Laraine Barker

A member of the Philip Greenspun's Homepage community since April 23, 2016

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April 23, 2016, on Stereos of the Rich and Famous:
Jeff says, "As for Stereophile, they should be indicted for consumer fraud along with Monster, MIT Cables, et al." Add to this all those people who keep Strad violins overpriced. Today's top violin makers can make instruments every bit as good as Stradivari's and it has been proved in blind tests that people can't tell the difference, even violinists themselves. Most Strads are also what I call mutilated. It is amazing what has to be done to a Strad (or other 18th century instrument for that matter) to turn it into a 20th century instrument. As an example, the neck has to be longer. That means a new neck and a new fingerboard! If someone did the equivalent to a fine piece of Chippendale or Hepplewhite furniture, it would more than halve the value. The same should apply to Strad instruments. I also disagree about LP versus CD. The first CDs were definitely inferior to LPs but it didn't take long before even the critics writing for the highly acclaimed Gramophone magazine found the CD ver...