What is a reviewer?

[bonzo75]

All what reviewers are telling me is that i need to work harder and harder to be able to buy all that stuff .
Do i smell i vicious circle somewhere lol

 

[andromedaaudio]

That is life for you Dutchie !

Thats why i stopped reading them .
I could nt take it anymore lol

 

[Elliot G.]

Second question of mine on this thread:

DO YOU THINK THAT A REVIEWER SHOULD BE ABLE TO SET UP A SYSTEM?
Im talking about taking the gear and making it sound like a reference system in their space?

 

[andromedaaudio]

I.m pretty sure he got that from George Carlin .
GOOGLE : George Carlin America and shopping malls.

I dont dare to post the link lol

 

[Lagonda]

Second question of mine on this thread:

DO YOU THINK THAT A REVIEWER SHOULD BE ABLE TO SET UP A SYSTEM?
Im talking about taking the gear and making it sound like a reference system in their space?

Yes, if they can't set up a system properly, they should not be reviewing equipment. Or they should have it done professionally every time they review new gear.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

I get it, Mike. At elevated performance levels, eventually somebody might lose an eye.

Which experience is most exhilarating and which am I going to remember and share most? Which experience is going to cause me to dig deepest to maximize everything I and my equipment have to offer? Which skiing experience is gonna’ drive me to improve my performance over and above what it was today rather than remain complacent for all eternity? More importantly, which potentially demonstrates the greater performance-oriented mindset – which presumably is why we’re all here in the first place, right?

no. we are here to scratch our hobby itch in our own way.

there is no either/or aspect to music reproduction listening. it's all there for the taking. for some, it is just the recording and best ways to enjoy it. or maybe some like to collect media. or multiple turntables. or more than one system. we all have our own slant. it's a hobby and no wrong answers.

some do like to compare systems or gear or pressings. fine. have at it. but let's not take ourselves too seriously.

IOW, by nature human beings are into performance and competition. Presumably that’s why bleachers and TV broadcasters at bunny slopes are rare. And as a performance-oriented pursuit, high-end audio is no exception.

that is not how i view our hobby. but everyone views life/hobbies though their own lens.

Clearly your response here alludes to the great differences between the mindset of a typical lover of music and a genuine performance-minded type.

enjoying (love of) music and valuing performance in a hifi system are not mutually exclusive. wanting one does not diminish the other.

 

[JiminGa]

Never happened to me when my wife was with me, neither the girl or i would have survived that experience Brazilians are dangerous !View attachment 137671

I almost became an art dealer. A good friend's family are one of the largest art dealers in Europe. I also knew his father and aunt who started the business. Lucky I didn't because he left the family business and is now on the run from the FBI.

We have 5 lithographs by well-known modern British artists, but mostly craft works. Most of the artists are still alive and the majority were bought direct from their studios. Our next piece will be from a textile artist who's only about 30 years old. We already have two pieces by her husband, a woodworker. If you sit on our downstairs guest toilet you get to look at a Magritte lithograph - intended to take your mind off why you're there.

The music room is designed to have certain pieces on display. We rotate them around. I have a photograph based on Bach's 48 preludes and fugues that is framed in part of an old door by Kaupo Kikkas, an Estonian clarinetist and specialist photographer of musicians, who also does a lot of classical album covers. So I have one music-inspired artwork and the wife insisted it go in the dining room!

Artworks create atmosphere in a room, but they shouldn't be too distracting for musical enjoyment.


I've experienced a bit of Tibetan culture. I once walked across Ladakh and Zanskar into Himachal Pradesh, did it again last year with the wife, went across Tibet from Nepal (and back) before they discovered tarmac and have travelled in Nepal and Bhutan. I've experienced historical Buddhism from Sri Lanka (the Dambulla caves are special) to the Great Buddha of Kamakura in Japan. I've had a lot of it explained to me and I just don't get it! It's such a profound philosophy that has to be lived. There are an endless load of regional variations. My wife's into it a bit but she hates all the wokeness. She does non-chanting yoga several times a week. She has a beautiful hand-painted mandala that she bought in a workshop in Thimphu, Bhutan in her studio, I won't let any of that stuff in the house. She goes to Kerala and wherever to do yoga and I happily stay home and listen to music.

Buddhism is not inherently woke by its nature. It actually requires a lot of self responsibility. I just try to stay present and fight my many addictions. Right intent etc. I have kind of created a life philosophy for me which is an amalgam of various philosophies and religious.
The point I was making was how important the energy emanating from the art is to my life. It’s quite powerful to visitors as well. I would say 90% of people visiting ask for an “art tour”. Maybe 10% ask to hear the stereo.

 

[stehno]

I agree. The inevitable outcome of pissing contests is all participants getting wet and stinky LOL

lol is right.

What is your clientele’s usual response when you tell them sonic performance doesn’t matter to you?

 

[Holmz]

That happened to me once in a shitty car down on A1A i Ft. Lauderdale in the 90's, i was quite happy until i realized she was a prostitute and not in the class of Julia Roberts !

I thought she was an actress?

 

[Another Johnson]

No that’s the sugarcane based whiskey. It’s the tastiest alcohol.

My best holiday was in Paraty in Brazil which is a Cachaca capital and they let you sample loads.

Technically it is more like rum than whiskey, being sugar based rather than grain based. But who’s to bicker over such trivialities? It is tasty stuff if you have a sweet tooth.

