Atma-Shephere Class D Review

I haven't read too many reviews by that site. In my opinion it was a bad review, not only was it not flattering the writer didn't provide any information about the amps, the company or anything useful. Most reviews will contain some background and description of the product. That's the least he could do. Not very professional if they claim to be.

Future Audiophile reviewed the amps if anyone wants a more balanced review.
 
The review was tragically flawed and the "reviewer" states exactly why several times without realizing it. Ralph Karsten has said the amps take an exceptionally long time to break in. The "reviewer" failed his fundamental duty to make sure the equipment tested was fully broken in. A mention of the number of operating hours on the unit would have been instructive.

I put "reviewer" in quotes because this person is really not serious about getting it right.
 
Dizzie said:
The review was tragically flawed and the "reviewer" states exactly why several times without realizing it. Ralph Karsten has said the amps take an exceptionally long time to break in. The "reviewer" failed his fundamental duty to make sure the equipment tested was fully broken in. A mention of the number of operating hours on the unit would have been instructive.

I put "reviewer" in quotes because this person is really not serious about getting it right.
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Hi - honest question:. How long is "exceptionally long" and how do we know the unit wasn't broken in? The person stated it was.

Is it possible the person's impressions are correct about the amp?

People complain most favorable reviews and show coverage and "best of lists" are bought and paid for (some of the "reviewers" actually send invoices to companies to simply mention a room at a show or be named a "top room at a show".

When a review isn't favorable and isbn't bought and paid for they complain about that as well.
 
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May I ask a cheeky question? What was Mike's rationale or motive for posting this feeble "review"? Would he have posted it he was an Atma-Sphere dealer? Sorry, but I feel the question needs to be asked. Had Stereophile or one of the other very rare responsible reviewers conducted this review, fair enough.
 
Hear Here said:
May I ask a cheeky question? What was Mike's rationale or motive for posting this feeble "review"? Would he have posted it he was an Atma-Sphere dealer? Sorry, but I feel the question needs to be asked. Had Stereophile or one of the other very rare responsible reviewers conducted this review, fair enough.
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So you're upset he shared a review.

Hmmmm....you accused Mike previously of needlessly "ripping people off" with cables.

And now you post this. You really think lowly of Mike, don't you?

Let's ask a cheeky question - would you care it this was a negative review on something other than your cherished Class D?

We all know the answer on that.

I appreciate when people sharing other peoples takes on gear, regardless if some forum people are pro-censorship.
 
Hear Here said:
May I ask a cheeky question? What was Mike's rationale or motive for posting this feeble "review"? Would he have posted it he was an Atma-Sphere dealer? Sorry, but I feel the question needs to be asked. Had Stereophile or one of the other very rare responsible reviewers conducted this review, fair enough.
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Why? Because….

Audiophiles: “we want negative reviews! There’s never a negative review!”





{Negative review}





Audiophiles: “the reviewer is an idiot!” “The reviewer didn’t do this and that so it’s BS!”

I found the responses, although justified, interesting.
 
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My first thought about this review was this list of gear:

"The reference system, on hand or in recent memory, included an Acoustic Signature Montana Neo turntable with Acoustic Signature TA-7000 Neo and Origin Live Agile tonearms; a ZYX UNIverse Optimum, Miyajima Destiny, and Tzar DST moving coil phono cartridges, DS Audio Grand Master optical cartridge; CH Precision P1-X1, Mobile Fidelity Master Phono and EMM Labs DS EQ-1 phono preamplifiers. Digital components on hand during the audition include a custom Windows computer running JRiver Media Center with USB-connected Bricasti M1 Series II DAC, and RME ADI-2 Pro fs r Black Edition AD/DAC with external power supply. The system also includes Luxman C900u and Benchmark HPA4 preamplifiers; Constellation Inspiration Stereo, Valvet E2 SE and Benchmark AHB2 power amplifiers; Alta Audio Celesta FRM-2M, B&W 805 D4, B&W 805 D4 Signature, and Magico S1 MkII speakers. The speakers are lightly augmented in the low bass, as needed, by a pair of JL Audio e110 subwoofers.
The audio cabling is Audioquest WEL Signature and Mogami interconnects and speaker cables. USB cables are Audience Front Row. Power cords include my DIY power cord and Straight Wire Pro Thunder. Headphones include Meze Elite and Hifiman Arya Stealth. Power protection and purification are provided by a PS Audio Dectet for the preamplifiers and source components, and a PS Audio Quintet for the power amplifiers. The Quintet includes a standard 1/8″ trigger connection enabling remote turn-on and -off of power amplifiers that lack a 12V remote trigger, which is a feature that every modern component should include."
 
Michaels HiFi said:
Hi - honest question:. How long is "exceptionally long" and how do we know the unit wasn't broken in? The person stated it was.

Is it possible the person's impressions are correct about the amp?

People complain most favorable reviews and show coverage and "best of lists" are bought and paid for (some of the "reviewers" actually send invoices to companies to simply mention a room at a show or be named a "top room at a show".

When a review isn't favorable and isbn't bought and paid for they complain about that as well.
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Did you bother to read the review? If you can call it that. It was a hatchet job. I don't care if he trashed the amps but the paragraph contained no description of the amp, what gear he used with it, nothing you'd see in a normal review. I don't give that write-up any credibility it was poorly written and obviously biased as written by someone who was pissed off at the company. No reviewer trying to do a good job would have written trash like that. If he didn't feel like writing a full review he shouldn't have bothered writing anything.

