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Art Dudley Calls B.S. but without naming names - PLEASE DO!

Hey all,

As someone who hasn't been reading the audiophile press for all that long, I stumbled upon this article that I'm sure it lit up these airwaves when it was first published: https://www.stereophile.com/content/skin-deep

It's a great article and one that any knowledgeable person would most likely agree with, but hey, spending your own hard-earned (or inherited) money is a right and a privilege.  Art does call out some brands that he perceives to give great value:  AMVR, VPL, Conrad-Johnson, DeVore and Harbeth and Kimber and Peachtree and Quicksilver and Rega and Rogue and Spendor and Wavelength.  Shouldn't NAD be on this list?  

But what he doesn't do and I think is warranted, is name the companies that are most egregious in selling high-end products where the performance is far below the cost.  

I, for one, would love to see a list of those manufacturers from the people who read this forum.  You can group them by what they manufacture or just put them in order as you see fit.  I think it would be most helpful in calling b.s. but with "added-value", which is what this whole article was all about.  Right?

lgoler
andrewmg's avatar
andrewmg
4 posts
 
Great idea for a discussion. Unfortunate that almost no one's willing to name names. I suppose that, if one buys a thing, one's invested in it, to some extent.

So here's one: Audio Research's non-tube power amplifiers. I had a pair of DS-450m amps, and they were mediocre at best, while bearing the usual ARC mark-up. This criticism does not apply to all ARC gear: I have two sets of their tube amps, which perform well enough to be a value despite the price. Nor is it a criticism of class-D amplification: Peachtree products (w/ ICEpower doing the heavy lifting) are pretty great, and blow the (much more expensive) ARC class-D gear out of the water.
andrewmg's avatar
andrewmg
4 posts
 
One more for the pile: Cary Audio. I had high hopes for a Cary preamp, but it never worked well with anything and suffered from a hum that was unbearable with high-sensitivity speakers. Likewise, Cary's DAC-100t was underwhelming in every respect, from the lifeless sound to the wonky USB. That said, these are the only Cary products I've used extensively, they're recent ones, and perhaps other of Cary's offerings present better value.
andrewmg's avatar
andrewmg
4 posts
 
Finally, for now: MIT cables. Without getting into the broader issue of cables/interconnects, what I can say is that MIT Terminator 2 (I think it was 2) speaker cables did nothing at all for my systems, at great expense. And then I read the white paper...and couldn't make heads or tails of it.
hifiman5's avatar
hifiman5
1,611 posts
 
Interesting how it seems that the luster has worn off many people's perceptions of Audio Research gear.  Years ago I rarely read anything but glowing comments about their offerings.  I have a friend who has their large all tube mono blocks and they sound great!

My only personal experience was auditioning an LS7 preamp many years ago.  There was a slight but perceptible "glaze" to the sound of that inexpensive piece that turned me off.  cj won me over!
spinaker01
293 posts
 
WC Fields said I think
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