Fritz takes on Valin in Ultra Audio's June Editorial

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
I think all of us read JV's review of those amps and wondered exactly the same thing

How does his Editor RH tolerate this stuff and does no one review the review before it's published

Welcome Randall. Jeff would be most welcome to contribute here as well and we have been trading emails to that extent over the weekend
 

JackD201

WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
12,308
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Manila, Philippines
If I'm not mistaken Japan's AC current is 100V and generally tolerance for voltage variations is +/- 10% of voltage for consumer electronics of home country current anywhere in the world. That would put any Japanese domestic product at the upper most limits when used in the United States. No wonder they break down. Good luck finding a step down transformer or non-current limiting AC regenerator that has the capacity of feeding those big beasts properly.

I have two questions then:

1. Why would one even import a pair?

2. What's TAS doing a review of a product that isn't even locally available?

When asked why so many US made products never get reviews in TAS or their sister mags, a common answer in their blogs is that distribution is often too small or the likelihood of the company surviving its infancy has not yet been determined. Yet here we have an example of a product that has no distribution at all. I'm confused.
 

FrantzM

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
6,455
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TAS died a long time ago. It is not even a shadow of its former self. I can feel HP pain .. relegated to a relic with not much say in how things are run ... Sad ending for a man whose done quite a bit for the industry ...

Frantz
 

Gregadd

WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
10,517
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Metro DC
I can not even repeat the vile things that have been said to me about HP over the years. It was an old trick. Design a top notch product . Get a review and than produce it with inferior parts. Most of the top notch magazines developed a policy that you had to have a minimum number of sales and dealers to get a review.
 

MylesBAstor

Well-Known Member
Apr 20, 2010
11,236
81
1,725
New York City
I can not even repeat the vile things that have been said to me about HP over the years. It was an old trick. Design a top notch product . Get a review and than produce it with inferior parts. Most of the top notch magazines developed a policy that you had to have a minimum number of sales and dealers to get a review.

Yeah remember the BRB amplifier?

Or the Infinity speakers with HP's initials on them?
 

ack

VIP/Donor & WBF Founding Member
May 6, 2010
6,774
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580
Boston, MA
Personally, I stopped taking TAS seriously years ago - RH has been disappointing as an editor, IMO, and the content isn't what it used to be.
 

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
Personally, I stopped taking TAS seriously years ago - RH has been disappointing as an editor, IMO, and the content isn't what it used to be.

It is certainly the feeling of both Amir and I that the review process has all too often become what we see in this thread. As a result when we decided to form WBF there is a distinct forum still to be unlocked called Featured Reviews.

There will hopefully be a first review there very soon but if members have reviews to share please contact me by PM
 

audioguy

WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
2,794
73
1,635
Near Atlanta, GA but not too near!
Jonathan Valin is a joke as a reviewer. He switches "product of the nano-second" like Tiger Woods switches mistresses! Whatever product he listens to last is the best in the known and unknown universe.

But quite frankly, issues at TAS have been around a long time. A very well known individual in their organization reviewed a very well known speaker (with off the charts high praise) with the external crossover wired in backward and out of phase. I know that because I was in that individuals listening room and both heard and saw the issue. That was many years ago and, as you might imagine, for me, the credibility of that individual went to zero --- and it was not JV.
 

es347

VIP/Donor & WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
1,577
35
970
Midwest fly over state..
I have posted on Valin's blogs before...his love affair blog of the M5s and the TB amplifier blog among others. If your posts push back too hard on poor Jon, he simply has you blocked. And of course there's the infamous loaner ICs that were cut up, reterminated and sold on Audiogon...of course not by Jon but rather a friend (or was it the one-armed man?). Valin is a tool.
 

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