Effect of Local Pricing on Reviews???

[Ajani]

Cu'mon, Ajani. Sure, in the best of all possible worlds. But bear in mind that private enterprise is all about releaving the customer of as much of his money as possible while keeping cost of product as low as possible.

What do you suppose the sound improvement per dollar is for 'Brilliant Pebbles', (Large BP, $129)? Or how about the 'Teleportation Tweak', $60? But hey, both come with money back guarantee. The sad part is that some people actually "hear" an improvement.

Feanor, I don't doubt that there is a lot of snakeoil, BS and all-purpose rip-offs in Hi-Fi...

I also don't mind if other persons want to buy gear simply because it looks and is more expensive than other gear (rather than because it has any sonic advantage)...

I am also not one of those persons who think that all Hi-Fi brands and review mags are colluding to rip-off naive consumers... I actually believe that there are many brands and magazines that have integrity...

However, this pricing to performance issue makes me question the competence (not the integrity) of reviewers in general...

An interesting point I saw made recently on a Stereophile forum, was that the artistic, right side of the brain is responsible for our appreciation of music... whereas the logical left side of the brain is what is used in blind tests and conducting measurements of Hi-Fi gear... So essentially no amount of scientific tests will reveal why someone prefers the sound of particular component... While the person proposing the point was clearly anti-measurement, I begin to wonder if all this really means that much of what we perceive as sonic differences are really just all in our head...

Regardless of the situation, I'll continue to buy what I think sounds good...

[Ajani]

Still Ajani, bad reviews are generally quite rare. It seems like most Stereophile reviews of speakers say similar things in the conclusion

Well yes, bad reviews are rare in North America (fairly common in the UK though)... The reason, as one Stereophile reviewer (I think Kalman Robinson) explained, is that reviewers select products that interest them to review... Since a reviewer will have to 'live' with a piece of gear for months in order to do the review, he's not going to select anything that he suspects will suck... Who would want to spend months listening to sub-standard gear? So he'll choose products that impressed him at a trade show or from a brand that he generally likes, etc...

Also, most people won't spend anytime reading bad reviews anyway... so what's the point spending months auditioning a crap product and writing a review that no-one will read anyway?

[frenchmon]

..... begin to wonder if all this really means that much of what we perceive as sonic differences are really just all in our head...

Regardless of the situation, I'll continue to buy what I think sounds good...

You've nailed it Ajani... There are some sonic differences, but that still does not mean its not subjective because at the end of the day it really is.I read an old debate with you and Mr.Peabody and one other person who disagreed over Dynaudio speakers. Why, because sound is subjective. But every one does not understand this fact. And because of that, some get played on. While there are some good audio reviewers out there, thats not to say some are not just playing on some of us becauses the fact of human nature says otherwise. Its not all about competence with some of these guys....not all are honest Joes.

frenchmon

[frenchmon]

Well yes, bad reviews are rare in North America (fairly common in the UK though)... The reason, as one Stereophile reviewer (I think Kalman Robinson) explained, is that reviewers select products that interest them to review... Since a reviewer will have to 'live' with a piece of gear for months in order to do the review, he's not going to select anything that he suspects will suck... Who would want to spend months listening to sub-standard gear? So he'll choose products that impressed him at a trade show or from a brand that he generally likes, etc...

Also, most people won't spend anytime reading bad reviews anyway... so what's the point spending months auditioning a crap product and writing a review that no-one will read anyway?

And I've also read them say that they where asked to review gear by John Atkinson or that a manufacturer asked them to review a product. So it not always what they want to review. They do have some surprise reviews. Sometimes they are asked to review stuff that others have not time to review....and for the most part it comes out smelling like a rose.

frenchmon

[Ajani]

You've nailed it Ajani... There are some sonic differences, but that still does not mean its not subjective because at the end of the day it really is.I read an old debate with you and Mr.Peabody and one other person who disagreed over Dynaudio speakers. Why, because sound is subjective. But every one does not understand this fact. And because of that, some get played on. While there are some good audio reviewers out there, thats not to say some are not just playing on some of us becauses the fact of human nature says otherwise. Its not all about competence with some of these guys....not all are honest Joes.

frenchmon

The WORST thing to do is to argue over brands... I've learned that lesson well... We all have very different sonic preferences... So for example I really like Revel and Monitor Audio speakers (both of which have massive fan followings and receive rave reviews), but I truly hate Magnepan Speakers (which also has massive fan followings and receives rave reviews)...

Even reviewers admit (well the honest ones anyway) that they have preferences... Some of the reviewers on Stereophile make it clear that they detest wimpy tube amps and Horn speakers... while others would never touch an amp that puts out more than 50 watts... So each reviewer only reviews gear that fit his personal sonic preferences... The problem is that many of us readers don't realize that and think that because one reviewer raved about a product, that it means that all reviewers in the mag felt the same way... Luckily for me, I hang around some of the review mag forums as well as this site, so I can read what some of the reviewers think of products that were raved about in their own mag! Just an example, over on WHF forums one of the Editors said that Cyrus sounds likes nail on a chalkboard to him... Which is amusing since Cyrus just won 2 awards for best Integrated Amplifiers and 3 for Best CD players at WHF's annual awards...

[Ajani]

And I've also read them say that they where asked to review gear by John Atkinson or that a manufacturer asked them to review a product. So it not always what they want to review. They do have some surprise reviews. Sometimes they are asked to review stuff that others have not time to review....and for the most part it comes out smelling like a rose.

frenchmon

As they point out, they can pass on reviewing those items... And John Atkinson is not likely to give a reviewer a product to review that he doesn't think the reviewer might like... JA knows each reviewer's specialty...