This seems very strange to me and also speaks to what I've seen as a trend in Stereophile reviews recently: that the reviewers can't hear or can barely hear a difference between different products. I specifically refer to Atkinson's claim that the Boulder, Ayre and Meridian players sounded very much the same. I've heard the Boulder and Ayre players in one of our local stores here in Chicago and they sound absolutely nothing alike - the Ayre has a pronounced midrange and little bass response (it seemed to have a certain "presence" at first but I eventually figured out that this coloration made everything sound the same) and the Boulder was very clean and taut with a big bottom end. I've also been to a store in Dallas where I heard the Ayre in comparison to Audio Research and the characteristics of the Ayre were similar. In that store, the salesman told me that they could hear the difference between the Ayre and Boulder from down the hall, that the review was a bit of a joke. What I find disturbing is that I was in the market for the C-5xe prior to this based on the reviews I've been reading. Now I'm suspicious about why so many reviewers are writing things that are counter to what my own ears tell me and also why so many of them seem to own gear from the same manufacturers. Methinks a little back scratching is going on!
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