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What do you expect a reviewers system to be

There has been quite a bit of discussion on reviewers systems, long term loans, favored purchase price etc.
but what do you expect your favorite reviewers system to be if he or she is to be taken seriously about the component under review. does the reviewers system have to be the same as yours. does it have to sound good, or should it be so detailed and etched that its not great fun to listen to, but you can sure tell the difference when a new component is substituted. if not the latter, then how can you tell if the new component just makes the system sound better, but may have aberrations of its own. And, if you demand the review have that detailed system, does he have to pay for it at retail so he can avoid criticism and have to listen to it all the time, or can he have another system he may enjoy more, or for which he got discount pricing.
Myself, I doubt that there are many full time reviewers who are independently wealthy and could afford. I'm ok with a reviewer using whatever system he likes to review a product, so long as he is familiar with that system so he can readily recognize changes, for better or worse. If thats a bose table radio,so be it. but what do you all think?
manitunc
buconero117
2,311 posts
 
As mentioned, having two systems, in different rooms. One would be a reference system that resulted from many years of listening. The other would be a continual work in progress with testing new components to be compare only against the reference system components sound, not the components themselves.
ptmconsulting
1,000 posts
 
Lets face it, a review article is going to net the reviewer maybe something in the $2000 neighborhood. Perhaps more for a regular senior contributor. I doubt that many a reviewer can subsist on those payouts, let alone amass an expensive state of the art system without some serious accommodation pricing and long term loans.

That being said, they do get to hear a lot of stuff and gain experience over time and pick and choose what they want to purchase for themselves. Yeah, a "neutral" system might be better for discerning differences and evaluating components, but it still depends on their familiarity with some kind of a reference (e.g. their own compilation of components). After all, that what each of us does when we hear another audiophile quality system ... we compare it to what we know and what we like.

However, reviewers will necessarily still try to be upbeat. How many reviews will they get if they trash things big time? So as readers, we have to read between the lines a bit. Somewhat forward sounding means it will etch your ears. Somewhat overfull bass means it sounds tubby and bloated and one note boomy. etc, you get the picture.
mechans
3,048 posts
 
The best measure outside of hearing a component in your own system is to read a review from severaal sources who invariably have different reference sysems. My point is that if you do read several sources and they concur about certain elements found in reviewing a product it is obviously more credible than reading one reviewer with one system.
That said, I did kind of get used to a particular reviewers system even though it often included elements I myself didn't always love an example being 6 moons.
peterayer
1,382 posts
 
I would like to see more reviews which make direct comparisons between a recently discontinued product with one that has just replaced it. So if a particular reviewer owns and has a lot of experience with a certain brand, then I would like to see that reviewer compare that brand's newest product with his current reference. This would really help those readers considering a particular upgrade within the same brand.

I think this could have more value than some other reviewer at the same magazine reviewing a brand he has little experience with.

The danger is that such a review might just say, buy the new one because it is newer, better and more expensive.
foster_9
1,638 posts
 
My expectations are simple. I expect a reviewers system to be what I would call "real-world." By that, I mean the system consists of relatively well-known brands that are not "out of this world" in cost.
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