Michael Fremer's system

Mike states at least a couple of times before you see his room that it is a work space not a social space.  He has that particular equipment because that is what he likes.  I'm sure he gets great deals, but obviously he will spend whatever it costs to get what he wants, so what you see is what he wants.

I've read a couple of  accounts from people who have visited his room and they were blown away by the sound.

"why does he explain how he acquired this stuff??? "

Because he was explaining that he has that equipment because he likes it enough to pay for it, even if he has to get a loan to buy it, that he does not have it because the manufacturers gave it to him. Believe it or not, there are people who believe that high-end audio is a huge scam, a conspiracy in which audio reviewers conspire with greedy manufacturers to fleece unsuspecting audiophiles out of their hard earned money.

Fremer does not seem like a dumb guy to me. He has heard a great many systems, probably more than anyone here. It’s his job. So don’t you think that he would know that he could get better sound with a nice pair of monitors, maybe a sub, and a low power tube amp at a small fraction of the price of his current system, if that was the case?

I think he owns the equipment he owns because he has listened to a lot of gear in his room and he likes the sound he gets with the big amps and big speakers best. Better than all the high priced monitors and SET amps and headphones he has heard. That seems the most likely explanation to me.

Or has listening to all that vinyl addled his brain and he no longer behaves rationally?

Fremer addresses the replies he has gotten to this video in the Jan. Stereophile. He mainly talks about people criticizing him and Stereophile because they don’t do blind listening tests, but there is something he says that is applicable here:

"When I review a speaker I put my listening skills on the line in describing the sound I hear. The measurements come afterward and then I get to see them in print in the magazine. Do you want to try that?"

No one here gets their opinions tested by actual measurements. Fremer does and usually passes the test. So that gives him credibility, more credibility than anonymous posters who opine that they get way better sound quality for a fraction of the price without ever having heard Fremer’s system. So, I just have to say that I find it hard to believe that Fremer spends more money, lots more money, for worse sound. Especially when he has audio professionals in his room from time to time. I think someone would have told him by now that his speakers are too big for his room and brought by a pair of smaller speakers and demonstrated that they sound better.

So, as long as we are all just speculating, I have to give Fremer the benefit of the doubt. I say if his system was not working in that room and he could get better sound at a fraction of the price, he would do it. So until someone produces evidence to the contrary, I believe that Fremer has that system because it sounds the best of the options he has tried.  Sounds best to him, of course.