The presumption being that reviewers must have the ultimate in gear to be qualified to write about lessor offerings affordable to mere mortals? And in this case affordable means equivalent to the cost of two or three high powered luxury automobiles.
Robert Harley and Micheal Fremer are the ying and yang of stereo reviewers. One has this pristine, perfect room for listening optimized to the point of being in the middle of a desert to preclude any outside noises or risk of any spurious sound reflections bouncing back from adjacent homes while the other is in a cramped, messy room full of gear and more records than the library of congress. The design and construction of Mr. Harley’s perfect listening room is fascinating. In contrast, watching Mr. Fremer chronicle the revamping of his house’s old electrical system was equally fascinating.
I’m a neat freak myself and could not relax in my listening room if so much as a CD case was out of place. Could that be why I find Mr. Fremer so charming?
