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When a Reviewer "likes" something

... what does that mean in your opinion. I read in one of the last Stereophile mags a comment from Mr. Atkinson where he wrote about the differences in "opinions" in forums or in printed mags. After all he ended with the argument, a component is good when a reviewer likes it.
Isn't is more helpful, when a reviewer knows something about a real tone reproduction? Or is it ok, when he used every month another CD or LP he got for free, a kind of music nearly no one wants to listen to?
Harry Pearson used in the 90's always the same records for his reviews but that was an exception I think.
What is it worth for you when - for example - Mr. Dudley/Fremer/Valin/HP .... "likes" something? Do you have the same "taste" they have?
I know it is possible to like a Turntable even when that unit can't hold the proper speed, or is extremely sensitive to any influences, there are endless recommendations written about such units...what is it worth for you?
Atkinson for example measures units, some have top datas but they can sound very boring, far away from the real thing, some have no top datas, some "tests" are shortened because a unit can reach a area which can be pretty dangerous (see one of the latest Agostino units, just as an example) but they are rated Class A in recommendations anyway....
When someone "knows" what is right or not, then his "liking" is only a personal opinion which is more or less uninteresting or?
Most customers (not all of course) would prefer to know what a unit is really able to do sonically, or not? Would knowledge destroy the joy of Hardware rolling? Or is there a reason why reviewers use low efficiency speakers when they have a tube amp for review (for example Lamm ML2.1/ML2.2 with Magico Speakers)? Is the matching "expensive + expensive" the proper way to show competence?
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jaxwired
232 posts
 
I'm not as cynical as some of you. I think the reviewers are doing their best.

However, if you buy based on reviews you better buy used. The only way to build a satisfying system is to try lots of different gear. I just buy and sell on the used market and home demo everything.
halcro's avatar
halcro
2,664 posts
 
We must never forget that the purpose of magazines is to sell copies....and the purpose of manufacturers is to sell product.
If manufacturers make NEW product.....the magazines can write NEW reviews of these NEW products and people will (hopefully) buy NEW product as well as the magazines?

There is no point in the magazines reviewing OLD products (which are no longer manufactured).....as there are no advertisers and a limited second hand market.
So we're caught on a treadmill with a self-perpetuating symbiotic relationship between magazine and manufacturer.
Because there is a constant requirement for NEW content in the magazines.....there is a reciprocating constant requirement for NEW product from the manufacturers and this gives the illusion of 'progress' in an industry....which in some areas (like analogue).....reached its zenith decades ago.
Do you really believe that the turntables produced today.....sometimes for seven figure sums.....are better than the top turntables produced by Micro Seiki, Denon, Technics, Victor/JVC, Garrard, Kenwood, or EMT in the '70s and '80s?
If you do.....you need to get out more.
And the same goes for tonearms and cartridges and many speaker systems as well.

But the only reviewer (to my knowledge) who has the chutzpah (and is allowed to survive)...is Art Dudley?
But there is no 'market' for manufacturers in Dudley's domain......apart perhaps from Shindo?

So for the rest of them.....there is this ever onward 'progression' in audio.
An unrelenting improvement which in reality is merely a mirage.

As others here have stated.......there is more reliable and genuine information here.....in these Forums and elsewhere on the Internet......than is generally available in the mainstream magazines.
But I would hate to see them disappear.........:-)
wolf_garcia
6,608 posts
 
I don't get attacking reviewers...commercial magazines are entertainment, and if you're not entertained and don't agree with the reviewers, DON'T READ THEM.
audiolui
294 posts
 
Jaxwired,
Since the existence of Audiogon, I have been buying and selling used equipment for the most part to try out so many different gears. Magazines do provide me information for me to make a choice in the used market although I have to wait for the new equipment to become available.

Tdaudio,
In the good old days, TAS was my audio bible. Reading their ads free magazine was like a treat in a candy store. That was awesome. I still have a few old copies in storage to remind me of the good old days. Magazines today might have credibility issue, I still subscribe to them to get the latest information and hear what the reviewers have to say about stereo equipment.
vicdamone
850 posts
 
+1 Wolf. Did most of us just graduate from Romper Room? Professional reviewing is not a regulatory commission. It's a business to perpetuate the growth of its advertisers and with what little revenue thats left over, try and nurture the growth of new design with articles and interviews.

This industry is hanging on by its fingernails fueled only by providing better audio (not great) to the portable digital masses and the analog based elderly (people with long lived LP collections who can afford the ever improving equipment to play it on).

The only aspect of this hobby that isn't subjective is a warped record. And even then somebody might have a player that can still play it.

Stop whining, share what you actually know, and consider subscribing to something even if its just for the laughs.
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