The reviewer's reviewing system.

[audioblazer]

What is your thought on reviewer who reviewed component bought on accomodative pricing ? What about those with components on long term loan ? Can we expect them to be honest in their review ?What about those with not so conducive room ? Can it sound good with glass front wall with curtain ? Kitchen on the right ? Fire place at front wall? As such will these reviews be credible or merely informative
To me , Mike malinoski with properly treated room & 1st class components is my go to reviewer.

 

[thedudeabides]

What reviewers do members of this forum currently respect and deem credible for their personal systems / listening rooms, knowledge, expertise, and product analysis (published reviews) and if so, why?

 

[DaveyF]

What reviewers do members of this forum currently respect and deem credible for their personal systems / listening rooms, knowledge, expertise, and product analysis (published reviews) and if so, why?

An excellent question. I used to respect really only one reviewer and that was: HP. Since his death, I am not sure who i really look to as 'worthy'. With the exception, of course, of my dear friend, Andre Marc..
Looking at the recent behavior of King Peter, it was made clear to me that a lot of these guys are in it for all the wrong reasons, IMO.

 

[dallasjustice]

What reviewers do members of this forum currently respect and deem credible for their personal systems / listening rooms, knowledge, expertise, and product analysis (published reviews) and if so, why?

I would say the loudspeaker measurements that John Atkinson does and, more importantly, the true anechoic measurements soundstage does (Doug Schneider and Jeff Fritz) at the NRC offer a huge benefit to dealers and customers. Unfortunately, I suspect those measurements are rarely consulted before making a decision to buy.

 

[ddk]

Surely. For me reviews are mostly informative and entertaining. IMHO ratings and stars are meaningless. However, for some good reviewers, if we know the reviewer system, room and preferences fairly well we can get an approximate idea of the performance of the component.

IMHO many people expect too much from a audio review.

Its because of the false idol worship culture that HP created, people are now disappointed dealing with fallible mortals.

david

 

[ddk]

What is your thought on reviewer who reviewed component bought on accomodative pricing ? What about those with components on long term loan ? Can we expect them to be honest in their review ?

Why not? I don't see a problem with any of that, would you purchase or keep a component on long term if you didn't like it? Wether or not one agree with and/or respects the opinions of "the" reviewer is another matter...

david

 

[DaveyF]

Its because of the false idol worship culture that HP created, people are now disappointed dealing with fallible mortals.

david

Actually, that is not the reason that I liked him. It was his writing style and considerable knowledge of music that I was impressed with.

 

[thedudeabides]

Its because of the false idol worship culture that HP created, people are now disappointed dealing with fallible mortals. david

Please elaborate.

 

[Robh3606]

The only other ears I trust are people who I have actually listened to systems with and agree on what we are hearing. Other than that it's all just a reference point for me. I will trust loudspeaker measurements published by JA before I will trust another persons opinion who I don't know.

Rob

 

[microstrip]

I would say the loudspeaker measurements that John Atkinson does and, more importantly, the true anechoic measurements soundstage does (Doug Schneider and Jeff Fritz) at the NRC offer a huge benefit to dealers and customers. Unfortunately, I suspect those measurements are rarely consulted before making a decision to buy.

What benefit? Causing naive users to exclude some of the best sounding loudspeakers in favor of some predictability of acceptable performance?

 

[Groucho]

What benefit? Causing naive users to exclude some of the best sounding loudspeakers in favor of some predictability of acceptable performance?

Presumably some people enjoy looking at photos through coloured ripply glass. But it gets wearing after a while. Same for speakers.

 

[ddk]

Please elaborate.

Disclaimer- I didn't like him nor found his reviews honest and worthwhile but as DaveyF mentioned the man had a writing style. He reigned as "THE" reviewer for about 2 decades and it was as if his word was written in stone, rarely challenged or dismissed by the audiophile community. AFAIK, no other reviewer has ever had the misplaced blind trust HP enjoyed and for that long.

david

 

[DaveyF]

Disclaimer- I didn't like him nor found his reviews honest and worthwhile but as DaveyF mentioned the man had a writing style. He reigned as "THE" reviewer for about 2 decades and it was as if his word was written in stone, rarely challenged or dismissed by the audiophile community. AFAIK, no other reviewer has ever had the misplaced blind trust HP enjoyed and for that long.

david

David, I don't know how you get the idea that HP enjoyed 'blind trust'. Most a'philes that I know, and that respected his writing and his opinion, were also very suspicious about how he was always able to acquire the best gear for his system.
Personally, I tended to agree with his findings regarding the sound of the gear under review more often than not. I also found him to be 'slightly' more discriminatory in his praise for gear than almost all other reviewers.
Unlike, say JV, who has never heard a high priced piece of gear that he just had to fall in love with; HP could...on occasion, conclude that there may be something missing, and/or at least reel in the hyperbole a little.

 

[ddk]

David, I don't know how you get the idea that HP enjoyed 'blind trust'. Most a'philes that I know, and that respected his writing and his opinion, were also very suspicious about how he was always able to acquire the best gear for his system.

I didn't mean it in that sense Dave, but blind trust in his reviews and the actual quality of his reviewing process.

david

 

[microstrip]

Presumably some people enjoy looking at photos through coloured ripply glass. But it gets wearing after a while. Same for speakers.

As most of the time, analogies with visual are completely inadequate for audio debates and just blur the sense of what is being debated. What will come next - a wine tasting metaphor?

 

[Purite Audio]

It is possible to enjoy equipment that measures badly , but if one is interested in high fidelity it might be also wise to seek out equipment that measures well.
Keith.

 

[ddk]

It is possible to enjoy equipment that measures badly , but if one is interested in high fidelity it might be also wise to seek out equipment that measures well.
Keith.

Problem is Keith that there have been too many great measuring poor sounding equipment.

david

 

[Groucho]

Problem is Keith that there have been too many great measuring poor sounding equipment.

david

That's not the issue. Are there any poor-measuring great sounding speakers? (after you've lived with them for a while).

I could design some speakers that measured well conventionally but sounded appalling. I don't think it would be possible to do it the other way round. Good but incomplete measurements don't guarantee great sound - they are a minimum requirement. But bad measurements guarantee bad sound.

 

[amirm]

Problem is Keith that there have been too many great measuring poor sounding equipment.

david

There is no problem there....

 

[thedudeabides]

Are there any poor-measuring great sounding speakers? But bad measurements guarantee bad sound.

With all due respect, Martin Logans typically measure poorly but have been recognized, once set up properly with the right gear, to be superb from a cost / performance perspective.

If you believe ML's sound bad (based on measurements), I would suggest you search out an ML based system that is properly optimized.