I’d say/prefer: “inscrutable”.
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You guys didn’t really think he was going to answer a direct question did you. Instead just another bit of self promotion. Remind you of somebody else from the past.
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I am a hopeless optimist, Mr. @dawkinsj.
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The Nominations are now open for the “Brodric of the Month Award”!
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Please don’t say mañana if you don’t mean it
I have heard those words for so very long
Don’t try to describe the ocean if you’ve never seen it
Don’t ever forget that you just may wind up being wrong🎶
- Jimmy Buffett, “Mañana”
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Touche. 
Steven is marvellously literal. The ASR joke was made knowing he’d been banned for liking Harbeth, I think it was (as do I) because they don’t measure up to ASR standards.
I’m glad it was a joke as I may have taken it seriously. I wasn’t sure, but you don’t mess with those guys at ASR. The funny thing about the Sabrina, more than the Sasha DAW, is that in many respects they were like Harbeth. This change is due to a house renovation and cosmetics, not falling out of love with Harbeth.
I’m glad Darren appreciated I did not criticise his amplifier, although others have been quite vulgar in their belief that I did.
Stereophile has a policy that when reviewing a piece of gear the reviewer should only replace a similar item to the one in review. They are not allowed to create a new system or make wholesale changes to their reference systems to review a piece.
They should have had Herb test the M1200. His gear is closer to the M1200 and he has four or more pair of speakers on hand to make comparisons.
I think Stereophile is currently short on writers and I hope they take care of this soon. I have heard a rumor they don’t pay their writers that well. I hope this isn’t true.
Sadly, so very sadly I find myself agreeing with Steven on his criticism of the article. Oh my.
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I think it’s good to know the potential of gear when it’s reviewed in high class environment. Otherwise there’s too much compensation and information loss involved.
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Ah, ok, good to know. Makes sense. Then yeah agree with you that Stereophile definitely had wrong guy do review.
Although I guess from PSA’s point of view more flattering to be partnered with Alexx than with a $400 pair of bookshelf speakers (for example, Triangle Borea BR02), although that would have been no more nonsensical than the pairing used (actually a more realistic pairing).
This in no way criticizing the amp, just being realistic about real world system cost breakdown
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All the other components Micheal Fremer uses for evaluation of the M1200 is fine. It is good to hear how good the M1200 can sound in a ultra hi end system, but comparing a $6,000 M1200 to a $170,000 DarTZEEL NHB-468 is ridiculous. It would be more interesting if he could find something in the $5k to $10k range to compare it to. Then we would know if the M1200 would be a good consideration and a good value.
I think the most interesting question regarding the M1200s for folks with good equipment is, how limited they are in terms of transparency /ambiance /magic/air/3D compared to very high priced gear, as they probably sound better in terms of grip, bass control, dynamics than.most and if they are just marginally weaker than expensive stuff in the rest, they could be found in many very good setups in future. So if I had power hungry speakers I’d like to know how good they are in those magic areas. And that’s what I only know when they get reviewed with top gear.
Didn’t read the review yet, but I’m interested in it. Also how Class D sounds in highs in comparison to good versions of other concepts.
But I also understand that people want to know how it sounds with price matching gear…from an absolute point of view, this is just pointless imo. Better buy gear with potential and align the rest to it one after another than buying gear that compensates optimally for lesser performing stuff imo.
Reviews ought to be done with top notch gear except for the comparison pieces. This way, the rest of the system is not a bottleneck to the review gear’s ultimate performance. But for comparisons you gotta swap out like for like (within reason) cost-wise.
Pointing out an obvious, if you read a review you are in danger of forming an opinion based on what someone else’s hears. Or you can buy the product, do your own hearing review and decide whether or not to keep that product (for less than the cost of the reviewer’s magazine, although web reviews are free).
I do enjoy others opinions, and even read bloggers back and forth in the media; however, I won’t add anything to my system without a review based on my personal trialing. In my review experiences, I have heard different sonic qualities from a product than what other people report, and heard some agreement.
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Not really sure what people’s problem really is with the review other than it being out of context cost wise with the rest of Fremer’s gear but for all any of us know he asked to review the amps for whatever reason. Did he not review the Steller Phono in the same system? But with that aside if anyone choses to take a Fremer review of anything not Analog related as the basis for a “blind” purchase you do so at your own risk. So take the review for whatever you think it is and with a grain of salt and let it be. And as the previous poster take the 30 day trial and find out for yourself.
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Most of the problems so far in the thread over the past four days are about Steven’s problems with the review, and his problems with Fremer. So it is a bunch of reaction to a review of a review. In that “meta-review” he made a number of inflammatory statements based on suppositions and stuff he’s read on the internet. It remains to be seen if he’s up for taking his issues up with Fremer himself, or if writing negatively about someone on another site is as far as his passive-agressive British style of criticism takes him.
Being an articulate guy with a lot opinions to express, particularly when it comes to how he feels Paul should run his business or price his products, he understandably stirs things up in a Forum provided by the maker. So - here we are, days later. 
What follows is my meta-meta on the matter. I was sorely tempted to write it four days ago when the offending post went up, but I’ve learned from experience that trying to argue legitimate points in Steven’s posts is like playing Whac-a-Mole. The guy argues for a living, and apparently for fun in his spare time. You’ll get four new arguments having little or nothing to do with the specifics. The final stage is, he’ll respond with something about British or French gear he owns. We can apparently now anticipate Utah gear being added to that list.
To begin with, he comes right out of the gate with the misleading and inflammatory statement,
“Let’s get real” - reeks of some sort of internet signaling which immediately brought to mind the ASR gang - hence my half-joking reply at the time. This statement is based on Paul mentioning their “friendship” somewhere on the internet the other day. I can only assume there was a falling out in their conflict-of-interest laden “bromance” back when Fremer reviewed the NuWave Phono, and found other pres he had at lower price points sounded better to him.
