Gene,
Manufacturers that become coy and elusive in providing equipment to be tested by independent reviewers such as Audioholics, identify themselves as unscrupulous and possible shysters in the industry. Do we really want that product anyway then?.
The late David Hafler (I think they called him the grandfather of consumer Hi-Fi if I am not mistaken) produced some very high quality equipment in his era, thus raising the bar and standard of the equipment we all enjoy today. It prompted manufactures to lift their game and provide quality at a reasonable price point, to the mass market.
This is akin to what Emotiva, NAD, Outlaw, Sherbourne, Rotel et al. have done today.
Whilst I have an appreciation for the High End Audiophile equipment, then I expect that they have achieved this through their pursuit of the best of the technology that is currently available (eg Class D, amplification trends today).
In Wrist-Watch parlance's, when you buy a Rolex say, the internal movement (caliber) may very well be a standard ETA SA/ Valjoux movement. In other words, the caliber may be the same as in an Omega, Rolex, Breitling, IWC etc. There maybe modifications to said caliber (complications) and thus should be easily identifiable to the consumer of these high quality watches. (read watch buyers guides/magazines). Then the customer bases their decision on the desirability of the watch, the appearance, jewelry appearance and the possible collectibility of said watch.
The same should apply for Audio Equipment... Oppo certainly does not enjoy the same pedigree as Lexicon (or does it?) in regards to the perceived performance, but from a Brand point of view Oppo can not command the price premium Lexicon does. (eg.Rolox verses Seiko).
The problem is that in Audio circles, if I have a premium brand product, then by that assumption, I must therefore have the best..! Well you may have the best looking faceplate and remote, but the hardware is the same. In order to level the playing field, your review has brought a high profile brand into the spot light and hits a sore point on the Price/performance of the contributing product.
If manufactures are confident in that they have actually modified and tweaked their donor/cloned units, they should offer them for review to determine the benefits of said mod, not just cutting holes in their chassis to provide for cooling. Otherwise, acknowledge that you have a donor/clone and let the consumer decide on the features and appearance issue.
On a personal note: I was in the market for a pre-pro set up, looking to spend a small fortune, but decide to follow one of you recommendations a few years ago. A Yamaha RXV-2600 and an Emotiva MPS-1 as a the power amp...(my first every Yamaha/Emotiva Product, also the lowest priced equipment I had ever bought) yep you were right, great performance for the price. It changed my way off thinking about Audio Gear. Alas, if I had gone on my previous course of acquisition, I would now be left with a up-market processor that is outperformed today buy some middle of the road receivers, in processing terms that is. Now looking for an upgrade to the 2600, to obtain the latest audio formats, video scaling etc...
I suspect you have a loyal following among the members of the forum, so, keep up the good work.
Its lonely at the top.
Dapper Dan
