'The Flat Response'

Posted by: wal riley on 25 April 2001

Are there any reprints of this mag available on the internet or otherwise? I've read loads about it, but I was a little young when it was a going concern! wink
Posted on: 25 April 2001 by Tim Jones
Wal -

He probably won't appreciate this, but (ex?) forum contributor Joel Benford very kindly lent me some entertaining back issues of this legendary mag a couple of years ago.

BTW, isn't Chris Thomas involved in Hi-Fi+ these days? Is that still going?

Tim J

Posted on: 25 April 2001 by Edwin
Rob,

Quote

"I put together my own web site, named after the great mag, to revive some of the ideas. I'm currently revamping it and will try to include some of the old FR articles."

That would be great. I used to have every copy. Threw them out ages ago unfortunately. Would love to read some of those old articles again.

Edwin

Posted on: 26 April 2001 by Edwin
Paul,

How much would you want for them?

Edwin

Posted on: 26 April 2001 by wal riley
Tim,
HI-Fi Plus is still going, but the latest edition took me nearly three weeks to get hold of, as nowwhere in Liverpool (or Merseyside, generally) had a copy; apparently, a distribution cock-up. I found that it was best to just contact the mag directly over the phone, and they will send one out to you post-free in exchange for your switch/delta/visa number, and that's how I eventually got the latest copy of it.
Posted on: 26 April 2001 by wal riley
Go for it, Rob!!!!! big grin
Posted on: 26 April 2001 by Edwin
Rob,

Will you include articles from Hifi Review too? It would be great if you could. Apart from Naim gear, I would be interested in seeing articles on Roksan (particulary the Xerxes/Artemiz/Shiraz)

Thanks,
Edwin

Posted on: 27 April 2001 by Dev B
I remember that one, didn't they take a Roxy, PT and Linn to Grahams and get each of the desiner designer to set the up and then they declared that the PT has poor speed stability and the LP12 was the best turntable ever.

Dev

Posted on: 27 April 2001 by Tony L
quote:
Careful Edwin theres an absolutely er scorching review in one of those Hi Fi Reviews of the Xerxes in company with a Pink Triangle and a linn.

I remember that one. The strange thing was there was an earlier review of the Xerxes on its own that was a total and utter rave, it was sufficient for me to travel miles to audition the Xerxes against the similarly priced LP12. I bought the Xerxes / RB300. In the review the Xerxes was equipped with an Ittok, which many did not think to be a good match, but they loved it. Something about making Bob Dylan sound more in tune!

The Xerxes is a great deck.

Tony.

Posted on: 27 April 2001 by John Channing
I've got a couple of years worth of hifi review, including the first ever reviews of the Linn Lingo ("The biggest upgrade you will ever make"), the 52 (it was compared with the then reference 72 which it absolutely murdered), and a comparison of the Ekos,Ittok,and Aro. Strangely the Ekos was the hands down winner with the Aro judged roughly equal to the TikTok! A few of these on your site would make great reading. I have thought about doing this kind of thing myself but was unsure about the copyright issues.
John
Posted on: 27 April 2001 by Tony L
quote:
TFR was wild! - so pro Linn/Naim/Rega that you often wondered if some of the articles and reviews were a wind-up.

I remember the Flat Response preamp roundup article was hilarious. They compared a Audio Research SP8, a Musical Fidelity MVT, and a 32.5 / Hicap.

The 32.5 was considered to be so far ahead of the other two in every area that the whole comparison was considered worthless, so they ended up comparing the Audio Research SP8 against the preamp section of a NAD 3020, needless to say it lost. The thing is I honestly consider them to have a point, I have heard Audio Research and MF kit at great length myself (one of my friends owned a LS7, LS2, and a MVT over the years), and I would choose the 3020 by a bloody mile in each instance!

Tony.

Posted on: 27 April 2001 by John Channing
quote:
This apparent hedging was explained by the fact that MS was reviewing a briefly borrowed prototype ARO, which he said differed from production versions only in purely cosmetic respects.

Yes, that arm appears in a lot of pictures in HiFi Review and it had a black arm tube.
John

Posted on: 27 April 2001 by Andrew L. Weekes
quote:
Strangely the Ekos was the hands down winner with the Aro judged roughly equal to the TikTok!

I don't have my old copies now, but I can remember CF being scathing with regard to the Aro and it's design philosophy / operating conditions, whereas MS was totally pro ARO.

It was about the time of this fundamental editorial split that the magazine folded wink

Andy.

Andrew L. Weekes
alweekes@audiophile.com

Posted on: 27 April 2001 by wal riley
Paul, tell me you're joking!
Is it possible that the above two fell out because they couldn't stand each other's choice of equipment? Did it go something like this? (preferably in menacing James-Bond-bad-guy foreign accents):

"A thousand curses upon your cable!"

"Yes? Well, see how I laugh at your Loudspeaker! Ha-ha-ha!!"

And I thought I was sad.
Malcom Steward was writing the intro on the Audio Excellence brochures for a little while, if that's any help. I'm not sure if that's still the case though, as I haven't been near the shop for ages. big grin

Posted on: 27 April 2001 by Martin Payne
quote:
Chris Frankland: "…The Naim arm was with us so briefly as to preclude the time for a comparison, so watch this space. In the meantime, I can recommend the Ekos as beyond doubt the finest arm I have heard to date…"

Malcolm Steward: "To prove that I’ve not been eulogising without commitment there is a cheque in my book made out in favour of Naim Audio already - all it needs is the amount filling in!"

Basically, Chris used Isobariks and Malcolm had SBLs.

The rest of their preferrences seemed to be consistent with this, and there may also have been some synergy.

I know several people who reckon that the Ekos is a poor match for SBLs (although the ARO is not necessarily a poor match for Isobariks??)

cheers, Martin

Posted on: 28 April 2001 by Mick P
Rob

The first law of business states that you preserve your cash flow. Businesses therefore rent instead of buy.

Why not rent them for a few weeks so as you can do what you want with them and then return them.

Regards

Mick