The Six Moons.com review on the Mhdt Labs Orchid DAC just went up

@janehamble Your post throwing shade at @teajay may have been an attempt at humor but why does everyone have to be so aggressive, cynical or unkind? Buy it or don’t buy it, nobody cares, least of all Teajay. Everything he has recommended (based on personal experience or the preponderance of other posts) seems to sound pretty good for the money. Maybe its your taste, maybe it isn’t.

People seem to think that most reviewers are getting rich or getting kickbacks from manufacturers, which just isn’t the case. These guys have found a way to get the opportunity to listen to alot of gear, more power to them. Your post however implies that once someone identifies something as a world beater, they aren’t allowed to ever identify another...thats just unreasonable.

@janehamble Thank you for the kind reply. I do not disagree with you in the least....in general. I do, however, disagree with you specifically as it relates to @teajay for the following reasons.

he has an impeccable reputation here on Audiogon. He was a hobbyist like the rest of us, with a day job, offering peer to peer type reviews of gear he had experienced. His reviews were good enough and well informed that he was asked to write for Home Theater Review and now, 6moons. Shouldn’t we celebrate that one of us crossed over? Your implication that he has ulterior motives is flat out unfair. For the conspiracy to be a valid option, you are asking us to believe that somehow Lab12 corrupted him somehow but was subsequently “outbid” by MHDT. That’s a bit of a stretch wouldn’t you agree?

I don’t know @teajay but the body of his review work speaks for itself. His enthusiasm for Tekton and Linear Tube Audio has opened doors for alot of fellow hobbyists as well as these small manufacturers to reach a wider audience. The audiophile community is pretty small and if he says something sounds good for the “following reasons” and it turns out that is not the case, he will get called out. His enthusiasm for Pass Labs has not been controversial nor have you accused him of being on the take in that case. Could it be because everyone knows Nelson Pass could give a rat’s backside about the outcome of a review so therefore, you assume that endorsement was arms length?

I just believe that your cynicism, inadvertent or intentional, questioning @teajay’s character and integrity is out of bounds and quite unfair.

@janehamble What is it you are saying exactly? Its no news at all that 6moons charges a fee to review a piece of gear. Is it your position that by doing so it should invalidate their findings? The fee is charged up front along with other rules governing shipping, returns etc. Most reviewers get extended “loans” of the gear they review. Does that bother you as well? Do you believe that the Orchid is not good, that the review is somehow misleading? What about the 6moons Pass reviews? Their reviews of the Lumin equipment? Is that equipment now bad because they were reviewed by 6moons?

Is your problem with 6moons in general or @teajay in particular? Or are you a Lab12 owner? You really should come out with what it is that truly bothers you...the review methodology, the review site or the reviewer. Full disclosure, I am not in the audio biz, I don’t own a Lab 12 nor an Orchid nor have I heard either.

@janehamble Fair enough then. Your problem is with @teajay and I gather had he never done the Lab12 review, you would have no problem?

I appreciate you taking the time to reply and if I somehow triggered the snarkiness at the end of your first sentence above, it wasn't my intent. Peace.