View Full Version : Rip off alert....
Bernd
01-11-2008, 06:21 AM
....a £ 150 DVD Spinner...................
Bernd
01-11-2008, 06:23 AM
change the name to Goldmund add a metal plate and hey presto you've got a £ 6K CD Player.
Feanor
01-11-2008, 06:38 AM
change the name to Goldmund add a metal plate and hey presto you've got a £ 6K CD Player.
The boards are not identical but are remarkably similar, especially the left board but also the right, including seemingly identical LSI chips. The drives too seem similar or identical.
Is there more you can tell us, Bernd?
:17:
Luvin Da Blues
01-11-2008, 06:45 AM
LOL, but, but, that metal plate has damping properties worth at least a couple grand.
Bernd
01-11-2008, 06:50 AM
.....that the £ 150 DVD spinner is a Pioneer. I know that many companies used to implement Pioneer transports. But to up the price by that amount is just pure greed, and gives audiophiles and/or music lovers a bad deal.
I am always amazed how rarely someone opens their hardware up. You wouldn't buy a car without looking at the engine now would you?
Peace
:16:
Feanor
01-11-2008, 07:01 AM
.....that the £ 150 DVD spinner is a Pioneer. I know that many companies used to implement Pioneer transports. But to up the price by that amount is just pure greed, and gives audiophiles and/or music lovers a bad deal.
I am always amazed how rarely someone opens their hardware up. You wouldn't buy a car without looking at the engine now would you?
Peace
:16:
You're being a bit judgemental, aren't you? :D After all, Goldmund might have spent tens of dollars substituting higher grade caps, a better power transformer, (we can't see the Pioneer's), etc. A doubtless, whereas the Pioneer was assembled by machines and $0.20 per hour labour in Taiwan, the Goldmund was assembled, lovingly, by yodling gnomes in the Swiss Alps.
Bernd
01-11-2008, 07:07 AM
You're being a bit judgemental, aren't you? :D After all, Goldmund might have spent tens of dollars substituting higher grade caps, a better power transformer, (we can't see the Pioneer's), etc. A doubtless, whereas the Pioneer was assembled by machines and $0.20 per hour labour in Taiwan, the Goldmund was assembled, lovingly, by yodling gnomes in the Swiss Alps.
Well that would explain it. Thank you Doctor.:cornut:
I also know that Advantage used the same Transport in their £10k Uni Disc spinner, but man is that machine crammed full of top class stuff.
And yes I totally overlooked that most expensive of items the Power transformer. Adds another 2k I am sure.
Shame on them.
Peace
:16:
basite
01-11-2008, 09:47 AM
definately a rip off...
it looks to cheap, there is no shielding whatsoever, no different caps, cheap wiring, to empty, no balanced outs, at first sight, (not build for balanced neither), transport looks the same.
Whatever it is, it ain't a genuine Goldmund.
Keep them spinning,
Bert.
O'Shag
01-11-2008, 12:03 PM
Hi Bernd. Hope your not too cold up there in Cheshire (I used to live in Bramhall Stockport about 28 years ago). Also hope you've been enjoying the Spanish wine you got from your trip. Your system is very nice indeed by the way.
Surely Golmund couldn't do this. Are you sure the unit is really a Golmund? They certainly would be stupid to think people wouldn' find out. I find it hard to believe a company so dedicated to the final word in quality (Studio turntable) would just take two boards and a drive from a CD player, with perhaps a new power supply, put there name plate on an sell it for 5 or 6K. Defies common sense..
GMichael
01-11-2008, 12:28 PM
Maybe the Pioneer is just that good and should cost thousands more.:ihih:
Nah....
I didn't think so either.:idea:
JohnMichael
01-11-2008, 01:01 PM
The "Goldmund" does have prettier internal wiring. I like upgraded wire. Though I think I like my money more.
O'Shag
01-11-2008, 02:08 PM
The "Goldmund" does have prettier internal wiring. I like upgraded wire. Though I think I like my money more.
:lol: :D :D :D :8: Nice one JohnMichael!
Bernd
01-12-2008, 01:46 AM
Hi Bernd. Hope your not too cold up there in Cheshire (I used to live in Bramhall Stockport about 28 years ago). Also hope you've been enjoying the Spanish wine you got from your trip. Your system is very nice indeed by the way.
