Flavor Of the Month

I've always read "flavor of the month" not so much as a put down of the product, but as a put down of the concept that the lastest, say, CD player is so revolutionary that you'd be crazy not to scrap your current player and rush right out and pay any price to get this new one. So, I agree that most components that bring on the FOTM comment are very good to excellent, if just not revolutionary. -kirk

I associate FOTM most always with CD players. We've had every kind of technobabble possible tossed at us in regards to redbook playback. One thing I've found: My BAT VKD5SE has staying power.

You all got to remember there are only 44,100 samples per second. That alone will tell why good analog still make you smile. There are certain instruments whose "aura" just cannot be captured at such a rate.

Personally FOTM makes me smile. Audiophiles can be like lemmings rushing off to buy the latest and greatest. It's not for me to tell anyone how to spend their cash, but my traditionalist ways have resulted in a time-tested system that still satisfies even with some speakers that are better than 10 years old! LOL!

I agree that "Flavor of the Month" in my way of thinking, refers more to the mind-set of the purchasers than the product. There are some who just have to go with the latest, and most-hyped products. Most FOTM products are pretty good, but you can bet that most of their buyers won't have them for too long after they read the next Stereophile Class A recommendation.

Sony DVP 9000 ES

There is another thread started that states this is being replaced in October. In that this will be the third in the 9000 family, with no real new technology I'd nominate Sony as the #1 "Flavor of the Month" manufacturer.

Flavor of the month usually pertains to good sounding, quality products. But the quality gets snowballed in to a belief that everything sonic will be better as long as I have this thing, bypassing the component-matching area of the audiophile brain. Its all just Western consumerism overriding one's coolness. I love the way the flavor pushes down the used cost of components that the flavor is replacing. I just bought a mint $3k CDP for $1075 b/c the v.2 came out. I like the phenomenon.

I agree that as a buyer the FOTM syndrome is great. I bought the phenomenal Muse Two Ninety Six DAC in Mint condition for one-third of its price because they came out with a 192 kHz oversampling DAC. It is very difficult for manufacturers of products without wear parts (which can last for a long time without service - sometimes decades). They need to convince you to replace a functioning unit with one that performs the same function. The better their products the worse it is, because besting it will become more difficult and the differences less glaring. So we should at least take heart that for those who decide not to follow every trend the phenomenon works in our favor.