Tyler and Acoustic Zen reviews in TAS


Current issue of TAS has Sallie R(?) reviewing Tyler Linbrook II and Acoustic Zen Adagios. Both get glowing reviews. What I found really odd is that while the speakers are priced similarly and the reviews are by the same person in the the same issue, there is not a single sentence of comparison in either review. I find that baffling. Frankly, this diminishes my trust in the reviewer as well as the editor who should not have let this pass.

In the Tyler review she makes a few comparative remarks against her reference Spendor S8e. The gist is something like this: If you divide up the sound spectrum into parts (lower mid range, mid bass, etc) then Spendor gets more of these right. However, in toto, she finds the Tylers more magical or special or whatever the adjective is. Still, she does seem to prefer the Spendors. Make of it whatever you will.

Everyone is entitled to personal taste without being able to rationally explain it all. So I don't mind that. But I thought a serious reviewer should have compared Adagios to the other two.

I am curious what others thought of this in case you saw the reviews, and how you think the three speakers (Tyler Linbrook II, AZ Adagio, Spendor S8e) compare.
aktchi

Showing 1 response by drseid

First off, as to Spendor... I love Tyler speakers, but actually I think Spendors tend to appeal to many of the same qualities Tyler owners crave. I was *very* impressed with the Spendors I heard earlier this year. If Sallie prefers the 8se, I can definitely see where she is comming from (even if I don't agree with her) as the Spendor sound is quite addictive IMO.

As for the Adagios, I too would have liked to see a comparison to the Linbrook System II, because I think the speakers rated about equally to my ears when I recently heard the Adagios (very impressive speakers, BTW). As they shared many of the same qualities I enjoy, an outside opinion would have been interesting to read.

As to the Tyler pricing... I agree the "list pricing" should probably be deleted as the speakers are not even sold retail as was mentioned. I, howver, believe the "list prices" are in many cases far *below* what the speakers would sell for at retail (the driver and crossover component costs alone could merit much higher list prices based on normal markups). That said, the price is the price... It probably would be better just to list the actual selling price to consumers as opposed to all of the pricing confusion on the brand. Ty never claimed to be the best Marketer, but I can say that the speakers have a way of selling themselves through their sound quality and owner word of mouth. As such, I would say he has spent his time more wisely focusing on design, sound and build quality. Not a bad tradeoff if you ask me. :-)

---Dave