Literacy is your friend

Did you read the second paragraph in the first post?

Did I mention any? If not, no.

Did I say the sound was dull or tinny? If not, probably not.

Do you read the comparisons with the Mani and F-117 Nighthawk in the second post? I may have mentioned a few sonic qualities and how they compared.

Not really. The reason is that generalized impressions are flowery bullshit and useless. The problem with generalized impressions is that any review could still "stand" after a simple find and replace operation on [PRODUCT]. Allow me to show you an example:

Turning the volume up on the amp, the soundstage was immense on this little wonder of the [Zen Phono] and I could hear clearly the beautiful instrumentation in layered sections, even at louder than normal listening levels (not recommended) never did the [Zen Phono] falter and the extension seemed endless.

The imaging remained sharp and focused and the layering of the stage never collapsed while recreating the performance flawlessly. The sound was breathtaking and the [Zen Phono] once again captured the spirit of this wonderful recording.

The second track “Life’s Not Fair” by Hans Zimmer once again captured the beautiful instrumentation of the electronic instruments with finesse and never omitted any part of the performance. The beautifully composed tune had a deep and immense layering of the soundstage.

The sounds of the stage in this track are immense and the [Zen Phono] once again delivered the performance without a hitch. Impressive and at times majestic the [Zen Phono] did not disappoint in making this tune come to life.​

Now let's replace [Zen Phono] with [HD800]

Turning the volume up on the amp, the soundstage was immense on this little wonder of the [HD800] and I could hear clearly the beautiful instrumentation in layered sections, even at louder than normal listening levels (not recommended) never did the [HD800] falter and the extension seemed endless.

The imaging remained sharp and focused and the layering of the stage never collapsed while recreating the performance flawlessly. The sound was breathtaking and the [HD800] once again captured the spirit of this wonderful recording.

The second track “Life’s Not Fair” by Hans Zimmer once again captured the beautiful instrumentation of the electronic instruments with finesse and never omitted any part of the performance. The beautifully composed tune had a deep and immense layering of the soundstage.

The sounds of the stage in this track are immense and the [HD800] once again delivered the performance without a hitch. Impressive and at times majestic the [HD800] did not disappoint in making this tune come to life.
​

Heck, why not [My hairy balls]

Turning the volume up on the amp, the soundstage was immense on this little wonder of the [My hairy balls] and I could hear clearly the beautiful instrumentation in layered sections, even at louder than normal listening levels (not recommended) never did the [My hairy balls] falter and the extension seemed endless.

The imaging remained sharp and focused and the layering of the stage never collapsed while recreating the performance flawlessly. The sound was breathtaking and the [My hairy balls] once again captured the spirit of this wonderful recording.

The second track “Life’s Not Fair” by Hans Zimmer once again captured the beautiful instrumentation of the electronic instruments with finesse and never omitted any part of the performance. The beautifully composed tune had a deep and immense layering of the soundstage.

The sounds of the stage in this track are immense and the [My hairy balls] once again delivered the performance without a hitch. Impressive and at times majestic the [My hairy balls] did not disappoint in making this tune come to life.
​

The above is the reason I rarely write generalized impressions. Without context, without comparison, they are useless. If I never heard anything better, they would be true - but still useless.

 

More seriously, I do have a peculiar writing style which takes getting use to. At times, when I feel like it, I will use hyperbole. Other times, when I feel I actually want to be taken more seriously, I don't.

One of the strongest kinds of recommendation I can give is "this is a f'ing great deal". I am pretty sure that I said that or something very close to that effect. When I say "this is a f'ing great deal", it usually means that I like it enough to recommend it for others and also myself. Sometimes I will recommend gear for others but not myself, but I don't think this is the case here.

In terms of absolutes, such as scores, S Tier, A Tier, four stars, five stars, 92.13% score or whatever, I am very hesitant to do that because people's personal preferences and systems vary. What I try to do is compare with other well known quantities or "references" near the same price point or up a bit so folks can get an idea how a piece of gear may fit into their system. No idea of how the references sound like? Tough titties then. We all have to start somewhere. Gotta ante up that $99 or $199 to play. Or just read and read and read. Not just here, but elsewhere, and triangulate disparate sources to maybe get an idea how something may sound.

Oftentimes I get messages in PM asking me about X or Y. I rarely give a flat out recommendations. I ask what do you have now? What do you like or don't like about your system? Where to you want to go? What if there are tradeoffs? What are you willing to lose to gain? What's your vision, if you even have one yet?

I've probably avoided flat-out "I like this" more and more over time because I want to instill into readers that component synergy and overall system is much more important than a bunch of random best-of-class pieces of gear, cables, and sundry accessories put together. I guarantee you that if you take a random $4000 headphone, $4000 phonostage, $4000 turntable, $4000 headamp, and $4000 cartridge, all "highly recommended awesomesauce rated by AudioPhool magazine", the overall system has a 1/3 chance of sounding like shit, 1/3 chance of sounding mediocre, and a 1/3 chance of sounding decent good - this knowing that a $4000 total system can sound better, that is superb.

The question should not be whether "I like it", but whether this worth it for the money, and will it suit your requirements (component synergy and personal preferences). The latter can be, must be established via interaction, asking questions, etc.

Finally, if there are any glaring weaknesses or showstoppers, I won't hesitate to point them out. I used to have the reputation of being quite vicious in doing so. There's more reading into the lines these days; however if directly asked to clarify on hints that I may have laid out, I will respond with brutal honesty.

 

To be clear, I don't mind questions. Anyone could have followed up with questions such as "how much more clear sounding was this over the Mani?", or even something dumb like "how well does this do in terms of slam?"

There is never such thing as a stupid question. However, basic literacy and care in reading (not skimming) what is already written are basic requirements.

 

Don't stress out too much about it. Many of our best members have started out exactly like you.