30-Mar-2020, 20:58
A review of an amp that hasn't been part of the current range for some years? What was the source of the amp? That's unstated and we have no way of knowing whether it was used, and used hard, before it came into his hands or whether it was "new old stock" or what. Since it failed during measurements there was obviously something wrong but we don't know whether the failure and the poor measurements are related or not.
@mdconnelly - I don't have a problem with him publishing before any verification or validation of any kind. Stereophile publishes its reviews without independent validation or verification as does every other magazine and website doing reviews. What I think is improper is publication without giving Devialet a chance to respond to his query. If you contact the manufacturer and ask for advice/assistance during a review process then I believe it is proper to delay publication of anything until a response has been received and to quote the response along with your findings. Amir doesn't do that.
As for whether or not Amir listened to it, my feeling from his review of the EtherREGEN was that he measures first and then listens so the failure of the amp probably ended any chance of a listening test. I don't think that approach is good practice. If you're familiar with Stereophile's, and most magazine tests, the measurements are usually made by someone other than the reviewer and the reviewer is not aware of the measurement results. In Stereophile reviews where John Atkinson is both reviewer and measurer, the listening test is done first and measurements later so Atkinson is not aware of the measurements during his listening tests in order that knowledge of the measurements does not bias his listening impressions.
I have strongly criticised Amir's review of the EtherREGEN elsewhere here on Devialet Chat, especially in relation to what I believe was his drawing of conclusions which could legitimately be drawn from the measurements, and I feel that he has done this again in this review. We have no way of knowing whether the amp was faulty when new or whether he was reviewing a used amplifier which had developed a fault due to damage caused by improper use by a prior user and, given the fact that the amp is a model which has now been discontinued for some years, that is certainly a possibility. The fact that he gave no information regarding the source of the amp, whether it had been previously used, and his publication before giving Devialet a chance to respond so that he could include their response in the review, render this review highly unreliable in my opinion. The amp may have been unused and it may have been faulty when it left the factory but we have no way of knowing and that is highly relevant information which should be clearly provided in the review. The failure to provide that information is unforgivable.
While I criticised his EtherREGEN review, Amir did state the source of the ER he tested, a loan from one of his readers. He hasn't provided that information here, it's highly relevant to our assessment of the results of his measurement, and readers should be provided with all of the relevant information the reviewer has which could affect their findings.
@mdconnelly - I don't have a problem with him publishing before any verification or validation of any kind. Stereophile publishes its reviews without independent validation or verification as does every other magazine and website doing reviews. What I think is improper is publication without giving Devialet a chance to respond to his query. If you contact the manufacturer and ask for advice/assistance during a review process then I believe it is proper to delay publication of anything until a response has been received and to quote the response along with your findings. Amir doesn't do that.
As for whether or not Amir listened to it, my feeling from his review of the EtherREGEN was that he measures first and then listens so the failure of the amp probably ended any chance of a listening test. I don't think that approach is good practice. If you're familiar with Stereophile's, and most magazine tests, the measurements are usually made by someone other than the reviewer and the reviewer is not aware of the measurement results. In Stereophile reviews where John Atkinson is both reviewer and measurer, the listening test is done first and measurements later so Atkinson is not aware of the measurements during his listening tests in order that knowledge of the measurements does not bias his listening impressions.
I have strongly criticised Amir's review of the EtherREGEN elsewhere here on Devialet Chat, especially in relation to what I believe was his drawing of conclusions which could legitimately be drawn from the measurements, and I feel that he has done this again in this review. We have no way of knowing whether the amp was faulty when new or whether he was reviewing a used amplifier which had developed a fault due to damage caused by improper use by a prior user and, given the fact that the amp is a model which has now been discontinued for some years, that is certainly a possibility. The fact that he gave no information regarding the source of the amp, whether it had been previously used, and his publication before giving Devialet a chance to respond so that he could include their response in the review, render this review highly unreliable in my opinion. The amp may have been unused and it may have been faulty when it left the factory but we have no way of knowing and that is highly relevant information which should be clearly provided in the review. The failure to provide that information is unforgivable.
While I criticised his EtherREGEN review, Amir did state the source of the ER he tested, a loan from one of his readers. He hasn't provided that information here, it's highly relevant to our assessment of the results of his measurement, and readers should be provided with all of the relevant information the reviewer has which could affect their findings.
Roon Nucleus+, Devilalet Expert 140 Pro CI, Focal Sopra 2, PS Audio P12, Keces P8 LPS, Uptone Audio EtherREGEN with optical fibre link to my router, Shunyata Alpha NR and Sigma NR power cables, Shunyata Sigma ethernet cables, Shunyata Alpha V2 speaker cables, Grand Prix Audio Monaco rack, RealTRAPS acoustic treatment.
Brisbane, Qld, Australia
