" of audiophiles is highly subjective. 2) By all means get the cheapest consultants you can find. ps. ($419 per pair), How mini is it? your example is interesting for the following reason. It features a 1.1-inch-thick sound bar and a wireless subwoofer that's nearly as svelte. "https://ssl." Which is why the smart manufacturers try to get their reviews done by the few reviewers who can write such attention-getting reviews. The Mini's proprietary 4-inch (102mm) clay/ceramic-filled polypropylene woofer makes more and better bass than you'd normally get from a wee woofer in a small cabinet. If they were for high fidelity, they would not buy grotesque tube amps or some other highly distorting "artisanal" gear. SG assembled his assortment of gear, and it portrays his 'value set.'. He's also evaluated nearly everything that's ever been made, so he's probably more experienced than anyone I would know. You're obviously just a nasty jerk who wants to rain on everyone's parade. AND access to the equipment, which is a full time job to receive product, write about it, go to shows and report, etc. Audio reviewers claim to hear things that we, ordinary people, cannot. This Group, that John Atkinson pulled together, seems the best group of excellence that's ever been in Print. Try not to base a buying decision on just one or two tunes. Now it's back, but as NHT's Chris Byrne points out, you can't clone a speaker. Only people who are trained metalurgists should be allowed to own guns. I'll sumnarize it for you: "Admit nothing. Despite all the naysayers, the compact disc format is far from dead. Think of it this way: A manufacturer of a quality component wants reviewer x, y, or z to review his product. So, how do you only break even after a gift of $10k? Pioneer SP-FS52 ($260) It's a self-powered design, and it works really well with computers or as a home iPod speaker. The Ai61, a contender? Steve Guttenberg Audiophiliac reviews - Fluance While I do think much of it IS overpriced, it is justified. Denon's DL-103 moving coil cartridge debuted in 1962 and was legendary when I first heard it in the early 1980s, and incredibly enough it's still around. Personally I would build a pair of C-Notes and get a $20-30 Chinese T amp though. The Haier SBEV40-Slim sound bar is downright skinny. I would pay zero for subjective reviews of the way equipment sounds. They're $200 a pair with free shipping in the US. I agree with you, it is about trust. oh the humanity ! The Bowers & Wilkins 705 S2's sound is low in distortion and high in clarity, so with top-drawer audiophile music fromReference RecordingsandMA Recordings, the705 S2'ssound was palpably real, and bass definition was excellent. For this reason, they are not better qualified to review electronic equipment than any other individual. Nobody in the entire audio industry does blind testing. Not because of their ears, but because of the expertise they develop through lots of hard work. Sufficiently large negative externalities can wipe out the value of the production. Your approach is different and we are both happy where we are. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. However, dont let this fool youinto thinking the Clear MG is necessarily a difficult-to-drive headphone, see box below. Want CNET to notify you of price drops and the latest stories? A nice peek of Mr.G's stuff. I'm just totally sick of all the audiophile trolls who can't help themselves to criticize cables, pricy components, quibble over .0001 of a percentage of THD, the age of the reviewers/columnists, or whatever else they can't afford, enjoy or feel others shouldn't have because they can't either. With all of them the speakers sound magnificently.You should be proud of your creation. Respectability has nothing to do with blind testing and whole lot to do with integrity, good products and good business practices. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. It is extended as a courtesy to industry insiders and thus called "accommodation". :)))), You said, "I conjecture that most audio reviewers have little to no engineering education. When I purchase it, I have received an "in-kind" gift of $5,000. In our listening tests, paired with either the Sony STR-DN-1080 receiver or a NAD C 338 integrated amplifier the Q350 let the music speak for itself. Take another glance, however, and youll see that the long XLR cable also provided says otherwise. The opening track's flutes, strings, delicate percussion, and large thundering drums are exquisitely mixed. If you buy through our links, we may get a commission. The best reviewers here are able to hear things and do things that most other reviewers can't - and you can't - and that's why they do what they do and you don't. The argument is: person X cannot tell the difference between the sound made by object A and the sound made by object B without seeing the brand names of those two objects. At home the sound was pretty much what I heard at the preview, but I could play LPs at home. By signing up, you will receive newsletters and promotional content and agree to our. Most of the smart manufacturers are after reviews that get them a lot of attention from potential customers, as opposed to a purely favorable review. Cash sings from the heart, and the minimal accompaniment only heightens the intimacy of the music. I kept coming back to it, prolonging the reviewing process precisely because it sounded so alive and visceral. Posted by Davey (A) on May 1, 2023 at 06:36:48 . Best of all, they sell for $65 in the US, 60 in the UKand AU$100 in Australia. Lastly, approaching a manufacturer whose equipment you have reviewed favorably and asking for accommodation pricing on the component is not unethical in any way. Deep in his soul he knows he can't ever allow any of his notions to be put to a blind test of any sort because to do so would make him look foolish.