| Reviews Versus Personal Taste [message #77605] |
Sun, 25 August 2013 11:43  |
Azuri
Messages: 315
Registered: November 2012
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Grand Master |
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I remember it took me about 5 years and 3 systems before I realized the difference. I went by reviews to choose a system only to realize it didn't suit my musical tastes well. From there, I could tell what system would work best for me based on what I wanted, not by what reviews said were the best.
So, how long did it take you?
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| Re: Reviews Versus Personal Taste [message #77661 is a reply to message #77605] |
Fri, 30 August 2013 18:48  |
Thermionic
Messages: 208
Registered: May 2009
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Master |
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It took me several years to realize it, except it was with guitar amplification and pro sound gear instead of home audio. Before I began building my own gear, I'd spent many thousands of dollars and loads of frustration buying equipment based on reviews, before I finally realized what was going on.
By a "strange coincidence," the products that got the best reviews were ALWAYS made by the huge companies with 2 or 3 full-page color ads per magazine issue, and never the small fry, Mom and Pop companies with a black and white 1" x 3" ad hidden in the classifieds section in the back pages. Even more odd was the fact that professionals always seemed to use the Mom and Pop stuff with the so-so reviews, and not the big brand stuff that was hyped to the moon. Hmmmm.....
Years later, I met a staff editor of a publishing company that produced half a dozen of the nation's biggest pro sound and musician's equipment magazines, who verified my suspicions as indeed being standard industry practice. He explained how reviews are commonly biased by how much the company spends on advertising. He cited an example where a new staff member turned in a rather unfavorable review to the senior editor, who reminded him that the product's maker spent about $25,000 per month on advertising in their publications, and ordered him to rewrite his review accordingly.
On the flip side of that coin, he said that superior products from small companies who can't afford that kind of advertising will normally get positive (but not too positive) reviews, but NEVER the gushing, giddy, over-the-top, cartwheels and somersaults reviews the big dogs get, so as not to offend them. 
Thermionic
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| Re: Reviews Versus Personal Taste [message #77747 is a reply to message #77695] |
Tue, 03 September 2013 22:07 |
Thermionic
Messages: 208
Registered: May 2009
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Master |
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Sounds about right, for sure. Back when I was in the business, about 6 or 7 years ago, I was warned by a fellow audio entrepreneur to NEVER submit product to a certain online audio magazine for review. This gentleman knew their dirty deeds first hand, as he himself had been the victim of them.
They had just recently reviewed a product that used a particularly unusual tube type, which we'll call "Product B." Well, it just so happened that the gentleman mentioned above was probably the only other commercial builder offering a similar product using the same tube type. We'll call his "Product A" as it was actually on the market first.
The review claimed that the four staff reviewers unanimously agreed that Product B was vastly superior in every way to Product A in their A-B listening tests. He found this very strange, as he had no recollection of ever providing them with any product for review, much less that one. He looked back through his records, and indeed hadn't. He then contacted each of his customers who had purchased that particular product and inquired whether they had lent it out to anyone for any reason, or if they even knew any of the staff reviewers. The answers were "no" and "no" from each customer.
A friend of the gentleman's who was a detective began doing some research on the side. Among other things, he found the owner of the magazine had been fired from a certain audio publication for soliciting bribes in exchange for (you guessed it!) writing superior reviews of their products.
Just a few weeks later I received several e-mails from that magazine requesting I submit product for review. I never responded.
Interestingly, shortly after that I was contacted by an individual about modifying a certain product he'd bought based on a glowing, phenomenal review by said magazine. He was very disappointed to find that it sounded quite awful, and wanted to know what could be done with it, if anything. Upon hearing it, I agreed with him wholeheartedly, and dubbed it as definitely being one of the two worst sounding pieces of tube gear I've ever heard in my life. It was beyond horrible, to say the least; an awful circuit design built with awful junk. I ended up gutting it down to the bare chassis and building a whole new circuit from the ground up.
Thermionic
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| Re: Reviews Versus Personal Taste [message #78073 is a reply to message #78058] |
Thu, 10 October 2013 09:42 |
Gentry
Messages: 18
Registered: October 2013
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Chancellor |
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I agree, Nymeria. None of our tastes are the same. We all like slightly different tones and mixes when we are listening to audio. When I am asking someone's opinion it is usually for the quality of the make up of the product. Is it a quality build? Will it last? Who better to ask than the people right here whom I have come to trust.
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