just hype?

Sean: I hear where you are coming from as well. I particularly defended the Newform reviews because they were how I initially discovered Newform Research. They have been largely ignored by the mainstream mags (I believe Stereophile has some type of non-review policy of direct marketers -- if that is true it is pure bs). By the way, I'm also interested in the Morrison ELAD because of its audioreview raves -- especially by some reviewers who have compared it to some big buck pre's. Mike

Zen, my comments about the reviews on AudioReview were not aimed strictly at the Newforms but at all of the reviews there in general. I would agree that a product that consistently gets raves from it's owners says a lot, but i also look at the negative comments. I can't think of a product that i can't find SOMETHING that i think that they could have done better or in a different manner. When someone can't find ANY "flaws" about a product, they are either not real picky or haven't put the product through all of its paces yet. After all, NO manufacturer can make a product that pleases everyone all of the time. Another thing to consider is that some people have "reviewed" the same product 4 or 5 times on that site. They keep going back to say "man, this thing kicks ass" or to defend their point of view against someone that voiced criticism of it. This can add up to a LOT of very positive reviews but they might come from a handful of users. Like anything else, think for yourself and read between the lines. Having said all of that, the Newforms are PROBABLY well worth the money that they ask for them. Especially with the "no questions asked" return privilidge. Sean >

My 645's are so good that I sold my Magnepan 1.6's. Sean, I'm in disagreement with your opinion about audioreview.com. While there can be some definite grade inflation by owners justifying their purchases, I think that it is hard to argue with the 39 out of 39 perfect scores the 645's received (I will note that they have received a few baseless 1 stars that have been edited by the site [a potential discussion for a later topic]). Also, I was rather taken with the high quality of equipment many 645 owners had. I like to use professional reviews and consumer reviews to narrow down my choices for the ultimate review -- one's own ears. Newforms will not be beat on driver quality for price by any speaker sold through a dealer. The 645 has two Scanspeak 8545's per speaker which equate to roughly $600 in cost per pair. I believe that the ribbons would wholesale for over $600 as well, so I don't quite understand how John Meyer makes any money, but that is our windfall. The suckers weigh almost 125 pounds each! As to the 645's sound, they are more similar to the Maggie 1.6's than different -- I would some up their sound as Maggies with balls. Both are ridiculously good value for the money. Newform allows for a 30 day "no questions" return policy which takes the risk out of it. I'm obviously a very happy "real" owner. Email me if you have any further questions, or better yet, John at Newform.

I know some folks that have worked with their ribbon drivers on special projects and been extremely happy with them. Most of the comments that i've seen about them have been quite positive. While not trying to sound "elitist" by any means, i would take the "reviews" at AudioReview with a grain of salt. Many of the "reviewers" are limited in scope and experience so a decent product sometimes becomes "excellent" given their limited exposure. A good way to see if their findings hold water is to look at the associated gear and the other components that they compared it to. Obviously, someone with a Technics receiver and Sanyo CD player would not have the most resolving or musical sounding system to try and judge just how good another component would stack up. Sean >