6moons has reviewed the Stahl-Tek Vekian DAC ($20,000). This is a US-made DAC with a claimed 127dB S/N ratio. Reviewer Linnman compared the unit to the Zanden Model 5000s and Orpheus Labs Heritage DACs. His conclusions are mixed, but his final assessment of the Vekian includes the following:
In my humble opinion, the Vekian DAC by Stahl-Tec is a true breakthrough product in digital high-end converters.
Read the entire review, then check out Linnman’s reviews of the Zanden and Orpheus DACs mentioned in the review.
I am suspicious when all 3 DACs come from a single distributor in HK which Linnman is close to. He can’t say bad conclusions about them, can he? 😉
Just check
http://www.stahltek.com/distributors.htm
and
http://www.audioexotics.hk/products.php
I will consider that 90% of his reviews are endorsement products for Audioexotics
Oops, slight sentence sequencing problem. I meant to write
“I will consider that 90% of his reviews are product endorsements for Audioexotics”
Hi Hotbird. Not sure I understand your comment. Are you saying the reviewer can’t be objective because most of the products he reviews come from the same distributor?
Well, you can call me a highly suspicious doubting thomas if you want 😉
I have been following Linnman’s reviews ever since he started writing for 6moons, so more or less I know what equipment he has reviewed, and I can safely say that most if not all, the equipment that he reviews in recent years are from Audio Exotics.
Just check
http://www.6moons.com/industryfeatures/bo2007/linnman.html
http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/davinci/davinci.html
and the article itself on Audioexotics
http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/audioexotics/audioexotics.html
and also google these quote below (removing the quotation marks)
“linnman site:http://www.audioexotics.hk/forum.php”
HongKong is kind of like the hifi capital in the world and has at least a 100 hifi dealers distributing audio equipment ranging from high-end to low-end. A Hongkong reviewer restricting his reviews to only products carried by one dealer doesn’t measure well for objectivity in my books. If 6moons was the government of a country, such practices smacks of cronyism 😉
I just found the url for listing reviews by individual reviewer.
Just check the reviews that Linnman has written
http://www.sixmoons.com/archivelibrary/writer.html
For the reader to judge for themselves whether what I wrote above is just baloney or worthy of suspicion 😉
Linnman has purchased all the equipment he writes about. It goes without saying that he likes it. And yes, he deals exclusively with J. Lam of Audio Exotics. While I can appreciate your suspicion, you need to know that Linnman acquires all this gear for himself. He is not asking for manufacturer’s loans. To my mind, this entitles him to share his opinion on the equipment and I for one don’t really care where he buys it. When all is said and done, putting your pen where your wallet is speaks quite loudly for itself…
In other words, I consider his reviews as insiduous advertisements for AudioExotics. 😉
Srajan: whether or not a reviewer buys “all the equipment he writes about” doesn’t address the issue of objectivity (brought up by hotbird). afterall, he/she could be getting “sweetheart deals” for providing free advertising.
furthermore, the question is – if 6moons is willing to be so blatant about such arrangements, why not just recruit dealers, distributors, or even manufacturers (to become “reviewers”) & let them wax lyrical abt their own products??!
Such a practice is quite vulnerable to abuse.
Below is tall story how I may do it given the opportunity.
I may be a rich bloke wanting to buy all the best equipment in the world. So I negotiate a deal with my favorite shop to become the distributor for it after lots of consultation with the principals of the equipment for a good review with a highly regarded magazine. In return, instead of this equipment going to other dealers whom I may not have sweetheart deal agreements, sole distributorship goes to my favourite dealer from I may highly expect to buy it for a nominal fee and not only that, trade it in later for the next best equipment to come along as long as I continuously practise such a cozy arrangement.
And I still own the equipment I review, so nobody can lay a finger on my objectivity 😉
Lindemann is Audio Exotics. Everybody in Hong Kong know that !
I want to know how the DAC is ?
http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/stahl-tek/vekian_2.html
http://www.stahltek.com/vekian_da.htm
Any one have any experiance ?
Thanks,
‘shanti’