Thanks, Jim!
Robert Greene seemed to me to be the major reviewer with the greatest technical understanding and appreciation for things like radiation pattern control, so I invited him to come by my room at last year's Rocky Mountain Audio Fest. He was unable to attend, but said he'd like to hear my speakers. So I loaded 'em up and took them to his house a few weeks after the show.
Now Robert had told me in advance that he almost certainly wouldn't be able to offer a full review, as The Absolute Sound is geared towards manufacturers whose products their readers have a reasonable chance of finding at a local dealership in a large metropolitan area. He told me that there was a chance of my getting a Golden Ear award if he really liked the speakers, which surprised me. He explained that TAS does not limit their bestowal of awards to products that have been formally reviewed, and advertising or lack thereof plays no role in the process. I thanked him for giving me a long-shot chance; that was certainly better than no chance at all. I left the speakers with Robert for about four weeks, and then picked them up. He showed me some measurements he'd taken, which indicated a pretty good in-room response - not too different from the Gradient Revolution measurements posted on his site,
www.regonaudio.com. He seemed to approve of their measured performance and of the rather unorthodox philosophy behind them. He made a comment to the effect that, in general, loudspeaker manufacturers are getting better and better at doing the wrong things - presumably implying that I and a few others (like Clayton Shaw) are trying to do the right things.
As I left, Robert said he might mention the Dream Makers in an upcoming article. That was encouraging news, but I didn't get my hopes up too high.
Robert and his wife Paige were very gracious and I really wanted to send him a book as a Christmas present but decided against it as long as there was the possibility of a pending mention. I didn't want any hint of having tried to win a bit of extra favor from him. Now that his "mention" has turned out to be a Golden Ear award, I think it's okay for me to go ahead and send it.
I haven't gotten my copy of June 2008 The Absolute Sound yet, but I plan to keep it as long as I live. My kids will have to throw it away when they go through my stuff.
Duke