I've read reviews where the writer didn't particularly like a piece or feel it performed well, they were able to convey that without sounding like this guy. But, again, my point is not really that he felt it was boring, he just didn't put effort into a full and proper review. He didn't even say what inputs the amp had, what size, etc. the write-up was crap. No matter what you think of the company personally no one in their right mind should defend this write-up. Very unprofessional. In fact, if their site came up in a Google when I was looking for a review or information I would never go there. In my case the write-up back fired on them.

I don't have a dog in this fight but I try to be objective. I think if this happened to something you liked, lets say Tobian, then we'd be seeing a different attitude from you. I would never put a product in the hands of that writer. He showed he isn't worthy to have the privilege of writing publicly.
 
Mr Peabody said:
I don't have a dog in this fight but I try to be objective. I think if this happened to something you liked, lets say Tobian, then we'd be seeing a different attitude from you. I would never put a product in the hands of that writer. He showed he isn't worthy to have the privilege of writing publicly.
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I did read it and I don't personalize and get personally offended at reviews like some people do. I didn't realize strongly disliking something - and honestly stating it was a "hatchet job". Would it have been better if he lied?

He didn't like the amp.

People don't like Tobian's and other stuff I do. I couldn't care less and neither should others. I'm not so fragile as to need system affirmation from others.

The world still goes on.

He stated his opinion and people are melting down trying to attack the reviewers rather than just accepting his opinion.

Mike is right - people complain reviews are fixed and then when someone calls it as he heard it (and for the record - I have head those amps and frankly they are pretty poor) people are still upset.

I think many people just look for reasons to be outraged and pissed off in life. Who cares if some guy liked or didn't like the amps, Tobians or fill in the blank with what ever you want.
 
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I simply found it unusual to see such a negative review in the age of “everything is great”. That’s why I posted it. Ralph is a great guy and his OTL amps are excellent sounding (I haven’t heard the amp in question). I am constantly hearing that reviews have lost their value because everything is great. Someone in the industry sent me this as he too was shocked and that’s why I posted it. I wanted to see what the reaction was. Are people TRULY clamoring for a negative review here or there (think: car industry) or are they really only wanting to read positive reviews? That was my question.
 
Mike said:
..... or are they really only wanting to read positive reviews? That was my question.
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You got your answer: people are fragile and prefer to be lied to.

In the words of a famous movie "They can't handle the truth!!"
 
Geesh, call it an opinion and move on. His opinion was not a good one so what?

Life’s to short to get our knickers in a twist over this stuff.

My opinion is that fully or partially broken in is not likely to have significantly altered his reactions.

To Mike’s question, I want to read honest reviews with enough context that I can interpret what it might mean to me.
 
Audiophiles, one of the strangest set of subspecies to inhabit planet earth...............
 
Michaels HiFi said:
I did read it and I don't personalize and get personally offended at reviews like some people do. I didn't realize strongly disliking something - and honestly stating it was a "hatchet job". Would it have been better if he lied?

He didn't like the amp.

People don't like Tobian's and other stuff I do. I couldn't care less and neither should others. I'm not so fragile as to need system affirmation from others.

The world still goes on.

He stated his opinion and people are melting down trying to attack the reviewers rather than just accepting his opinion.

Mike is right - people complain reviews are fixed and then when someone calls it as he heard it (and for the record - I have head those amps and frankly they are pretty poor) people are still upset.

I think many people just look for reasons to be outraged and pissed off in life. Who cares if some guy liked or didn't like the amps, Tobians or fill in the blank with what ever you want.
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And, again you missed the point. My guess intentionally.
 
Michaels HiFi said:
So you're upset he shared a review.

Hmmmm....you accused Mike previously of needlessly "ripping people off" with cables.

And now you post this. You really think lowly of Mike, don't you?

Let's ask a cheeky question - would you care it this was a negative review on something other than your cherished Class D?

We all know the answer on that.

I appreciate when people sharing other peoples takes on gear, regardless if some forum people are pro-censorship.
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You have missed the point. Had this been a "proper" balanced review, where readers may have sufficient belief in it to influence a possible purchase, fair enough. However I take issue at the publication on any forum if a review lacks integrity.

I'd be equally hostile to a review that over-praises gear without giving it a comprehensive, fair and balanced review, as is far too often the case with Youtube "reviews". One gets the impression that there's often a vested interest in looking only at their good points.

I have no problem with people spending large sums on cables or those who satisfy their desires, but when I read about some of the sums involved, I become bewildered. There are few enough proper dealers around now and I'm sure Mike is a very good one - otherwise he'd have gone the same way that many others have.

I apologise to Mike if it seemed I was critical of him. It is arguably questionable for a thread to be opened with a feeble review of the subject of the thread. Had the thread been going for a while, it would naturally attract a number of reviews along the way, both comprehensive and not, and whether favourable or not. That's merely my point, rightly or wrongly.
 
Hear Here said:
You have missed the point. Had this been a "proper" balanced review, where readers may have sufficient belief in it to influence a possible purchase, fair enough.

I apologise to Mike if it seemed I was critical of him. It is arguably questionable for a thread to be opened with a feeble review of the subject of the thread.
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No - I got the point.

It's not a 'proper' review to you because you didn't like the fact he didn't like a Class D amp and he didn't want to waste his time on a crappy amp.

Where is the rule book on what you feel is a "proper" review where suddenly you feel his personal opinion meets your imaginary standards?

The amp sucked in his opinion. Life goes on regardless of what he thinks.

And once again you insult Mike and you apologize after you get called out for insulting him. You chose your words carefully each time and each time you've made it clear you think he's a dishonest person. Pretty sad on your behalf.

Really interesting to watch people get triggered by an honest review where he said what he thought about an amp. Funny how some audiophiles prefer to keep their head in the sand if anything challenges what they like/don't like.

I've never met nor heard of this reviewer before but he seems to be more intellectually honest than many forum posters.
 
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