Grand Prix Monaco review in new Stereophile- OUCH

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.

Two comments:

- I have the Grand Prix rack & amp stands, and my impressions of them correlate precisely with Cohnaudio's...superb gains in bass clarity as Michael Fremer mentions, but also in the mids & treble - I do not hear any resonance or lack of clarity whatsoever. Mine has the cheaper acrylic shelves, not the carbon fiber which Michael had for test.

- As a fan of Grand Prix Audio/Alvin Lloyd and a guy who'll be in the market for a "lifetime" 'table in the next year or so, I eagerly awaited MF's review and was disappointed in the results - especially because I like my music as juicy, fleshy & harmonically ripe as possible. But he sent me the MP3 comparison of the Van Morrison track, referenced above, and the differences were blatantly obvious, and just as MF described - and this over the cheapo speakers in my laptop! The Caliburn (as well it should, for the coin) was much more harmonically developed, and the music just breathed...the same track as played by the GPA was rhythymically superb, but sounded bleached out by comparison. What I won't know until I hear the Monaco in person is whether this result is an Achilles heel, or just a $20K 'table falling short of a $120K(?) alterntaive, but fully competitive with others in its price class.

Thanks, by the way, to MF. A true keeper of the flame, to be sure, but also a genuinely nice guy who goes out of his way to do things right.

Cohnaudio, proving the axiom of "horses for courses", my impression of the GPA racks was just the opposite of yours. I used GPA racks for 4 years and I have nothing negative to say about them. They are superb stands. But I prefer the Finite Elementes and now use a MR HD13.

My GPA Monaco/TriPlanar VII/Benz LP was delivered this weekend and like you and Mtkhl57 think it the finest turntable I have ever heard. It is probably the most remarkable audio device I have owned. The TriPlanar, like the Dynavector arm is especially well suited to the table.

Mr. Fremer, I found your review to be honest and informative. You say many nice things about the table and the review really is balanced but for some reason it leaves somewhat of a bitter after taste that belies all the certainly not faint praise you gave the table. Go figure.

I completely understand why you reviewed the table on the GPA stands. I think you missed out by not listening to it on your Pagode since you, like me seem to prefer that stand.

And thanks for "keeping it real" with the review. It's especially helpful in analog to assist us with determining what combinations of tables, arms, cartridges and stands might work for our own tastes, which as this thread illustrates, will always vary.