Has Audioholics ever reviewed speakers they didn't like or performed poorly?

[WookieGR]

It's tough looking at speaker reviews online when so many get raves. Almost makes me nervous... where are the bad ones? There HAS to be some here somewhere. I'm not talking cheap ones either, speakers that charge a lot of money claiming to be high end that are simply trash.

 

[ryanosaur]

I've seen a few that don't do too stellar. I can't call them out, however.

 

[Pogre]

I've seen a few that don't do too stellar. I can't call them out, however.

Yeah, same. Not so much trashing the product or anything, but along the lines of "they could do better for the money".

 

[Gryph]

I’d say back in the day they probably reviewed more bad speakers then they do today. For one I’d think all of our audio interests evolve so at some point we just stop entertaining junk we know is gonna be junk.
I watched a video from Gene not so long ago where I think he talked about a not inexpensive B&W that didn’t measure all that accurately, as in they were designed to color the sound to some extent. So while he called the speaker out for that, he also said that they were still pleasing to listen too. So is that speaker performing poorly even though it’s through design or do the ends justify the means, I think he just leaves that up to you to decide for yourself.

 

[Pogre]

I’d say back in the day they probably reviewed more bad speakers then they do today. For one I’d think all of our audio interests evolve so at some point we just stop entertaining junk we know is gonna be junk.

This leads me to the fact that today's speakers are getting better and measuring better than ever. Not all of them of course, but quite a few even budget oriented speakers measure pretty well nowadays.

Not bothering with stuff you know might not do so well to begin with could explain the tendency toward more favored reviews as well.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

MarkAudio-SOTA Cesti T Tower Loudspeaker Review

MarkAudio-SOTA recently launched their Cesti T tower speakers and we gave them a run around our testing grounds to see how they performed. Read our review to see if they're right for you.

www.audioholics.com

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

also, see polite Gene remarks on Axiom VP180:

Axiom Audio VP160v3 Center Channel Loudspeaker Preview

Axiom Audio introduced their VP160v3 center channel to round out their offerings and tonally match their M60v3 speakers. The VP160v3 employs a W(T/M)W design for improved off-axis response.

www.audioholics.com

Initial feedback from forum users on the Axiom website and our forums indicate the VP160v3 is off to a successful start. Many users have made the upgrade from the VP150v3, claiming MUCH better vocal intelligibility on and off axis. Some even prefer the VP160v3 to the company's multi-tweeter flagship VP180v3 when sitting off-axis from the speaker.

Just read between the lines...

 

[Eppie]

If most of the good companies send in speakers for review, the reviews will be primarily positive. I think Shady has mentioned recently that they have not received any particularly poor speakers of late, so it often comes down to styling and value.
FWIW, I recently auditioned a pair of Audio Monitor Gold 5G that retail for C$7500. I wouldn't pay $1000 for them, they were that bad. I think Audioholics has had the Silvers in but not the Gold yet. The JBL HDI-3600 OTOH sounded fabulous. (Shady's review of the HDI-3800 was very positive.)

 

[Danzilla31]

Also thanks to Audioholics being so good with testing standards some companies won't send there speakers here. So they get better options to test from I'd imagine not as many lemons getting sent there way

 

[ryanosaur]

There was a B&W that got dragged a bit.

 

[Pogre]

Also thanks to Audioholics being so good with testing standards some companies won't send there speakers here. So they get better options to test from I'd imagine not as many lemons getting sent there way

Good point too. Most of the companies that would voluntarily submit their products for review to a technical site like this have already tested them and know they'll perform at least reasonably well. Companies producing crap quality components would probably almost pay money to not have their stuff reviewed here... lol.

As far as a recent poor review goes one only needs to visit the 208 page Yamaha review thread... tho to be fair I guess that's not a speaker review.

 

[snakeeyes]

I’d rather hear about speakers that don’t suck. ASR can worry about the headless pink panthers. LOL

 

[Hetfield]

Let's face it, does any competent company build speakers that just "suck"? I mean mostly everything today is good, it's just how much do you want to spend for better or for that last 10% as they say?

 

[panteragstk]

also, see polite Gene remarks on Axiom VP180:

Axiom Audio VP160v3 Center Channel Loudspeaker Preview

Axiom Audio introduced their VP160v3 center channel to round out their offerings and tonally match their M60v3 speakers. The VP160v3 employs a W(T/M)W design for improved off-axis response.

www.audioholics.com

Just read between the lines...

I remember that one. Didn't they get all pissy about that review?

