Reviewing the Reviewers

Trelja, have you ever had the chance to "rummage through" any old IAR's to any great extent ? I'm just curious as to what your thoughts on them were. Sean
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Trelja, if you think Mikey is on his own "high horse", you would REALLY hate J. Peter Moncrieff of both International Audio Review & "Wonder: wire / caps / solder" fame. Quite honestly though, i think it was he that set the pace for ALL other test labs / reviewers back in the day. While i haven't been over to check out that website yet, i can say that "Mikey" is a real nice guy in person and very outgoing. Sean
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I finally checked out that website. I have to agree with a LOT of what he has to say. I have said most of those things before and posted public statements supporting the same position on AA several times. I find a LOT of similarities to what he's doing there to what Moncrieff did with IAR. The difference is that Moncrieff actually gave measurements along with his sonic observations and personal opinions of the specific gear whereas Mr. Salvatore is mostly "exposing / confronting" the audio press itself instead of the actual gear. While he does offer his personal take on some equipment, it is rather limited in scope considering the amount of space that the entire website takes up. To answer Trelja's question about IAR, it was the MOST informative magazine that i have ever seen. It might not have had glossy graphs and test specs, but it did give REAL information such as the frequency response of cables, various loading characteristics and the effects on individual cartridges ( complete with FR graphs and noise measurements), etc. instead of just "subjective blathering". One other thing that Moncrieff did was to literally SLAUGHTER products that were "highly reviewed" by others that did not measure up for ANY reason ( price, construction, sonics, marketing hype, etc..). He had no fear of either the manufacturer or the other reviewers. The only thing that comes to mind that i did "dislike" about IAR was that it became a "plug" for both "Wonder" products and Audio Research gear. While I have very limited experience with ARC products myself, I have seen TONS of glowing praise about them. Even with all of that, it did seem like there was favoritism taking place there. Since Peter did not have advertisements in IAR, one could only wonder what was going on behind the scenes. Nonetheless, i long for the day when he or someone else picks up the gauntlet and begins to publish something of that nature on a regular basis. It might not do very well in terms of circulation or popularity with manufacturers, but those interested in "truthful" audio news and reviews will eat it up. Sean
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Trelja asked: Where have our favorite writers gone? Dick Olsher, Robert Harley, Jack English, Peter Moncrieff, etc. Into oblivion."

I can say FOR CERTAIN that one of those mentioned above is in the pockets of some very specific manufacturers. I know this from first hand conversations with them. I will not say who it is because i don't feel like getting sued for slander, so figure it out for yourself. It is conversations that i've had with him that made me realize just how "goofy" the reviewing game really is. Those conversations are also the reason why i've made some of the same statements that Salvatore did over on AA. Any of you that visit that site KNOW that i was very vocal about this subject and had posted about it MANY times. Over on that site they call me a "conspiracy nut" though..... Sean
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