Audioholics Speaker Review feedback

V

VMPS-TIII

Audioholic General
ShadyJ (James Larson) has spoiled me. When I read his speaker reviews they show charts of the audio response, listening tests and usually rate the speaker in a way that helps me understand it's characteristics and whether it's something I should consider.

Contrast that with the "Atlantic Technology Gives Freedom of Choice With S-Series Subwoofers" and the "Focal’s Kanta N°2 Speakers Get Fresh New Finishes For 2020" articles released in the last two weeks on Audioholics and they read like PR fluff with little real meat. Not even a Bass-aholics rating on the subwoofer. You might think the difference in review styles is not noticed? But, it is.

I look forward to speaker reviews on Audioholics that meet the quality and hands on testing details I have come to appreciate in reviews from James Larson. Thank you for all your hard work!
 
slipperybidness

slipperybidness

Audioholic Warlord
@shadyJ
How many hours do you estimate for your average review? From the time you start hooking it up until the time you publish the review?
 
John Parks

John Parks

Audioholic Samurai
ShadyJ (James Larson) has spoiled me. When I read his speaker reviews they show charts of the audio response, listening tests and usually rate the speaker in a way that helps me understand it's characteristics and whether it's something I should consider.

Contrast that with the "Atlantic Technology Gives Freedom of Choice With S-Series Subwoofers" and the "Focal’s Kanta N°2 Speakers Get Fresh New Finishes For 2020" articles released in the last two weeks on Audioholics and they read like PR fluff with little real meat. Not even a Bass-aholics rating on the subwoofer. You might think the difference in review styles is not noticed? But, it is.

I look forward to speaker reviews on Audioholics that meet the quality and hands on testing details I have come to appreciate in reviews from James Larson. Thank you for all your hard work!
That's because the S-Series and Kanta blurbs are just that - marketing copy (info only based on the aforementioned "PR fluff") and not a formal review.
 
S

shadyJ

Speaker of the House
Staff member
Thanks for the compliments, but I wouldn't be so hard on the preview articles that you mentioned. Those are not reviews, they are previews which are just a heads-up on new products that some people might be interested in. Those aren't marketing copy either; many sites just copy and paste press releases, but we don't do that. We just give our perspective on some product launch, so all of the content that you see that isn't images or quotations is original content written by us.
 
S

shadyJ

Speaker of the House
Staff member
@shadyJ
How many hours do you estimate for your average review? From the time you start hooking it up until the time you publish the review?
The time it takes to write a review can vary by quite a lot. If it is a simple product with nothing unusual, and nothing else interferes with the review process, I can have the review done in under three weeks. If the product is complex, or I run into some difficulties, or something else impedes the review, it can take months.
 
Kvn_Walker

Kvn_Walker

Audioholic Field Marshall
The time it takes to write a review can vary by quite a lot. If it is a simple product with nothing unusual, and nothing else interferes with the review process, I can have the review done in under three weeks. If the product is complex, or I run into some difficulties, or something else impedes the review, it can take months.
If AH were a subjective sellout site like most of the others, you could just follow the "industry format" and whip out 3 or 4 reviews a month. The template is easy!

Part I: The Story. At least 2 paragraphs about your trip to Vegas, how nice the food was, meeting up with audio CEO's, the company history, etc. If you promise enough full-color pictures, you might even be allowed a factory tour!

Part II: The Presentation. Here is where you earn your website advertising dollars. You briefly detail the anticipation of receiving the speakers, as well as the blessed day when they arrive, how great they look, but most importantly, the very expensive cables and accessories you did the testing with. Some publications even go out of their way to list the price of each component, to get that "high end" street cred.

Part III: The Review. By this point the reader just wants to hear your subjective opinion of the actual product. This will be a few paragraphs of mostly-meaningless industry buzzwords ("sibilance" "PRAT" "presence" "air" "liftng the veil" "holographic"). Honestly the only useful part of any sellout speaker review, this is where I find new artists and music to seek out and listen to. You will give every product a favorable review, but will always put in a side quip that a much more expensive piece of gear you recently reviewed sounds "just a wee bit better." You might even masturbate your advertisers a bit more, by saying it sounded better with some $2,000 power cords or a particular tube amp. You'll end the review with a statement along the lines of "I could live with these, if I didn't already have XXXXX speakers."


No measurements required. Voila!
 
AcuDefTechGuy

AcuDefTechGuy

Audioholic Jedi
Audioholics is the ONLY forum/audio website that I go to.

Not AVS, not ASR, not any other "Science" website. :D

If Audioholics were like everyone else, I wouldn't want to be here.
 
M

Mpsafranski

Audioholic
This is the only place I will ever post my sometimes stupid noob questions because of the welcoming atmosphere and the experienced folks, @shadyJ included, will give insightful non BS answers and if there’s something in my question that doesn’t make sense it’s pointed out for me to clarify. And kindly. And I’ve got more soon because I’m itching to get a good pair of bookshelves.

I do, though, enjoy reading stereophile reviews since they always seem to havea review of some speaker I’d never heard of that’s for on audiogon. At least those come with measurements but do fall prey to the story/jargon filled write ups. But as @Kvn_Walker noted,I always make notes of the review music used and add to tidal to see how they sound on my Ascend’s and have been rewarded with stuff I’d never otherwise Heard of.
Community here, and the substance of the actual reviews, are why I’m on this site daily.
 
slipperybidness

slipperybidness

Audioholic Warlord
Audioholics is the ONLY forum/audio website that I go to.

Not AVS, not ASR, not any other "Science" website. :D

If Audioholics were like everyone else, I wouldn't want to be here.
I lurk around AVS, but only post over here.
 

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