I scarcely knew what to cover in the 750 words Stereophile allows for manufacturers' responses.This
page covers thoughts that I felt could not be published in the magazine, either because of length, or the possibility of being
misinterpreted. People who surf this website know me fairly well, and can filter these comments through the context of my
personality and philosophy.
Probably the most troubling aspect of the article was that our turntable was penalized for letting the character
of the tonearm show through. I consider the Galibier's transparency and the fact that it brings the best out of each tonearm and
cartridge to be a virtue, and not a shortcoming.
During an East Coast trip, I had the opportunity to meet Art and Janet. This was about 10 days after the Galibier arrived
at their house. Art and Janet are gracious hosts, and opened their house to me for an evening where we shared food,
company, and music. Art is a great bluegrass guitarist and owns a wonderful Santa Cruz guitar.
As the evening wore on, I grew concerned about "corrupting" our professional relationship, because they're the type
of folks whom I can easily see as friends.
Please take my comments below in that context of a small manufacturer looking to add his personal bias to the story. You'd expect
nothing less. I am well aware that the public hangs on every word written, and it can sometimes be all too difficult for a reviewer
to be perfectly fair. We are all human, and in the context of magazine publishing, there are onerous deadlines to be met.
A bit of background ...
My plan for was to start Art off with a Graham Robin, since he was well familiar with it. Knowing that the Robin is not
necessarily Art's or my cup of tea, I wanted to demonstrate how good it can sound on a Galibier.
Part 2 involved sending Art an armboard and VTA adapter for his beloved Rega RB-300. Art had loaned me an RB-300 from his quiver
for just this purpose.
The third variation involved machining an armboard for his numero uno - the Naim ARO.
The plan unraveled when my machinist was delayed in producing the Rega armboards and VTA adapter. 5 weeks after visiting Art
in the Spring of 2004, I received both the Rega parts from my machinist, and the draft of the Listening article in my inbox.
In a strange way, I think that Art took a liking to me, and wanted to place the article in the October issue - the recommended
components issue. People who like me, frequently express it in strange ways 
Needless to say, I ceased in my attempts to hook up with the Colorado Naim rep who had been traveling extensively
during that period. In our e-mail exchanges, the Naim rep told me that a simple mounting template would not suffice, that I
needed to see the arm in person in order to understand the Naim's "peculiar" mounting requirements (it is British,
after all).
In retrospect, I realize that my assumption of the turntable being at Art's for some 3 months (typical of most reviews) was
ill-founded. We never spoke about a specific "review period" and I take responsibility for this. I was however taken aback
by not receiving any communications to the effect "I need to finish this project up, is the Rega armboard coming soon?" I also
could have answered his question about rubber belts (addressed in my official reply).
I approached the Galibier submission knowing that it was going into the hands of a "Linnie" and did not expect Art to fall head
over heels. Why submit it for review then? Simply put, as a small direct-sales manufacturer, the credibility of proving our
existence as something more than electrons projected on a computer screen was important.
Frankly, I was pleasantly surprised by his comments that Micro Seiki's never wowed him, but that the Galibier opened his eyes
to possibility of high mass turntables. I considered this to be more than a moral victory.
The Graham Robin:
I completely agree with Art's assessment of the Graham Robin - as he states ever so clearly in his "Listening" column - from
Stereophile April, 2003.
What troubles me is that in the Galibier column, he ascribes many of the characteristics of the Robin to our turntables.
This puzzles me, in light of ...
The Schröder Reference:
This is where I really take issue. The evening we spent listening to the Schröder Reference was mind-blowing. When
the Denon DL-103R's stylus hit the first groove, Art turned my way with an intense piercing stare of wonderment. The
transformation is what anyone who's heard a Schröder Reference would expect.
The question then arises as to why all of the good sound coming out of the front end was ascribed to the Schröder, with
no credit being given to the Galibier. With the Graham Robin in place, the flat colorless sound was attributed to the Galibier
and not to the Graham.
You can't have it both ways.
My experience has been that with things audio, if it sounds good, then there is nothing in the signal chain choking things off.
Furthermore, let's put things this into better perspective, remembering the Linn hierarchy of turntable, then tonearm, then cartridge.
According to the Linn gospel, a good tonearm and cartridge are wasted on an inferior turntable.
While on the subject of Linns, the ever controversial High-End Audio website has quite a bit to say on the subject. This consists
of both Arthur's opinions as well as correspondence from his readers.
I don't agree with every last word written on this website. I find for example that VPI's are very sterile sounding and uninvolving
turntables - like every other American turntable I've heard with the exception of George Merrill's Heirloom, and his modified AR's.
There is still quite a bit of provocative reading to ponder here however.
Click here to link to this commentary.
To be continued ...