Steven also seems incapable of reading between the lines of Fremer’s “atrocious” writing, as most readers do with gear reviewers - even those whose opinions they generally agree with. As Steven correctly points out, it is not the most thorough or balanced review. Fremer - not a fan of Class D generally - was an odd choice for the job, as has been pointed out above. But the review is far from the comparative (yet still not unqualified) rave he gave for the Stellar Phono.
I’d also take issue with the seeming assertion that, just because you can drive an unnamed model of Wilson speaker with a 40 watt amp, that makes it a good or appropriate choice. You don’t put cheap gas in a Ferrari and say, “See? Runs great!”. I don’t believe Fremer was suggesting Alex or XVX owners buy the M1200s.
Steven confuses slam with bass response. I believe Jazznut covered that one. Reading a few surveys online and making pronouncements on American musical tastes, Rap music and bass…wow. Just…wow. I think Darren covered that one.
So - at least 1.5 of my two cents on the matter.
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Plus there are the near unanimous approval of the beta testers for the m1200, for what that is worth. Most who have tried really like them, it seems
We are getting somewhere.
On the more substantive point of power, SLAM is not the most technical of terms and I will not disagree with you, but realistic bass needs lots of things to be right. Class D amplifiers certainly are a big help. I’ve used Class D in both of my systems for most of the last 12 years, which is why I’m interested in Class D products. Having tested speakers this week from France and Utah (wherever that is), the ones from France were more dynamic, and the ones from Utah (wherever that is) had better tone and decay and seemed more real. Nothing’s perfect.
Class D is a big thing in consumer audio. When my 200w/8 ohms Linn Akurate 2200 was launched in 2007, if you wanted Class D Putzeys-designed M1200 power then it would cost you up to €100,000 (the Kharma MP 1000). It’s been more for less ever since. So I wanted to know what special sauce you get for $6,000/£6,000 in the M1200. I’m particularly interested in the power supply, which was the weakness of the Linn Akurate 2200 and why I sold it. Soon after I did they improved it and had an upgrade scheme for the power supply alone. I wasn’t convinced by the original Devialet D-Premier either.
I have checked the PS Audio website here: https://www.psaudio.com/stellar-m1200-mono-amplifier/ and the things I was interested in, that I have not seen covered or by Fremer, are:
- The power supply and how switching noise is dealt with
- Internal power filtering
- changes to the ICEpower unit
I totally get what Darren says on other issues and the valve input stage, which I’ve seen in other products. I also fully agree with him that you cannot have too much power (over than for Quad ESL).
The elephant in the room is cost. That’s why
(a) some people probably do not spend more money on more power that does not improve the sound; and
(b) there are so many stereo amplifiers that can be bridged and doubled up for more power, so customers don’t have to sell their existing amplifier if they do need more power. I could double up my stereo amplifier to 1000w monoblocks, but I haven’t because it would cost me $12,000.
I hope that’s not too passive-aggressive for you, just interested in a sensible discussion of PS Audio’s work on Class D amplifiers, technology I’ve invested in for many years.
On the other issues you raise:
Problems with Fremer:
- Why didn’t he use one or, preferably, several pairs of speakers M1200 buyers might own?
- Same could be said for sources. He was using dCS Vivaldi. I suspect he has a nice turntable as well.
- He listed a mains conditioner. Did he use it or were the amps plugged the wall? We know what Paul thinks of mains conditioners.
- How about comparing to similar products? He says there aren’t any, but there are several.
- I suspect being Paul’s friend made him lose objectivity. I looked at Analogue Planet and it was impressed. A good read. There were a lot of things I would have liked to have known about the M1200 that he just did not deal with.
- I learned when I was 25 and on the Board of two listed companies (don’t know how that happened) that it you can’t make a point clearly in 15 seconds, best not to make it at all. That’s where I come from, so I am not going to like Fremer’s style.
Pricing
In the UK PS Audio prices tend to start high and either come down or get discounted. I’m in the market for a product like the PS Audio Strata Amplifier. I would like a 100w all-in-one for my Raidho speakers. It’s too expensive (the Cambridge Audio CXA81 and CVN combo is one third cheaper but two boxes) and doesn’t have Roon (Innuos is developing a uPnP app, so that will bypass Roon). If and when the Strata price comes down I might buy it. When it was released I commented that I thought it was a great product. It fills a gap in the market, there are lots of 60w products, then you are up at 200w like the NAD M33 and much more expensive.
I own “gear” from the UK, France, USA, Denmark, Japan, Canada, Taiwan and Yorkshire and soon Utah (wherever that is). I don’t really care, as long as it’s serviceable. I said to someone that Devialet is so well made you could be mistaken for thinking it was German. That’s a European joke, especially as I’ve owned a Peugeot and two Renault.
For those who have not yet seen the review, a few fragments:
“Overall, then, despite my fault-finding, which is my job, designer Myers has certainly done his job: creating a small, lightweight, cost-effective, powerful miracle performer (emphasis mine) that’s sure to find a vast audience, especially amoung a younger generation of audio enthusiasts, though I’m sure many oldsters will gladly hop in the the exciting ride.”
A large-type, orange-colored hilite:
“Punchy doesn’t begin to describe the M1200’s low-end solidity, extention. rhythmik swagger, and complete freedom from overhang.”
His comments on midrange, treble, transparency, etc., were equally positive.
I certainly can’t hear as well as he–and LOTS of other folk–do, but I love the sounds of mine driving my old-but-loved Vienna Acoustics Mahlers.
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