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.
I can think of a few. The items in bold are the ones I own today.
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@dvddesigner , thanks, and don’t mean to pick on you but I’ve set the bar higher than some of these brands (I’m not saying they are not great brands). It’s pretty easy to find examples online of those who dislike McIntosh and Wilson (I for one really like Wilson, I recently auditioned the Sasha DAW’s). I’m seeking those very rare products where there is a LOT of community buzz in favour of a product, and only one or two who aren’t really fans. I keep going back to the Gryphon Diablo 300. If you do a search on that you will see what I mean. Search for McIntosh and sure there is a lot of praise, but also a lot of people who really, really don’t like this brand. Same with Wilson to some extent (but I don’t get why!). Transparent is a great example, although I was more interested in specific gear/models than brands. And, I’m still sore over their refusal to loan me demo Opus cords when Audioquest and Shunyata both MADE me demos of their top of the line power cords (I went Audioquest Dragon in the end but Shunyata was close for sure). |
@nyev.... Re 9/23 2:11 am ....Great idea, the neighbors will approve... Don't forget to silicone spray or wax the framing, it helps with 'bounce' and 'squeekback'.... "Universally loved"....? Well, what you just alluded to, for the majority anyway. Audio anything? 🙄 I suspect 'maybe' the screws that hold things together. It's hard enough to get a quorum over the color of daylight....;) |
