an equipment poll

(PS: why do some posters prior to me list ratings with a (-) in front of ALL the theoretically positive rating?)

It was intended as a hyphen, Elizabeth, not as a minus, and I think we were all just trying to be consistent with the first responder's format. But you are right -- it was potentially misleading and we should not have done it that way.

Regards,
-- Al

Different take:
Audio Research: +10 for still being made in USA. -2 for being sold. +6 for still being made in USA with the same great service they had before being sold.
Revel Speakers: +10 for being made in USA. -15 for being bought out, the company factory in New England being shut down, and production moved to some ten cent/hour labor pool country. In fact they deserve a -175 for beingso evil to all those workers who MADE the company what it was worth when it was sold.
+10 for Mark Levinson, until -8 when he had to sell his name along with the brand. Too bad.
-20 for all those small companies that moved production to China. +10 for China for stealing the designs and making those same small companies look stupid.
+ another 10 to Chinese makers, for going beyond the designs they originally stole, and starting to make some great stuff.
-480 for all those small crazy dudes who started making and selling strange crazy/impossible products. Tice Clocks, jars of pebbles, telephone mods. magic chips' you put NEXT TO the CD to make it sound better etc. Who made ALL audiophiles look insane to all non-audiophiles, even if the particular audiophile thought the stuff was crazy!And made it much more UNLIKELY that new folks would ever get into stereo equipment
-300 for MONSTER CABLE. who thinks they own the word. Sorry, I wish FRANKENSTEIN would sue your ass for stealing the word for HIS creation!
+10 for Ray Kimber, for still making some good affordable cables.
+10 to Audiogon, without whom all this noise would not reach your golden ears.

hi elizabeth:

thank you for your input. could you please revise your enries and provide a grade from 1 to 10 for each manufacturer you have already mentioned?

thanks

after i have received 20 responses i will tabulate the results.

Tice Clocks, jars of pebbles, telephone mods. magic chips' you put NEXT TO the CD to make it sound better etc. Who made ALL audiophiles look insane to all non-audiophiles, even if the particular audiophile thought the stuff was crazy!And made it much more UNLIKELY that new folks would ever get into stereo equipment

Well put, Elizabeth. What strikes me is that audio seems to be the only field of human endeavor in which there is absolutely no limit to how absurd and outlandish something can be, without someone still defending it by saying "you can't say it doesn't work, because you haven't tried it."

Best regards,
-- Al

hi al:

on paper a product seems absurd. however, in audio the placebo affect is alive and well. percption is reality. since there is no way to verify someone's perception, one must decide whether or not to pursue a product which seems to be ineffective or won't work.

it's mind over matter.