Hey Tbone.
I've never met or had any dealings with BR. However "disrespectful blowhard" pretty much applies to half the people in this hobby. LOL.
To me, their is a fine line between "improvement", "change" and "compromise" with audio products in general. Yet few talk in those terms, because any said product must be considered "better" in order to represent change. I've seen this happen all too often, when a new version of a product isn't necessarily better, but different. But again, few talk in terms of change as a form of compromise.
In all honesty, I find that most people within this hobby that have a position of authority or ownership, are relatively well spoken, especially when it comes down to their own interest ... yet few are as open minded when it comes to discussing competing or alternative subjects in a positive light.
And what I find telling about some of these stake holders, is how they become very dismissive, when someone like me introduces the word "compromise" into the equation ...
Case in point, two turntable companies, both Canadian, each representative (owners) were respectfully nice people with much knowledge. Yet, both have recently made significant changes to the workings/structure of their turntables. In an audio-world in which certain "changes" have long represented compromise, it was interesting to get their take on those "compromises". Yet, neither wanted to discuss each subject in those terms, as if they've somehow found an absolute solution that few before 'em could, as if no such compromises within this new design could possibly exist.
Well, at least not until the next version ... (sigh)
Look, I've been around far too long to know that whole-sale improvements don't always work in an absolute fashion within this hobby. Compromises within audio, have long existed, especially with the designing of turntables. Both these companies, as the vast majority of audio companies are prone to do, have claimed that their prior models were amongst the best available prior to version change, without any known compromise. Funny, if no compromises existed, then, why the need for improvement now?
That's a particular saga that continually plays out within this hobby ...
tb1