 

[Billy106]

Yup....things got very bitter with Axiom.... comical...to say the least.

 

[highfigh]

Let's face it, does any competent company build speakers that just "suck"? I mean mostly everything today is good, it's just how much do you want to spend for better or for that last 10% as they say?

Maybe not as often as they did in the '70s and '80s, but I'm sure someone thinks their speaker is the cure for all diseases but they didn't compare them to others. In the late-'70s, Omega was a house brand for Schaak Electronics and they really sucked. They also blew up really easily because the crossover consisted of one cap on the mid and another on the "tweeter". Micro Acoustics made "speakers", too- they made very nice phono cartridges, but their speakers must have been designed by someone who hated midrange.

 

[Bucknekked]

Yeah, same. Not so much trashing the product or anything, but along the lines of "they could do better for the money".

I think I have seen sidebar notes from reviewers that go along the lines of "if it sucks, we just don't print it and spend our time on stuff that doesn't suck". Something along the lines of why waste your time, ink and good will with a manufacturer by printing a negative review with little merit.

There are exceptions however. Here's one of my very favorite negative reviews. Can't miss what this guy is saying. (quoted exactly from noaudiophile.com/Zu/)

"First impressions are bright, stupid bright, staring at a welding torch, Burn your ear drum with sparklers bright. I've listen to plenty of shitty speakers, but these are the only ones that I actually feel like I'm damaging my hearing by just listening at 70db on the couch. ........

this is a f'**ing joke. I have heard big box speakers sound multitudes of times better than this and play much louder and clearer as well. This can't be a matter of taste, the wife said after just 15 seconds of listening "these are awful" and she usually has nothing to say about my speakers. This is instinct level bad, no training required. If you have ears and have ever heard music before you will have a natural inherent distain for the way these sound.

These have the resonant frequency of nails on a chalk board

If you have ever heard a speaker out of its enclosure driver laying on a table, that is the sound I'm hearing. It sounds like a phase problem, scrambling my ears. I imagine the military could mount these speakers to the front of assault vehicles and use the a some type of sonic weapon to scare off civilians.
It sounds like when you go to a concert and it's the day after and your ears all f'*cked and ringing the next morning because you were a dumb ass and didn't wear ear plugs. That's the sound.

I'm not listening to this shi**t anymore, it's horrible."

I think that about sizes it up. Some folks do write negative reviews. They're just hard to come by.

 

[MalVeauX]

I for one would have no interest in reading reviews on speakers that were considered very bad for their price, for example. I'm not sure anyone would have interest in even reviewing a speaker considered bad.

Then again, I think it would be interesting to have professional reviews of speakers that people seem to pick on in particular as being bad in some way to see if it's justified or not. Funny how cultural things like this swing up and down on some. But this would be more of a social experiment and likely reveal few poor speakers and a whole lot of bias.

I'm sure there are awful speakers out there, for the price. I picked up several pairs of Dayton B652 Air speakers because they were basically $25 per speaker, and that's just not possible to be good. Yet were quite fantastic and out of this world good for $25. Are they $400 speakers? No. But you get the idea.

Very best,

 

[Verdinut]

Let's face it, does any competent company build speakers that just "suck"? I mean mostly everything today is good, it's just how much do you want to spend for better or for that last 10% as they say?

Many years ago, my son had bought a pair of cheap JBL speakers. They were floor standing speakers which had a 3-way configuration. They used a 14 inch woofer.

After listening to them for half an hour or so a couple of times, I became fatigued with a slight symptom of a headache at listening to them. I did not have the equipment then to test their frequency response or their distortion level.

With none of the speakers I have ever owned, I have experienced that negative feeling. Over the years, JBL made good speakers, but those definitely were crappy speakers.

 

[Kleinst]

Not on Audioholics, but I found this once very interesting on AVS. I had been considering these Atlantic Techology 8600s as they look fantastic. But they did not measure well in this review. I found the posting of this refreshing frankly but I bet it's not helping Atlantic Tech sell these when they cost a lot (at least for me).

Atlantic Technology 8600eLR and 8600eC Tower and Center Channel (Objective-based) Review | AVS Forum

I bet you all are right. If the review is going to be bad, I bet they pull it sometimes. Also, I think you have to learn to read between the lines on the reviews to differentiate ones they really thing are good and ones that they think are OK for the price. It's not too hard to tell. I understand they are also in a strange place in trying to support these companies and the industry while still being objective. And frankly most speakers probably largely due their jobs.