Grand Prix Monaco review in new Stereophile- OUCH

Mike,

Thanks for writing a review that told us (the audio consumers) what you really heard. If I am ever in the position to spend that kind of money on a turntable I will certainly listen for myself and draw my own conclusions (the advise you have given numerous times). Until then, having a person with an experienced ear write a comparitive article on the sonic nuances of the 'table is both helpful and entertaining. A far cry from the usual reviews that read like advertisement fodder...... Please keep it up!

Chris

I think I know what Raul means,and have to agree with his assertion.Even when A/B'ing some pricey phono cables,in my friend's set-up, required my re-voicing his arm/cartridge parameters.Especially the bearing fluid in his Graham.Why?Probably had something to do with internal resonances,or better delineation,from the cable,requiring a slight change!What can I say?It seems to make sense,that "voicing" a system,requires "really" knowing "it",and what you hope to gain from component changes."Not" getting something new,and hoping for the best!It's a never ending process,or at least a continuing one,'til you run out of money.Or get divorced!-:)
As for Mikey....I'm beginning to think if I were him,I'd be sorry(by now)that I ever took the time to post,on this forum!It's almost like one has to walk on egg shells,when making some claims.Fearing you may have to defend some comment,not necessarily meant the way it came out.I've been there alot,but the nasty responses to me,were often well deserved.-:)
Best.

Dear Raul, Please do not take offense, because I think you are a very courteous and very knowledgable person, and I greatly respect your insights. But if you think carefully about what you say, perhaps you can see that you do have a preconceived bias and agenda, just like many of the rest of us. In this case, it seems to me that you are positing that the GPM turntable is in fact inherently lower in distortion than either all belt drive turntables or the Caliburn (I'm not sure which). Once one takes that position, then your statements follow logically. But do you or we know that your basic premise is correct? I suggest that one is always trading one set of distortions for another, when one changes the paradigm, e.g., from belt drive to direct drive or from a tube preamp to a solid-state one.

Dear Lewm: IMHO I think that if everyone of us are testing an audio item ( that we know is a good product ) and we find that it is not performing in the way we are expecting, what normally do any of us?: try to find the whys of that poor performance and try to correct it making changes " here and there " till we achieve the performance target that we know the product can show.
In the Monaco case the minimal changes that we have/must to try ( because of the short comings that MF reviewed )are: load impedance, VTA/SRA, VTF and even a different tonearm and/or phonocable interconnect.
The short comings that MF speaks in his review have to " see " with those parameters changes and maybe " playing " with those changes everything will be right on target.

I don't care about the Monaco but I think for what I read on the MF review and for what he say in this thread that the conclusion of that review was a little on the unfair side for the Monaco and maybe needs a re-review ( or at least a second Stereophile review with a different reviewer in a different audio system ) making some of those changes and other ones.

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.

heard a rumor about a guy who bought grand prix table at show, now moving up to a walker. believe what you will