Who is Michael Fremers'

Every now and then a goodly amount of regular "serious" posters come off like a little "club",of African wild dogs getting a grip on weary prey.God forbid someone tilts the balance and denegrates an aspect of someone's component choice,or voicing,or some favorite dealer/mfgr,even if he/she(the poster,or dealer/mfgr) is a very fine individual,with a real track record.
The little(really small in stature,these days)group,who probably E-mail eachother regularly,like a mah-jong club,to wax about their similar component choices,and comments made by some,go from being what I thought were decent,enthusiastic hobbyists,to "petty/phoney ingrates".Of course if one is complimentary to their stuff,or have similar,or agree with the theory,you are "IN".
One week the pack is kindly to a "certain hobbyist",the next week they want to flex their egos.A goodly bit too much,but that's only an opinion."Oooh,he may have just insulted my friend".Time for an obnoxious, quick response!Who said you had an obligation to be a yutz,when nobody was speaking about you?
If you are NOT being indicted,"stay out of it"!!...PALS!
There was a time many,here,were "oh so" concerned about newbees,and their response to these threads.Now some could care less,and "scope" these pages regularly for an opportunity to be "stupid cute",or impress one's web-pals or dealer/friends!Or maybe just themselves?
A sorry state,with virtually nothing for anyone to gain,except a smug poke in the ribs.Almost proclaiming to oneanother.."that was a good one".Make you feel better,or important?You probably are NOT!(even if A.Salvatore proclaimed the Audiogon analog site to have the most knowledgeable hobbyists,he was wrong,as they are just the most vocal)...BTW,I'm not speaking about any "one" specific individual,so don't go nuts.Yet,I am sure some will view my comments as an opportunity to make some cute, smug come-back....My point,exactly!
Of course Raul is caught in a bind,wanting to stay in good grace,for obvious reasons(sometimes I wonder why).Yet just some months ago some of the exact folks who are now "piling on",were oh so obviously "Phoney Complimentary" about him,to his face,in some cases.As it appears to me!I don't think I'm far off the mark,either!!
I really had a good time attempting to be truly myself,and attribute a "minutiae" of input(a come-back opening,here),and now I am sorry for even making any attempt to be decent.Many of you guys are "not",as time has demonstrated to me.
I feel alot better about my past "dumb" posts!Maybe they weren't so bad afterall.
I didn't even have to go "off line,to re-think" this one!It was all SO clear.
LOL

Read all the reviews you want. If you believe they help you, fine. I know they don't help me because I've learned that I don't make good decisions based on written input. I have most certainly take advice and input from people. I couldn't have assembled the first class system I have now without such input.

I have found that I make much better decisions after I have met, listened, and talked face to face with people while listening to the equipment in question. I've even had the pleasure of such an experience with Raul. Because there, in that space and time, I have the best input I'm ever going to get short of listening in my own system, in my own room.

For the record since some seem to think it matters. In the last 6 years since I've gone hi-end, this is what I've had in my system, in my own room, listening with my own ears. Doesn't include what equipment I've heard while traveling to demos around the country.

5 different turntables
7 different tonearms
5 different cartridges
5 different phono stages
5 different preamps
4 different amps
4, soon to be 5, different speaker systems

Obviously, this in no way makes me any kind of an expert. I'd never claim to have "the most golden ears". I'm sure it provides many folk with whatever ammunition they're looking for to point out my shortcomings. Well, have fun.

Speedy, you really are the pot calling the kettle black.

P.S. Ebalog, I've got cows in my back yard. Can't get much more rural than that. :)

I generally don't read reviews to determine what to buy, but that's because I'm happy with my system and I find my priorities quite a bit different than many others. I do find the writings of people who are experienced with componentry (particularly analog) that I may not have the ability to hear in my own ouse to be interesting and pleasurable. This might include formal reviews or even one-off posting from people that clearly do not have a large frame of reference. It's all good -- I just like to know where people are coming from to characterize them.

PS Dan_ed
I've got moose over here, not cows. :)

Darren / all - agree in spades

"The Dynavector XV-1s is a perfect example. Loved by most, but hated by a few. Is it the tonearm? Does the person have the right system? Can we trust the person's ears or listening bias? Maybe it was just bad luck "

I am a classic example of listening bias. I have owned the dyna XV1 for 6 years or so now, so call me an early adopter I guess. I went up the dyna line from XX-2, te kaitora to finally the XV-1 in 2001.

late 2005 it was well and truely time to trade in my worn XV-1. I upgraded to the "superior" XV-1s. kept it for 6mnths and never liked it as much as the XV-1. Ended up sideways swapping it with a friend who paid for the lower price XV-1. Luckily dynavector had enough parts to make another XV-1. back to being very happy and the XV-1 just looks cooler with its RED :)

To my ears and bias the XV-1 is the musically superior cartridge to the XV-1s. To me the XV-1s has more dtail and slightly better transparency at the extremnes and sounds closer to a Lyra for my liking. I value organic musicality and drive v transparency. There is no right or wrong, only personal preference.

Hows the denon 103r going. Killer cartridge!!