Reviews.....

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Porsche

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how important are reviews for you guys when looking at gear, what are the pros/cons of you looking at gear that may be new to the market or not as well known to the market, do they give you confidence in a product, etc etc
 
It all depends on the reviewers and whether you have any trust in them. Sometimes if there are multiple reviews of the same product you are interested in, the reviews can be helpful.

For instance, if every review says the product sounds bright, or the bass is flabby, or the soundstage is as big as a postage stamp, you may want to think twice before getting your checkbook out.

The flip side is if all the reviews point to important strengths that you personally value. Those components would be worthy of further investigation.
 
They drive sales, but “squirreling” due to some YouTube yahoos causes chaos.

With the magazines, you could see commonality and patterns develop providing a roadmap for consumers to work with their dealers. Magazines which provided the objective with the subjective really provided a clear picture.

Today, SOME conflicted/dealer youtubers, especially those claiming to be saving you from some evil, are financially invested (secretly often) and the rapid nature of YouTubers pumping out videos causes what I call “squirreling” - oh look, a squirrel!🐿️. Folks get distracted at a rapid pace and end up chasing their tails.
 
My personal example is the speaker reviews John Atkinson did for Stereophile. A combination of subjective impressions and objective measurements gave me a baseline I could use to evaluate a speaker before arranging g to audition it. JA really likes the big Wilson’s and I sure don’t, but his review of the Sonus Faber Amati Futura gave me the info I needed to go audition a pair. While he gave them an A, he felt they were too laid back but very musical. That’s what I was looking for.

I still have my pair and think they are great speakers that match my tastes. I never would have auditioned them without his review.
 
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W9TR said:
My personal example is the speaker reviews John Atkinson did for Stereophile. A combination of subjective impressions and objective measurements gave me a baseline I could use to evaluate a speaker before arranging g to audition it. JA really likes the big Wilson’s and I sure don’t, but his review of the Sonus Faber Amati Futura gave me the info I needed to go audition a pair. While he gave them an A, he felt they were too laid back but very musical. That’s what I was looking for.

I still have my pair and think they are great speakers that match my tastes. I never would have auditioned them without his review.
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I'd add Robert Deutsch in particular to the excellent reviewers used by Stereophile.

In 2002 when I was struggling to enjoy the sound from my recently acquired ATC 50 Active speakers, I read his review of the Avantgarde Uno speaker. His excellent and thorough review made me realise and appreciate what I was missing with the ATCs and what the Unos would offer. I bought the Unos, almost unheard and, thanks to Robert, they sounded exactly as he described - I'm still an Avantgarde user after 23 years of very happy listening.

I never take notice of Youtube or similar "reviews" by self-appointed and invariably incompetent amateurs.
 
W9TR said:
My personal example is the speaker reviews John Atkinson did for Stereophile. A combination of subjective impressions and objective measurements gave me a baseline I could use to evaluate a speaker before arranging g to audition it. JA really likes the big Wilson’s and I sure don’t, but his review of the Sonus Faber Amati Futura gave me the info I needed to go audition a pair. While he gave them an A, he felt they were too laid back but very musical. That’s what I was looking for.

I still have my pair and think they are great speakers that match my tastes. I never would have auditioned them without his review.
Click to expand...

I 100% concur that JA is a reliable source of information about every piece of gear that he measures and reviews. IMO, JA is a straight shooter that tells the truth about what he hears and measures.

JA has a unique talent set in that he's a EE, a musician, and a recording engineer.
 
mep said:
I 100% concur that JA is a reliable source of information about every piece of gear that he measures and reviews. IMO, JA is a straight shooter that tells the truth about what he hears and measures.

JA has a unique talent set in that he's a EE, a musician, and a recording engineer.
Click to expand...

I messed up by giving one of his reviews too much credit. I was looking for a music server just so happened JA listened to two I was thinking of he said there was no difference in SQ that he could hear between the two. So I bought one on a deal where I had no return. I didn't like it. It had everything I wanted except the SQ I didn't like. I was able to find someone who had the other option who brought to my house for a listen, huge difference in SQ and I ended up buying that one after selling the first one. I think the magazine knew something was wrong I went back later to read the review again and the verbiage had been changed to be vague on the comparison. Almost a Twilight Zone episode.
 
Mr Peabody said:
I messed up by giving one of his reviews too much credit. I was looking for a music server just so happened JA listened to two I was thinking of he said there was no difference in SQ that he could hear between the two. So I bought one on a deal where I had no return. I didn't like it. It had everything I wanted except the SQ I didn't like. I was able to find someone who had the other option who brought to my house for a listen, huge difference in SQ and I ended up buying that one after selling the first one. I think the magazine knew something was wrong I went back later to read the review again and the verbiage had been changed to be vague on the comparison. Almost a Twilight Zone episode.
Click to expand...

Do you have a link to the review in question?
 
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