2. amps-preamps
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Fremer lays an Ostrich egg...

From the start, let us say i am a little biased. i read with particular interest the review about the Levinson 53 Amplifiers in the current Stereophile, amps i currently own of course. i also have a Levinson 326S preamp, an EMM Lab CDP, and Von Schweikert VR9SE speakers, all linked up with transparent wire.
my previous amps btw were Levinson 33H mono's which i loved.
According to Mikey, the amps basically suck. no life. no harmonics. uninvolving. flat. they measure great for the most part, except for some anomilies outside of stuff the human ear can detect anyway. they are put together nicely too. But... they have a (dreaded) switch-mode power supply which i get the distinct impression MF decided ahead of time was going to screw up the sound. and so it did (i guess- who really knows what goes on in his head?) so every OTHER sentence in the review emphasizes transparency and dead quiet, neutral sound while the "meat" of the article states the amplifier doesn't have "heart and soul". the Absolute Sound did not reach the same conclusion, but did intimate the amps had an austere quality.
AND THIS is MY review- the ML#53's are not for everybody. they are DEAD NEUTRAL. they are DYNAMIC. DETAILED. my system COOKS when i put on a really good recording of a really good performance. if however the signal lacks in significant areas then I HAVE TO EXTRACT THE MUSIC out of the sound my speakers are making. if i love the performance this is easy for me to do. if i don't care that much about the CD, then it gets sold or just not played that much. other good attributes- the amps never get HOT, they are not impossible to move around (with a little help), they have protection circuitry that kicks in whenever the power goes out. AND FINALLY there is a pair of speakers they won't power up somewhere on the planet. i would like
to see them so i can warn people not to match them up. this could take awhile however.
it floored me when Fremer sold his SF Amati Homage speakers and got Watt Puppy 7's instead. He couldn't say enough good things about the Sonus Fabers, and yet he traded them for a much more analytical sounding speaker, probably for the super-detailed, super focused sound. His reviews of $$,$$$ phono stages are hilarious- what a set of ears he possesses!
when it comes to VPI turntables, he disliked the Aries but LOVED the less-accomplished Scoutmaster. I would guess the Classic-3 is pretty good as well, but i have 0.01% confidence
in M.Fremers' opinion of it. BUT i would welcome anyone ELSE'S professional opinion. At $6,000 it's not an inexpensive investment. add an SDS and a cartridge (and a record cleaning machine) and you're looking at $8500. If in fact VPI (and SO MANY OTHER TURNTABLES) have long engineered an OUTBOARD MOTOR UNIT to isolate noise and enhance the sound, wouldn't you want to know EXACTLY what the deal is with the Classic line? i sure would, and i am a HUGE fan of SOME of VPI's products and i own several.
OTOH, i am a mere peon, peasant, ignorant on the subject of SOTA Analog, and whatever other descripion you might want to label me with. But i think i can say my opinions are consistent and follow a logical pattern.
trying to detect that quality from M.F.'s writings is difficult and at times impossible. and yes, even laughable. i myself have owned (over a long period of time) Levinson, Krell, S. Faber, Pass, and Rowland amplifiers and listened to them in my own home. the ML#53's are very accomplished amps and represent some of the best solid state available, cleaner and faster than the ML-33H's that Stereophile liked so much. Yes they are probably better suited for classical and jazz, and hi-rez recordings are invaluable to bring out the best in them.
but they do not "sound flat and uninvolving". amps don't generally do that anyway- speakers do. Put on a Rachel Podger SACD on Pentatone of Mozart and/or Haydn (or Julia Fisher) and bathe in the warmth of
the sound flowing out of your speakers. Everyone (including ordinary people with ordinary hearing) who have heard my system thinks it sounds "really nice". That's good enough for me. I also think it sounds "really nice".
And i can be pretty picky.
french_fries
rok2id's avatar
rok2id
7,816 posts
 
Kzhtoo:
"Believe it or not, some of us don't know better so we turn to hifi magazines for advice,"

This is one of the most insightful posts concerning this problem. It explains why the reviewers have so much power. They, the reviewers, all sound very logical and sensible, if you don't have a frame of reference or knowledge base to rely on. To other people they sound like the con men they are. There are other magazines with different points of view. Why not try them? Won't cost you much, and you can always get back in the fold if you wish. What a person needs is not whether this is better than that, but an understanding of what's important, and what is not, in audio equipment. Once you have that, the answer to all questions is plain as day.
Cheers.
chadeffect
586 posts
 
All this is showing us is that many audiophiles are confused in a world with too much choice and little support for the products. This is where people feel they need a champion to find the gear of their dreams.

So in a world where you could have the equipment on trial these opinions of reviewers would be mute as you could see for yourself.

Even as a professional with access to a lot of equipment it still takes time to understand what the sound you like is. You have to experience as much as you can for yourself. That alone takes years.

So in the meantime you are screwed unless you have the means to buy and sell as you find what you are looking for
whart's avatar
whart
2,968 posts
 
FF: I would assume that disclaimer - to go do an audition for yourself- is implicit in every review.
Kzhtoo: I think relying too heavily on anyone else's opinion, no matter how experienced, in deciding to buy something expensive is probably a mistake, if only for the reason that results are system dependent and depend on your ears.
The difficulty, obviously, is being able to get a home audition. Not easy if you are buying used from Audiogon or in some cases where the manufacturer sells direct. This is obviously where the premium paid to a dealer has value.
I guess I'm not as cynical as some of you. I know that reviewers get accommodations and are often reluctant to give any product an outright 'pan,' but as Syntax in his own, inimitable way put it, you can often read between the lines of any review. My suspicion is there are far more products that get 'good' reviews that eventually don't prove worthy in the long run than products that get unfairly trounced by a professional reviewer.
We often trade advice and tips here too. And much of it can be valuable, not so much on 'what should I buy' or 'is X better than Y' but on user experiences, 'synergies,' troubleshooting and practical set up advice.
swampwalker's avatar
swampwalker
5,138 posts
 
Syntax- LOL but of course you didn't address the basic point which is that all reviews are opinions. FWIW, my basic feeling as why there are not more negative reviews published is that there is so much good gear out there, that the mags do not need to review the dreck! Or a cynic might say that the bad reviews never see the light of day.
daveyf's avatar
daveyf
2,835 posts
 
IMO, the review that MF gave to the ML52's is one of his best ever. For some "unknown reason", when I read a review in any of the high end mags, I get VERY tired of reading the same old drivel about how wonderful the piece under review is and how it compares favorably to mother's milk. Now I'm not saying do not give a piece its due IF it is really a superb representative, BUT if one were to raise the bar a little, I'm fairly certain that ALL pieces of gear that currently exist are lacking in some area or other. It just takes a more discriminating ear and a keen understanding of what the 'REAL' sounds like to be that discriminating.
So when I hear read that MF has heard a certain "issue" with an amp under question, and has the guts to call it as it is...then I say Kudos to MF. Please keep up the good work.
BTW, I too have heard the ML 52's and they did nothing for me either. To the OP, I say if you like what you hear, then YMMV; there is nothing wrong with that.
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