Slightly off topic but nowadays a similar trend can be observed in reviewers whose primary medium is youtube. Many started off as refreshing alternatives to the more mainstream reviewers al’a Absolute Sound, Stereophile, etc., and were actually very honest, opinionated maybe but still honest, in the beginning. Once they become popular, the devolution goes like this ...
The reviewers starts off as a hobbyist and the reviews are honest and do not tend to ’lie by omission’. Pretty soon, the youtube channel takes off and they quit their day jobs. Now the pressure to keep churning videos every week or daily (e.g. Steve Guttenburg) starts mounting. You gotta pay the bills after all. Next comes the infusion of chifi reviews. But while they claim that the chifi component flavor of the week is a giant killer giving you the same performance at 25% of the price, they will make sure not to compare to the higher end products directly. They will omit any mention of long term reliability, or post sales service. Everything is a giant killer, everything knocks their socks off!
I feel that our last bastion of hope remains forums such as these. Reviews, whether by professionals or amateurs on youtube, should be taken with a truck load full of salt.
The reviewers starts off as a hobbyist and the reviews are honest and do not tend to ’lie by omission’. Pretty soon, the youtube channel takes off and they quit their day jobs. Now the pressure to keep churning videos every week or daily (e.g. Steve Guttenburg) starts mounting. You gotta pay the bills after all. Next comes the infusion of chifi reviews. But while they claim that the chifi component flavor of the week is a giant killer giving you the same performance at 25% of the price, they will make sure not to compare to the higher end products directly. They will omit any mention of long term reliability, or post sales service. Everything is a giant killer, everything knocks their socks off!
I feel that our last bastion of hope remains forums such as these. Reviews, whether by professionals or amateurs on youtube, should be taken with a truck load full of salt.