Anyone read a negative review on gear?

[Tarheel_]

You know after 11 years in the Home Theater hobby, i've read countless reviews on everything from speakers to AVRs to auto house controls units, but I can't recall ever reading a truely negative review.

Anyone want to guess why? I feel this hobby is small enough that all the players are connected in some form and it would be professional suicide to expose one another.

I'm just rambling here ,but the more I think about this, the more I think we are getting mis-information from all directions!

[JohnMichael]

An example of a negative review is Art Dudley's review of the Exposure 3010 integrated amp. He praised the less expensive 2010 and felt it superior to the 3010. I think good products are openly praised while lesser products reviews are not printed or you have to read between the lines of the review.

[Ajani]

Panasonic SA-BX500 (1 out of 5 rating from WHF):
http://www.whathifi.com/review/panasonic-sa-bx500

KEF C5 (2 out of 5 rating from WHF):
http://www.whathifi.com/review/kef-c5

KEF C3 (2 out of 5 rating from WHF):
http://www.whathifi.com/review/kef-c3

Denon PMA-500AE (2 out of 5 rating from WHF):
http://www.whathifi.com/review/denon-pma-500ae

Pioneer DV-410 (2 out of 5 rating from WHF):
http://www.whathifi.com/review/pioneer-dv-410-v

Infinity Classia (2 out of 5 rating from WHF):
http://www.whathifi.com/review/infinity-classia

Mission E5 (2 out of 5 rating from WHF):
http://www.whathifi.com/review/mission-e5

Chordette Gem (Stereophile this January):
http://www.stereophile.com/content/c...m-da-processor

Musical Fidelity 550K Supercharger (Stereophile):
http://www.stereophile.com/content/m...-december-2008

[E-Stat]

You know after 11 years in the Home Theater hobby, i've read countless reviews on everything from speakers to AVRs to auto house controls units, but I can't recall ever reading a truely negative review.

Then you've never read The Absolute Sound or Stereophile. You'll find countless negative reviews in their library. One of the funniest ones I've read was by HP over the Plasmatronics speaker.

Anyone want to guess why?

Since I know a couple of reviewers, I'll give you their perspective. First of all, good reviewers invest a lot of time in the process. Would you really want to intentionally waste a lot of your time that way? There's too much good stuff out there to recommend than to focus on what isn't.

rw

[BadAssJazz]

Back when AV123 was still in business I read a few reviews of some of their products that were less than flattering. In fact, the website actually provided the link for one of them. Couldn't think of a better way to manage expectations.

I've also read a few rather blunt and uncolored reviews on the WhatHiFi website of various products. More often than not, they hit the mark.

At the end of the day, most reviews are just one man's opinion.

[pixelthis]

You know after 11 years in the Home Theater hobby, i've read countless reviews on everything from speakers to AVRs to auto house controls units, but I can't recall ever reading a truely negative review.

Anyone want to guess why? I feel this hobby is small enough that all the players are connected in some form and it would be professional suicide to expose one another.

I'm just rambling here ,but the more I think about this, the more I think we are getting mis-information from all directions!

THE PROBLEM is not "small" but big. When you have a mag full of advertising
do you really want to irritate the people paying the bills?
That being said, I HAVE READ PLENTY OF "NEGATIVE" STUFF.
One of the most memorial was NADS' first shipment of DVD players from CHINA.
One tester had to get three copies of the product before he got one that would even work.
ACTUALLY , most reviews are quite fair, and their used to be quite a few "bad" ones,
you might not remember, it was awhile ago.
BUT TECH HAS IMPROVED, and their really isn't that much to complain about, really.
Everything s built by robots, designed with cad-cam, and a lot of legacy stuff out there.
A trained monkey could probably turn out a decent product.
A lot is said about "hand crafted" stuff built with tender loving care, but give a ROBO 10,000 anyday.