Surely Golmund couldn't do this. Are you sure the unit is really a Golmund? They certainly would be stupid to think people wouldn' find out. I find it hard to believe a company so dedicated to the final word in quality (Studio turntable) would just take two boards and a drive from a CD player, with perhaps a new power supply, put there name plate on an sell it for 5 or 6K. Defies common sense..
As far as I know this is genuine. another reason why high-end audio is in decline and why you need to search out the small manufacturer and get person to person info.
Just take a look at the inside of Musical Fidelitys offerings. You will be in for a shock.
Caveat emptor has never held more true than today. Lots of spin and hype rather then evidence.
And the weather you ask. Man oh man it stinks. Cold, grey, windy and wet, but you knew that already.
Have a good one.
Peace
:16:
basite
01-12-2008, 02:28 AM
As far as I know this is genuine. another reason why high-end audio is in decline and why you need to search out the small manufacturer and get person to person info.
Just take a look at the inside of Musical Fidelitys offerings. You will be in for a shock.
Caveat emptor has never held more true than today. Lots of spin and hype rather then evidence.
And the weather you ask. Man oh man it stinks. Cold, grey, windy and wet, but you knew that already.
Have a good one.
Peace
:16:
how does the interior of your electrocompaniet look like?
I've seen some really nice high end gear too though (look at CEC, Accuphase, Mcintosh,... all pretty good looking inside and outside :))
Bernd
01-12-2008, 02:55 AM
I think you are missing the point Bert. I am concerned at the blatant deception some companies do. I am well aware that there are many decent and honest manufacturers out there. I am also aware that Goldmunds TT are outstanding. Just this CDP looks to me like cashing in by using the Goldmund name. Try and compare the inards of this Goldmund CDP to an Esoteric X-03 at 30% less cost. The esoteric is jammed packed with high quality parts, that somehow justifies the price. The more reasonable stuff is marketed under the TEAC brand. You see the difference. Not every Goldmund is a Goldmund. Why not say so and sell it at a more reasonable price and be up front about it.
As for your question: The Electrocampaniet is jam packed with really good parts based around the Philips Pro 2 transport. Believe me I had a look inside and there is no more room. Even though several parts could be with replacing with higher specs parts, and the clock will be updated this year by a local company who specialises in such things.
Here is an an opinion:
The EMC-1 is beautiful in design and minimalistic in approach. From a design point the EMC-1 centres around a Philips CDM-PRO 2 transport. The CDM-PRO mechanism and DSP board are housed in a proprietary rectangular metal block consisting of 4 sheets of metal alloy with soft rubber coupling feet. This patented electro-mechanical damping system purportedly isolates the transport’s laser mechanism from vibrations. The EMC1’s circuits are fully balanced and symmetrical (the latest employing updated 24/192 kHz DAC’s) for both the left and right channel respectively. Additionally, four separate power supplies using their exclusive Floating Transformer Technology (FTT) feed the digital, analogue, drive mechanism and fluorescent display.
The sound of the EMC-1 has been compared quite favourable to the Linn CD12 Stereotimes magazine stated; “In summary, the EMC1 simply is the best sounding CD player to have graced my system. It humiliated the highly touted SACD’s in the all-important sonic parameters - richness, tonality, sound staging, resolution, image specificity and quietness - right out of the dog-gone box. The EMC1 outperformed SACD discs through the almighty Sony SCD1.”
The future upgrades are not cheap, but there is no need to change an already great player if a little fine tuning can elevate it. And Electrocompaniet have never disguised the fact that they use the Philips transport. Nor have many others like Mcintosh or DCS.
Peace
:16:
basite
01-12-2008, 04:20 AM
I got the poin though, not all high end truly is high end...
Goldmund is a company that heavily supports the 'plug and play' theory, so besides the audiophiles, they also target the rich people as a market (the rich that don't really care about the high end audio, but just want something better than the rest), so that's also why they do things like the cdp. If another brand, like accuphase or so, or even smaller, luxman, would do this, no one would buy it.
and well, reading your thoughts of the Electrocompaniet, it looks like I have a new goal to save for :cornut:
keep them spinning,
Bert.
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