Ears. Just ears.
No, I'm serious. When I was asked to participate in review sessions, I agreed of course. The first or second time I showed up, the magazine editor took pains to mention that no special qualifications were necessary.
Over the noise of my deflating ego, I could hear him say that the whole point of hi-fi was that anyone could hear what the magazine people heard. If that were not the case, then it would be true that this is an elitist hobby, only suitable for a tiny subset of the population.
So I have to say that what it takes is ears, plus you need to be passing by the publication's offices when they're draggin' folks in off the street.
No, I'm serious. When I was asked to participate in review sessions, I agreed of course. The first or second time I showed up, the magazine editor took pains to mention that no special qualifications were necessary.
Over the noise of my deflating ego, I could hear him say that the whole point of hi-fi was that anyone could hear what the magazine people heard. If that were not the case, then it would be true that this is an elitist hobby, only suitable for a tiny subset of the population.
So I have to say that what it takes is ears, plus you need to be passing by the publication's offices when they're draggin' folks in off the street.