Audio Reviewers Are ALL Paid Shills!

[Danzilla31]

Agreed...cant stand those guys and their nonsense...no wonder Techno's wife threw him out.
I feel bad for Erin hanging out with those two (on the Tube).

Damn.......


So your saying theirs a chance!!!!!

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Agreed...cant stand those guys and their nonsense...no wonder Techno's wife threw him out.
I feel bad for Erin hanging out with those two (on the Tube).

I can handle Joe, he seems the least…annoying. But techno douche is a fukktard who should be removed from the internet. Didn’t know he got tossed out. Couldn’t have happened to a better guy.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Youthman is a good guy. He's not very technical, nor does he claim to be. Joe and Techno are clowns and their Magic Beans is based on a lot of nonsense and not something I'd endorse for anyone serious about room calibration. Even Dr. Floyd Toole commented similarly on an ASR thread as follows:

I like youthman too. Doesn’t claim to be something he’s not. Just a truly nice guy who’s humbled and happy to promote our hobby.

 

[Trebdp83]

Eh, all obnoxious a$$holes, and I should know.

 

[mono-bloc]

At the end of the day reviewers write not what they think but what the manufacturers and magazine editors want to hear. Write a review where they say something is a waste of money or a load of rubbish, never happens simply because the reviewer wants to keep his job, and the advertisers, want to keep there magazine editors happy. And lets face it advertising is the life blood of any magazine or business. So they ramble on, and most get paid for the number of words printed. So white a long winded review, full of useless information, two or three pages about your latest accession of a jug lead, with a high performance plug, and your not only in the money you also keep your job.

As for You-Tube and similar internet programs. The magic word is SUBSCRIBE, In short if you write what people like to hear then there subscriber cash will keep rolling in, regardless of what's reviewed. So you have a couple of thousand subscribers who all pay a couple of dollars a month, and there in the money as long as they keep writing what there subscribers want to hear.. It's a bit like a licence to print money.

 

[MrBoat]

The only reviewers I weigh any purchases on are AHolics, ASR and forum interactions here. Both my main DIY projects were from threads I started here. My Fusion-12 Tempests, and a pair of Dayton RSS subs. Nothing has unseated those two choices and that all started in 2016. That's a pretty good track record that has stood a decent test of time and with thwarting any upgraditus

Other reviewers I just treat like someone passionate about talking about audio, more than than any real product review.

Erin's Audio Corner I can pretty much take for gospel about measurements, although I wouldn't want to be him, and being so analytical would ruin this hobby for me. Sometimes, I just don't mind listening to less than perfect speakers. I definitely don't want to be haunted by peaks and dips or home in on frequencies. I mean, I don't know that I would enjoy sex the same if I were a gynecologist, either, or fishing if my job was being a fishing guide.

Shady is another I trust with measurements and analysis. The fact that he could/would build, and then admit to enjoying listening to a pair of somewhat quirky DIY speakers made him a bit more human and gives me a bit more of an open mind with his reviews. Sometimes, the science can otherwise turn these guys into robots if that's all you ever hear from them, so it is good to see them slum it and relax a little.

 

[highfigh]

Back in the day late 70s I subscribed to Audio and Stereo Review. Later to Stereophile. I do remember that Julien Hirsch stated that all amps with similar specs sounded the same (probably mostly true) but he never did trash an advertiser. Still not bad but I preferred Audio.

Len Feldman spoke at a local stereo store in about '79 and he didn't qualify the 'All amps sound the same' with 'assuming the specs are the same'.

I enjoyed the Rodriguez cartoons-

 

[highfigh]

At the end of the day reviewers write not what they think but what the manufacturers and magazine editors want to hear. Write a review where they say something is a waste of money or a load of rubbish, never happens simply because the reviewer wants to keep his job, and the advertisers, want to keep there magazine editors happy. And lets face it advertising is the life blood of any magazine or business. So they ramble on, and most get paid for the number of words printed. So white a long winded review, full of useless information, two or three pages about your latest accession of a jug lead, with a high performance plug, and your not only in the money you also keep your job.

As for You-Tube and similar internet programs. The magic word is SUBSCRIBE, In short if you write what people like to hear then there subscriber cash will keep rolling in, regardless of what's reviewed. So you have a couple of thousand subscribers who all pay a couple of dollars a month, and there in the money as long as they keep writing what there subscribers want to hear.. It's a bit like a licence to print money.

