What Gear is Universally Adored?
I’m always on the lookout for gear that seems to be universally and widely adored. Such gear in my experience is difficult to go wrong with, despite the fact that we all have unique variables in our rooms, systems and tastes. My experience with such products seems to be consistent with what the consensus is. As I said these examples I believe are rare. My first encounter with this was when I had read near unanimous glowing adoration for the Gryphon Diablo 300 amp. Up to that point in my search I was ready to quit HiFi because the gear I was testing with home demos, including separates, wasn’t doing it for me. But after reading all the praise and an endorsement of the Diablo 300 at that price point from @jays_audio_lab , I went to demo the Diablo. To be honest I didn’t fall in love with it until the first moment I turned it on in my system in my space. But I totally love this amp I feel differently about it than any audio component I’ve ever owned, even expensive ones. I had the same experience with the Innuos PhoenixUSB and PhoenixNET devices, which are USB reclockers and network isolators, respectively. The PhoenixUSB in particular has seemingly almost unanimous praise and I see why (although one could argue it makes sense to step up to the top streamer from Innuos which includes the tech in one box, at least for the USB reclocker.
So, my question is, what other gear do we universally adore? I’m not talking about things we each adore - please don’t list those. I have very premium Nordost speaker cables that I love but I know not everyone loves these. That’s an example of what not to list in this thread.
To Start:
What else belongs on this list???? Why I love such products is that our collective consistency of positive experience is greater. Meaning, you can be more assured (but certainly not entirely sure) of how you will feel about the product in your own system. Products called out should have unanimous pro reviews and most importantly must have lots of positive buzz in forums with little to no negative comments.
Also - it’s okay and even a good thing if Amir at Audiosciencereview says the product sucks balls.
Thanks for the input! At the risk of derailing the thread, after having home demo’d McIntosh separates (c2600 and MC452 at the time) I personally would not count McIntosh in that group. I know it’s a beloved (or “well liked” if you prefer) brand by many, but that’s just my opinion which I know others share as is also referenced above. There are many who absolutely despise this brand (I don’t!). I was actually surprised as going into the home demos of several amps I expected to walk away buying the McIntosh stuff. I actually wanted to like it. My assessment was purely based on the merits of how much I liked or disliked the sound. Won’t get into it further as I know this is many people’s favourite brand (and also the brand many love to hate). But don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying McIntosh is bad, just that it doesn’t belong in this category considering that there are a large number of folks who specifically are not fans. Myself included. Also @2psyop , thanks for you input as well. Not sure of Magico can go on the list - if you search these forums you will see many love the sound and many don’t. Many find Magico dry, analytical, not musical enough. As I mentioned these products are very rare. It is very seldom that a product rises above everyone’s individual systems and tastes, with the community collectively aligning their praise of the product, with little to no naysayers. But it happens. And when it does, I pay attention! Regarding the M Scaler comments above, yes maybe it doesn’t belong on the list, if we are talking about using it with top end DACs. Same with the Innuos PhoenixUSB - it’s not required for top end streamers. But as far as I know everyone likes them when used with lesser DACs and streamers. |
@twoleftears , I agree with you, but I also did concede the caveat that “most” agree with very few naysayers. My Gryphon Diablo 300 integrated is like that, and it’s why I was looking into Gryphon in the first place. I think there is a very, very small number of folks who have posted that they found it a bit “dark” for their tastes. These few people are not wrong, the sound does slightly lean that way, but most including me seem to like it. Even these people who say it’s a bit dark often say great things about it but just that it doesn’t mesh with their tastes. It’s quite hard to find these comments amongst the sea of praise… Again, these products are very, very rare because we ARE a picky bunch, all with our own unique systems. I feel I am pickier than most (it’s been a struggle to find gear that I actually like), but I imagine we each feel that way about ourselves. I’ve had many experiences where I was wondering how a particular reviewer of a piece could possibly be hearing what they wrote about. |
