AXPONA 2011 Coverage

Daniel Hertz is the name of Mark Levinson’s new company based in Switzerland. I don’t know whether there was something wrong with the components, the speakers, the room or the set-up - probably all of them - but honestly the music sounded like it was coming from PA speakers. I was shocked. I know that is a harsh judgment, but there you have it. I can’t pass along any technical or price information because there was no literature available, and the woman handling the demo didn’t know anything except the system was designed by Mark Levinson. I went by twice on Friday and once on Saturday, and the hostess was the only one there. Hardly an auspicious U.S. debut of a system which probably costs a fortune.

I find it interesting that Stephen Meijas, in his description of the room for Stereophile, was absolutely silent on the sound quality of the system. Perhaps he was following his mother’s advice: if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.

Here is an e-mail I received from Mike Powel, who is affiliated in some capacity with Daniel Hertz, in response to my assessment.

Hi Franklin,

I must say, I am amazed at your naming our room “worst of show”. Somehow I have your card in my hand, so I’m not sure if you gave it to my girlfriend whom was there as my guest and had nothing to do with DH, or if you gave it to me. My Girlfriend is from Costa Rica and knows nothing about the gear, I took a bathroom break and needed to leave her there, since Barry Willis the other person running this room was upstairs with Michael Fremer. Fremer stayed with us for an hour and called the system “fantastic” and with “very perfect tonality”. I’m not sure if my Girlfriend tried to help you and may have accidentally played a crappy mp3 file from the desktop, but I think calling this system the worst of show is unfair at best. You did not have a proper demo.

If you wish to keep it positioned where you have it, would you please mind saying that when you came to the room, it unfortunately happened to be at the exact 2, 10 minute breaks i took for the bathroom and a water. You were met by a guest who tried to help but was unable to properly demo the system. My legs and feet ache from all the time I took standing in this room and it is absolutely unreal that you came twice and did not see me…

Thanks

Mike Powell
Daniel Hertz USA

I stand by my assessment of what I heard. Music was already playing on each of the occasions I walked in the room. The hostess was not selecting files from the desktop. I’m not sure what would have been different if Mike Powell had been standing in the room while I was listening to what was being played. I’ll be interested to read what MF has to say about the room, if anything.

By the way, Mike Powell indicated that Mark Levinson has 40 years of experience as a recording engineer, mastering engineer and professional musician. I was unaware of that so I looked him up. It appears he played jazz bass in the Paul Bley Trio. He played on four of their albums from 1966-1975 and played on one track of their fifth and final album in 1994. Cuts from those albums appear on three other compilation albums. He also has a technical and production credit for Miles Davis - The Complete Birth of the Cool, a Capitol reissue in 1998. He was the reissue producer and, along with Phil Schaap, was the remastering engineer. You learn something new every day.

Addendum:

Here’s is what Mike Powell had to say in defense of the mark-up on Daniel Hertz speakers:

If I create an exclusive treatment for dogshit and every time you smell it you have an orgasm, then its worth something more than its component parts.

Is this someone you would want to buy a six figure audio system from? I certainly wouldn’t.

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