The problem was, WRT the earlier magazines, is that they wrote BS and people believed it. That caused an incredible amount of confusion and it wasted our time because we needed to explain that what they thought they understood was wrong and then, those of us who cared, had to explain it in a way that would be useful for them. The articles referred to all kinds of specs, but did a bad job of explaining what they meant, if they did that at all. When people came in asking "How many Amps does this put out?", "What's the Slew Rate" and telling their friends they had something because it was the best available, but it only cost two hundred bucks, the monthly mags did a big disservice.

 

[Eppie]

The only magazine I ever subscribed to was Sound and Vision Canada. While it contained some subjective opinions, they had detailed measurements on many pieces of gear and had good how to articles and features on more complex subjects. It never felt like pure marketing and was informative.

 

[shadyJ]

View attachment 65721

*Noting those adjectives for future reviews*

 

[3db]

The only three sites I love the most for reviews are Audioholics ASR and Erin's Audio Corner

I do love Youthmans he's not as good with measurements but he does a lot to promote our hobby and showcases a lot of people's home theaters. I'm actually planning ON GOING TO MWAVE this summer. I'm super stoked it should be fun!!!! He does a panel with Archea from ASR and another guy as well and it's a good panel. Their story on what happened when they double blind tested amps and how Archea was fooling them with the switching was pretty hilarious

I also think some honourable mentions are Joe N Tell and Techno Dad and also Spec of Tech they aren't as good with measurements but they do a great job of trying to promote our hobby and I love Spec of Tech getting his hands on all sorts of gear and putting it into action

Other then that? Yeah I feel the same way you guys do.

Hey whose that guy that breaks apart speakers and then sells kits that make them better? I can't stand that guy. He annoys the SH$T out of me for some reason

I would add Stereo review and Soundstage Network as they back up most of their reviews with measurements. Any review without measurements is just some "chump" talking. In all likely hood, the "chump" doesn't understand the complexities of sound and its propagation, has no concept about the most powerful DSP chip out there located between our ears and how and what human hearing is able to detect, or the basics of electrical theory. The chumps remind of this...

 

[Danzilla31]

Youthman is a good guy. He's not very technical, nor does he claim to be. Joe and Techno are clowns and their Magic Beans is based on a lot of nonsense and not something I'd endorse for anyone serious about room calibration. Even Dr. Floyd Toole commented similarly on an ASR thread as follows:

Yeah that's what I love about Youthman. I absolutely dig the fact he's not trying to come across as an expert he makes that very clear but he just loves the hobby and he wants to get other people to love it and get all of us that already do love this hobby even better connected to each other.

He brings the fun of our hobby the passion of our hobby with a lot of exposure to newbies without throwing snake oil at them.

@gene I cannot wait for MWAVE this year!!! I'm super stoked they have a lot of vendors coming with a lot of cool stuff. I can't wait to check it out and just have fun with a bunch of like minded audio geeks . I will for sure post a thread for all you guys and you Gene on what it's like so you can guys can enjoy it with me!

 

[davidscott]

Len Feldman spoke at a local stereo store in about '79 and he didn't qualify the 'All amps sound the same' with 'assuming the specs are the same'.

I enjoyed the Rodriguez cartoons-

View attachment 65721

I remember that cartoon and loved it.

 

[mono-bloc]

Really the only magazine worth any consideration is "Hi.Fi Critic which is total devoid of any advertising. Four issues a year. HTTPS://hificritic.com/ It covers both a written copy and a digital download.

 

[Bobby Bass]

I enjoy the Audioholics reviews including Gene and James and Erin’s Audio Corner. I watch others just to check out new gear but I trust the combination of measurements and critical listening the most. Of course my own ears and eyes make the final decision.

 

[lovinthehd]

Really the only magazine worth any consideration is "Hi.Fi Critic which is total devoid of any advertising. Four issues a year. HTTPS://hificritic.com/ It covers both a written copy and a digital download.

How could it be worth while with an idiot like Martin Collums on board?

 

[highfigh]

*Noting those adjectives for future reviews*

Don't forget 'immersive', 'organic' and 'chocolaty'.

 

[MrBoat]

Don't forget 'immersive', 'organic' and 'chocolaty'.

Whenever I hear those descriptions anywhere online, I instantly think newbie. I can't believe I still see it, especially when it's about cables, opamps, tubes, or capacitors. Anymore, I start to correct them, but then it occurs to me that it will catch up to them soon enough when the rest of the sensible portion of the audio population starts to leave them in the dust with all that, lest we sic lovin, or TLS on them.

 

[highfigh]

the sensible portion of the audio population

 

[davidscott]

Don't forget 'immersive', 'organic' and 'chocolaty'.

I was always partial to "velvety"