Do you trust magazine reviews

[pmcuk 257]

1 hour ago, savvypaul said:

The sin of omission is often preferable to the sin of making up stuff about things  that you know too little about. The magazines will do the former,  wannabe gurus on forums will do the latter. A little knowledge is often a dangerous thing. The ONLY thing you can trust in a magazine review, or a forum review, is the subjective opinion.

Wannabe gurus get found out pretty quick on DIY Audio and Audio Asylum. These forums, however, are for both builders/designers and end users so you get a bit of both subjective opinions and hard science with measurements and schematics. You can't argue with stuff like Ohms Law and it goes on from there. I think it's a good mix, and DIY Audio in particular is the place to go to understand circuits and equipment. Some very clever guys regularly post there, giving access to some serious knowledge and experience. More reviews on Audio Asylum, and more of a mix where subjectivity comes into it, and there's even a tweakers forum.  

[DomT 1,086]

3 hours ago, pmcuk said:

As Dom suggests, forums are an alternative to magazine reviews. I never read magazines myself, but I regularly follow forums like DIY Audio and Audio Asylum. There are some very high skill guys on these forums - designers like Nelson Pass and a lot of industry professionals, lecturers, researchers and semi-retired electronics engineers who enjoy posting. 

But don’t forget the other group of users that you didn’t mention - music lovers. Their voice is just as valid!

[tuga 1,878]

4 hours ago, DomT said:

Tuga I think that you are being too narrow on this point. If a reviewer says I prefer this amp or this amp is better the reviewer is declaring a preference exactly the same as people on this forum. However if the reviewer says that product A in comparison with product B has a deeper bass output then this is not a preference it is a comparison; it only becomes a preference if the reviewer comments on their preference of the two products. 

Just like people who contribute to this forum the reader needs to understand the writer’s writing style to understand the magnitude of any statements compared to the readers own experiences.

There is no difference to me between a magazine reviewer or a forum member. 

I agree with your last sentence. Not entirely as some reviewers may be more experience listeners than forum members and the rest can be true as well.

Not having read a review for almost 15 years, my recollection is nonetheless not a favourable one: they're hardly ever informative regarding downsides, which in my view is what matters most.

They gloss over shortcomings which are presented as "character", relativise performance as if there were not better nor worse products and spend too much time glowing over something which is from a musical perspective is but a secondary or complementary aspect, soundstage.

I often quote this rare but good example of what in my view a review should be about (good technical description and assessment, comparative performance evaluation against references, listening panel auditions).

S100_HiFi News.pdf

[DomT 1,086]

1 minute ago, tuga said:

I agree with your last sentence. Not entirely as some reviewers may be more experience listeners than forum members and the rest can be true as well.

Not having read a review for almost 15 years, my recollection is nonetheless not a favourable one: they're hardly ever informative regarding downsides, which in my view is what matters most.

They gloss over shortcomings which are presented as "character", relativise performance as if there were not better nor worse products and spend too much time glowing over something which is from a musical perspective is but a secondary or complementary aspect, soundstage.

I often quote this rare but good example of what in my view a review should be about (good technical description and assessment, comparative performance evaluation against references, listening panel auditions).

S100_HiFi News.pdf 332.85 kB · 37 downloads

There are some things that we agree on.  But I never want to go to a restaurant with you because if I say that there is not enough salt or too much garlic that you are going to accuse me on ignoring the quality of the bacalhau and suggest that these other superficial things do not matter.  

[tuga 1,878]

38 minutes ago, DomT said:

There are some things that we agree on.  But I never want to go to a restaurant with you because if I say that there is not enough salt or too much garlic that you are going to accuse me on ignoring the quality of the bacalhau and suggest that these other superficial things do not matter.  

I can live with not enough salt but too much garlic never!!!

[Fatmarley 147]

The B&W 601 was a terrible speaker. Even a mate who wasn't at all interested in hifi couldn't believe how bad they sounded.

[peter the butcher 12]

I  read quite a few reviews of a PS Audio product, and in one that was science based, it got slated, ut in the other 10+ reviews it was venerated. The one that I read, and took a bit of notice of, was the one written or Hi Fi Pig, why? because the item was connected to the power amp I have and love it to bits, and it kind of sold me so I parted with £1649, and get it in 3 days time

[PuritéAudio 1,374]

Was the one  review based on the actual measurements and the other 10 purely subjective?

Keith

[savvypaul 1,616]

54 minutes ago, PuritéAudio said:

Was the one  review based on the actual measurements and the other 10 purely subjective?

Keith

You are happy to link to subjective reviews of the products you sell.

[PuritéAudio 1,374]

I prefer linking to measurements as they actually tell you something, measuring is the new sexy ask ‘Flash’ he has a new t-shirt.

Keith

[savvypaul 1,616]

13 minutes ago, PuritéAudio said:

I prefer linking to measurements as they actually tell you something, measuring is the new sexy ask ‘Flash’ he has a new t-shirt.

Keith

Lol.

I know the demographic of the audiophile community. They ain't new and they ain't sexy.

And, it's not a t-shirt, it's a thermal vest.

Edited November 22, 2020 by savvypaul

[savvypaul 1,616]

13 minutes ago, PuritéAudio said:

I prefer linking to measurements as they actually tell you something, measuring is the new sexy ask ‘Flash’ he has a new t-shirt.

Keith

You don't seem to link to ASR from your website, though.

Don't want to scare off the normal people?

Edited November 22, 2020 by savvypaul

[DomT 1,086]

5 hours ago, savvypaul said:

You don't seem to link to ASR from your website, though.

Don't want to scare off the normal people?

5 hours ago, savvypaul said:

You are happy to link to subjective reviews of the products you sell.

As I have been saying for a long time Keith does not practice what he preaches here when it comes to his business

[PuritéAudio 1,374]

3 hours ago, DomT said:

As I have been saying for a long time Keith does not practice what he preaches here when it comes to his business

Two links on the very first page of the ‘forum’.

Keith

[tuga 1,878]

3 hours ago, DomT said:

As I have been saying for a long time Keith does not practice what he preaches here when it comes to his business

It's only his hobby...