Grand Prix Monaco review in new Stereophile- OUCH


Anyone read Fremer's review of the Grand Prix Monaco in the latest Stereophile?

Ouch that has to hurt. I am familar with the design of this table, and of course on paper it seems groundbreaking, but if I were in the market for a $20K table, (I'm not) this review would completely kill my interest in this seemingly stellar product.

Any other opinions?

(actually this is a great issue of Stereophile - lots of gear I am intersted in)
emailists
I would sum up his review as "damning by faint praise". This is of course, relative to the normal hyperbole. Kind of like when everybody gets an a in the class, and the dummy gets a B-. "Well its above average"..compared to what we do not know. Certainly took away any interest I might of had in it.

Cheers,
chris
Though it did seem like a nice unit,the asking price was/is absurdly high!I am sorry it did not seem to live up to it's performance potential,according to MF,but I simply don't see "20 large" anywhere in that product.I am sure research was costly,but it still does not equate into such rediculous pricing!...
I too was pretty disappointed with the outcome of the review.... Even though I can't afford the table now, it's design was very interesting.

I have a Garrard 301 that I restored and love (no I didn't do it for love of vintage audio, or because of price... I was just curious). The table sounds better (to me) than anything else I have heard, but does have some trade-offs. Given my priorities I was really hoping the new DD technology would solve all..... Oh well, anyone compared the GPA to the new Teres?

Chris
My read on the review is that Fremer thought it was a very fine sounding and well engineered/built product that only paled in comparison to his reference turntable which cost 4x as much as the Monaco. Also, carefully read his comments on the sonic failings of the Monaco. Much of it reads like audiophile audiophile bullshit talk.
Not to change the subject to another product..BUT, MF just did a review of the Merrill-Scillia Research MS21 turntable and also seemed to 'damn it with faint praise". It likewise does not seem worth "24 large". It's interesting to see how many manufacturers are aiming for the above 20K price bracket - the price of a reasonable but not luxurious car.