Grand Prix Monaco review in new Stereophile- OUCH

I've heard a Monaco a couple of times and didn't get it. I applaud Fremer for speaking the truth. As he perceives it.

oh well.nomyohorengekyo

Fremer should be reviewing the new Sota Cosmos IV with SME V and Dynavector ZV1's. On second thoughts NO. He would probably thrash it because it's not worth $150,000.

Grooves, Are you an acquaintance of Jonathan Valin's? As you know he claims the Continuum is nothing special. (I am not sure, but that may be an exact quote.) But it does not seem as though he's heard one in a well set up home system and certainly not in his own system. Have you discussed with him his failure to fall in love with the Caliburn and his apparent preference for the Walker Proscenium? It is my opinion that once one is considering turntables that cost more than $15K or $20K, it's a crapshoot, in that there is nothing like a linear relationship between goodness of sound (pardon the semantic) and price. Among the really excellent products, it's finally a matter of one's own opinion and what other gear one is using. Or do you think that the Continuum represents an audio absolute?

I'm also wondering whether the qualities of the GPM that you do not like so much have anything to do with the "sound" of carbon fiber.

After reading Mr. Fremer's views on the Grand Prix stand, I thought I should share my view on the stands. I have owned the GPA stands for about 3 years now. Prior to that I have had a number of the top-line stands, including the top Finite Elemente stands. While all of them were good, they did not make a really noticable difference in the overall sound quality of my system. I had the Finite Elementes and found they made some difference (a good thing given the expense), but I kept hearing from different sources about these new stands that made a real improvement in the sound quality. (I should point out that up until recently, I had the racks between, and about 4 feet behind the speakers) I finally tried the GPA racks and could not beleive the diffence. This is not hyperbole. The sound was cleaner (a layer of hash swept away), more solid and more dynamic. Moreover, there was a sense of ease that was not there before. I can't explain why this is or why Mr. Fremer's tests show what they do. All I know is what I continue to hear from the racks. Indeed, everyone I know that has tried these things has had the same view. Based on his results, you would think I would hear real confusion in the midrange (particularly given where my rack was located), but in fact the opposite was true. As I said, I can't explain it, but I definitely like what these racks do.