Michael Fremer's system

I hear he does all his listening with headphones...

Fremer addresses the replies he has gotten to this video in the Jan. Stereophile. He mainly talks about people criticizing him and Stereophile because they don’t do blind listening tests, but there is something he says that is applicable here:

"When I review a speaker I put my listening skills on the line in describing the sound I hear. The measurements come afterward and then I get to see them in print in the magazine. Do you want to try that?"

No one here gets their opinions tested by actual measurements. Fremer does and usually passes the test. So that gives him credibility, more credibility than anonymous posters who opine that they get way better sound quality for a fraction of the price without ever having heard Fremer’s system. So, I just have to say that I find it hard to believe that Fremer spends more money, lots more money, for worse sound. Especially when he has audio professionals in his room from time to time. I think someone would have told him by now that his speakers are too big for his room and brought by a pair of smaller speakers and demonstrated that they sound better.

So, as long as we are all just speculating, I have to give Fremer the benefit of the doubt. I say if his system was not working in that room and he could get better sound at a fraction of the price, he would do it. So until someone produces evidence to the contrary, I believe that Fremer has that system because it sounds the best of the options he has tried.  Sounds best to him, of course.

I do not follow Fremer all the way to his conclusions about wires and tweaks.

But he is for me one of the most trustworthy pair of ears when it comes to describing the sound of a speaker.   Over and over through the years I've found his descriptions of the sound of a speaker I have heard to be extremely accurate. 

And given that he does all his reviews in his room, that would seem to say something to me about his ability to get a good indication of the qualities of a speaker in that room.

I have found that when building many systems of cost ranging multiples of 2, 3 or even four times the cost that making a cost-effective system sound as good as a much more expensive one is fiendishly difficult. Even making a rig half the cost sound as good or better is exceptionally difficult. The idea that diminishing returns kick in early is bunk. Unless you have handled such systems ranging in price from low to high, I don’t expect you to understand or agree.

Clutter makes surprisingly little difference in the overall sound in the room. I have cleared the room, and I have had extra components on the side and cables in the back. Perceptually there is a negligible difference. One might think the difference would be large, but it is not. However, I can easily hear the distinction between switching a couple power cords or a set of interconnects.

MF knows what he is doing; you guys do not understand it. :)

I like what I know of Michael Fremer, indeed I once emailed with him and he was very nice and helpful. But that has nothing to do with what I think of his system or listening space, both of which I would enjoy immensely ...I am sure.

It is interesting to me how divergent a view some here (and elsewhere) have of the system, the space and the man. Some of these views are quite unkind in tone. Bugs me that some adults act like that.