$4500 amp beat out the Tenor OTL in the latest TAS

Why such negativity? The market for statement audiophile products is overflowing. The last 2-3 years have seen an abundance of truly great products come to the market. Some of them are extremely expensive and may represent a poor dollar investment, but others are somewhat reasonably prices, at least by audiophile standards. There's a certain level of hyperbole to call a product "the best", but the mags would be disingenuous if they didn't give these products raves. For instance, if we just limit the discussion to speakers, could someone please point out from the following list which product didn't deserve its rave review:

Avalon Eidolon
Avantgarde Trio
B&W Signature 800
Coincident Total Eclipse
Dynaudio Evidence
Dynaudio Temptation
Harbeth 40
Kharma Reference 3.2
Magenpan 20.1
M-L Prodigy
Quad 988
Revel Studio
Wilson Sophia
Wilson Watt/Puppy 7
Wilson MAXX
Vandersteen 5

If my memory serves me correctly, each of the above products recently got a rave from one of the major mags. Over a three year period it works out to a rave every two/three issues. I believe the situation is similar with electronics.

As Carly S. once sang, "These are the good old days."

Zaikesman- Glad you believe in Stereophile and it's reviewers. I'm not a subscriber anymore, I haven't read the JC-1 review. I hope Halo & Mr.Crump make lots of money.

October 2002 was my last issue...you know the one where they proclaimed the $25K Halcro DM58 is "The best ampilfier ever!"

In that issue, both it and the $1.7K PS Audio HCA-2 are rated Class A. If the Halcro DM58 is "The best ampilfier ever," shouldn't it be A+? And how does it compare to the JC-1s, is it worth the $19K difference in price, will it turn my listening room into the Village Vanguard?

They're the cowards Zaikesman, because they don't want to offend advertisers. It's not a question of postive reviews being exchanged for ad purchases, everything new sounds great. And please remember Fremer's reviewing career started under HP, that how he learned to play the game.

My point was and is, the marketplace information on Audiogon is more valuable and it's free.

I would love to see a review that lists characteristics of an amp (or any piece of equipment), instead of judging it as good or bad.

Some amps do well in certain situations, and have certain strengths, but can't be strong in all areas. Some are "lean" and revealing, some are warm and lush. Some seem more extended, while others present a certain weight to the music. There are ways I think that reviewers can describe equipment without getting into a "better than, worse than" diatribe.

A review of the Tenors might talk about how great these match up with speakers that don't need high current, and how they can make speakers like this really shine.

Or, alternatively, talk about how the Tenors really don't do so well with low impedence speakers.

I always love finding threads here at Audiogon where equipment near in price was listed with an appropriate description. I remember a digital thread that went like this; the person wrote Naim/Linn -- on the beat; BAT/Audiomeca -- seductive/rich; Wadia -- transparent, extended; etc... this list (I can't remember where I saw it) was so useful, because personally there are some qualities that I value over others. And, it also helps when I'm thinking about my system, and what/how I may need to adjust the sound in a certain direction.

Anyway, not sure if I'm making sense, but I kind of wish there was less of a good/bad judgment call, and more relative comparisons, product matching and characteristic qualities described in these reviews....

I'd like to make up my own mind re: whether I think it's great or not!

Kana813, just to set the record straight Carl Thompson and I were paid a flat amount as consultants to Parasound for voicing and board design of the JC-1....We do not work for them, but I became a dealer for the JC-1 last Fall....

My Threshold T-100 is even better than the Antique Sound Labs.