Poor grammar is disappointing and decidedly distracting in formal audio reviews.

Most reviews are for advertising purposes only. Some might try to entertain as well.

I can’t say I struggle to read any of them, not even the frankly unpleasantly dishonest Darko, but most are as dull as ditchwater.

Kennedy seems to be one of those steady pros who gets the job done. The kind proprietors like, a steady pair of hands. He can’t write for toffee but he seems to be aware of that.

"I started reviewing when I joined Hi-Fi Choice magazine for its transition from an A5 to an A4 monthly publication in 1987. By dint of persistence I was made Editor and stayed until 2001."


On the other hand I still enjoy reading Ken Kessler but his opiniated articles have little or nothing to do with my consumer decisions.

Here’s an extract from one of his latest posts on Soundstage HiFi.


"Ken Kessler’s New Stereo System: Part One

Here’s where it gets nasty, though—and why audiophiles are considered to be the meanest, most tight-fisted pricks on the planet: back in ’81, precious few “normal” people, as opposed to pre-conditioned hi-fi enthusiasts, balked at scraping together £299. Today? They’d expect to pay the same! Tell a civilian that an equivalent hi-fi system should cost £1400, and they’ll call you a rip-off artist."

https://www.soundstagehifi.com/index.php/international/soundstage-uk/1564-ken-kesslers-new-stereo-sy...

@gents,

"Sometimes, you have to go with the flow. If it's not for you, it's not for you, but, it's not like we're turning out flexible, well read readers (or listeners) anymore. I'm guessing that in the not too distant future, 'tweets' and Instagram posts will be as nuanced a reading adventure as Americans, born and not yet born, will ever see."



Yes, this is a facet of all literature as it endlessly gets reinterpreted through the ages.

It also explains why we may all have different favourite authors.

Chaucer, Dickens, Orwell, Miller, Proust, Wells, Maugham, Fitzgerald = ok

Shakespeare, Shaw, Woolf, Joyce, Beckett, Burroughs, Kerouac = not so ok.

But that's just me, YMMV.

At work we have a plain English department dedicated to promoting good grammar and clarity of meaning via elimination of jargon etc (or at least the meaning they want to convey) but as of yet I cannot recall  ever reading anything of interest in their memos.

@bruce19,

Have you heard his podcast on snake oil?

Squirm City Arizona.

Nothing libellous about having an opinion. I couldn't care less about his butthurt.

Is there really any surprise that he blocks comments even on his own rather slimy channel?


https://darko.audio/2020/03/podcast-20-snake-oil/

@chrisohea,

"Errr....stop reading the reviews of writers who cannot write/communicate clearly...This problem is everywhere, an epidemic in the 21st century."


There is always that.

You know the old saying, follow the money?

Well it seems as if we are living in the age of ever increasing sheeplike conformity as they blindly go about sniffing for the next dollar.

Hi-Fi journalists are really little more than hacks, especially now that they've largely  abandoned technical data in favour of ambiguous suggestions which serve as little more than dressed up advertising.

I used to tear out interesting magazine reviews (Hi-Fi Review etc) to keep and throw away the rest of the magazine, (the ones without any, I sold off for £1 on eBay just in case someone was interested). 

Apart from a few articles penned by Harvey Rosenberg, [ https://www.meta-gizmo.org/Tri/index-1.html ] and the writings of luminaries such as Gilbert Briggs, there's really hardly any worth a re-read.

Harry Pearson, you have an awful lot to answer for.