 

[ssfas]

Sorry to hear about that. My experience in Japan, travelling there yearly for 16 years, and living there for a year, has been nothing but positive. I have found the Japanese to be very friendly, and made a few close friends. I like to recommend this book to people who first visit Japan, only because it can generate interest:

Lost Japan (English)

Perhaps a good read for your son.

They were friendly to fault, and always helpful. There's a bit of passive aggressiveness, perhaps due to all the customs and cultural restrictions.

I've been three times and loved it, the last trip in May the main event was 4 days on Naoshima Island, based at Benesse House which is my kind of place, with a visit to Teshima Island.

I read quite a lot of Japanese literature, currently reading Mina's Matchbox by Yoko Ogawa.

 

[Lagonda]

I thought she was an actress?

And a "Pretty Woman"

 

[ssfas]

The point I was making was how important the energy emanating from the art is to my life. It’s quite powerful to visitors as well. I would say 90% of people visiting ask for an “art tour”. Maybe 10% ask to hear the stereo.

That's a pretty good ratio.

The westernisation of Buddhism is so woke it makes me ill.

Last year two of the main reasons for going to Ladakh were to go to the Hemis Festival, which starts with hanging up an ancient 35 foot high tanka. They have a special one that they only take out once every 11 years, we missed that. Thedancing goes on all day and each dance has some complicated philosophy behind it. It was pretty spectacular. The other was to go to Phuktal Gompa, which is quite remote. When I went in 1987 it was a serious 19 day trek with multiple passes and three at 17k+ feet. I had my photos from back then and the head monk was very touched, because I had pictures of many if the monks from when he was a young man. Back then they got perhaps 20 foreign visitors annually and no one returns. My wife did some meditation with him and we had tea with him in his cell. We had a fascinating discussion with him for a couple of hours. Sometimes all the mist clears. It's happened a few times.

 

[Rt66indierock]

What about Andrew Robins. He has 378,000 subscribers. How many does TAS or Stereophile reach?

I'm not going to bite on your snarky attitude. I am making a real point. Somewhat in reference to others' comments that a reviewer has to have a gosh awful expensive system to be considered a serious reviewer. I think Andrew and Steve have something to say to a much larger audience than any person writing about is $1,000,000 system. They each have a place. Both are legitimate sources of entertainment/information.

In 2016 John Atkinson told me Stereophile had more print subscribers than all the other English language publications combined. At the time just under 80,000 subscribers. John has told me they reach over 1 million views online. The Absolute Sound currently claims 38,000 print subscribers on their website. They may reach half a million views online, but I haven’t checked recently.

Don’t particularly care about YouTubers including Andrew Robins.

As for Steve Guttenberg, he was on a seminar panel and talked about a curated list of the best versions Rolling Stones of their recordings. I challenged him because I tend to like versions with Keith Richard on lead vocals whether they are the best sounding or not.

Then he talked about silk dome tweeters, and I criticized him for his opinion. The next time I saw him at a show he said he just wanted people to look at alternatives. We both laughed and moved on.

At another show he was on a panel “The Young Guns of High- End Audio.” He was on the panel as joke since he is old.

He knows he is entertainment and seems fine with it.

And you did make a real point but so did I about reviewers needing actual knowledge about how to test.

 

[Rt66indierock]

Thank you for explaining.

But what does that have to do with the subjective appraisal of the sound of high-end audio components and stereo systems?

Good question. Let’s say we fire up a mono version of Pet Sounds on a high-end stereo system. I’m listening for a couple of things. If I don’t hear one of them the system isn’t high fidelity. Just a little bit of what I learned.

 

[Rt66indierock]

I’m sorry. I can’t resist. This is such low hanging fruit.

Here goes:

And that is why listening to over the air radio is such a big part of the audiophile experience today.

Sigh. I apologize in advance.

That was a bad effort. Somebody repairing radio stations in Portland Oregon in the seventies and early eighties impacted the audiophile experience.

However, radio was a big part of the audiophile experience and everybody else’s back then.

Be glad Jim Austin has my award for the worst audiophile commentary of the year locked up.

 

[Another Johnson]

That was a bad effort. Somebody repairing radio stations in Portland Oregon in the seventies and early eighties impacted the audiophile experience.

However, radio was a big part of the audiophile experience and everybody else’s back then.

Be glad Jim Austin has my award for the worst audiophile commentary of the year locked up.

Actually I agree with you about the impact in the 70s.

I did apologize In advance

I don’t have any argument with you, or with most. It just tickles me that we’re all experts, but for different reasons.

Be well

 

[Holmz]

And a "Pretty Woman"

Many pretty women act like actresses…
(Yeah … I get confused.)

 

[morricab]

Second question of mine on this thread:

DO YOU THINK THAT A REVIEWER SHOULD BE ABLE TO SET UP A SYSTEM?
Im talking about taking the gear and making it sound like a reference system in their space?

If they can honestly assess the sound of their own system...then of course they should be able to do so. I will add though that until you have heard that system in that space you cannot judge by looking if it will be great or a disaster. Just because it isn't designed by an acoustician and purpose built doesn't mean it can't be a good sounding room...with or without treatment. There is a lot of assumption about how something would sound based on visuals.

 

[Robh3606]

DO YOU THINK THAT A REVIEWER SHOULD BE ABLE TO SET UP A SYSTEM?
Im talking about taking the gear and making it sound like a reference system in their space?

Yes! I would change reference to making the gear sound the best it can in that space with what they have available. My reference may not be your reference. That is more preference as I see it. I like horns you may hate them as an example.

Rob