Audioholics 2004 Product of the Year Awards

[Audioholics]

<P style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 16px; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; FONT-FAMILY: arial"><A href="http://www.audioholics.com/news/uploads/AudioholicsPOYA2004.gif"><IMG style="WIDTH: 125px; HEIGHT: 100px" alt=[AudioholicsPOYA2004] hspace=10 src="http://www.audioholics.com/news/thumbs/AudioholicsPOYA2004_th.gif" align=left border=0></A>2004 proved the bleeding edge technological masterpieces put forth by many industry leaders.&nbsp; With home theater electronics progressing as rapidly as the computer industry (if not more so), it's hard to keep track and stay ahead of the game.&nbsp; Choosing class-leading products proves to be challenging since there are so many good solutions out there, all suited to specific market demands and consumer needs.&nbsp;With that in mind, we selected our 2004 Product of the Year winners in each category that really made a statement. We&nbsp;chose&nbsp;our selections&nbsp;from&nbsp;equipment we&nbsp;reviewed and demoed as well as those products that simply set market trends based on performance, features, and value.</SPAN></SPAN></P>
<P style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 16px; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 13px; FONT-FAMILY: arial">[View the 2004 Product of the Year Awards]</SPAN></SPAN></P>

 

[hopjohn]

Products of the year??? Yea...ok

Do you really feel like you have evaluated enough different products to warrant giving away an annual categorical award?

C'mon you guys only reviewed what one flagship receiver? ...and what maybe 5 receivers all told this year?

While I do enjoy reading the reviews you guys do, if I'm looking for a defnitive product of the year I think I'd take more products into consideration before staking that kind of a claim.

I also don't want to hear about how companies won't provide you with product samples for review. If you want us (members) to email them a request, fine. How about providing us a list of products you'd like to review along with a relevant email address to use rather than making us look up some generic customer support address that may never get read.

I'd settle for more reviews even if meant the ones you do are less in depth.

 

[Audioholics]

I hear you. There really aren't any major companies I'm aware of that won't send us products at this point. It's all a matter of time to get all the reviews done. This year we are in the process of bringing more people on staff to provide a significant amount of additional reviews. I doubt we'll tone down the depth of reviews on major products, however. Smaller products (those that aren't necessarily groundbreaking, flagship or perhaps complex) will get more abbreviated reviews.

And you have to start these things somewhere. While we may not necessarily have reviewed a comprehensive sampling of products this year, our experiences with them and their competition is sufficient to enable us give out some awards based on performance over value.

It will only get better in 2005.

 

[Leprkon]

It's all a matter of time to get all the reviews done.

sign me up to fill in on all those plasma TV's you need tested

 

[gene]

Do you really feel like you have evaluated enough different products to warrant giving away an annual categorical award?

C'mon you guys only reviewed what one flagship receiver? ...and what maybe 5 receivers all told this year?

HopJohn;

Just because we didn't review every product on the market doesn't mean we cannot make an educated decision based on the design, and feature set. You may not realize that we beta test a lot of product for manufacturers that don't necessarily get reviewed. Thus we have a great idea of what the market has to offer.

It could be worse, some publications hand awards out for products that haven't even hit the market yet. We at least make sure we have made a firm assesment of the product though experience and technical analysis.

When it comes to length of reviews, our review length is dependent on the product complexity. We would rather do a detailed review of a product that merits it rather than the typical glance over review that misses many of the product highlights and deficiencies.

There is much going on behind the scenes at Audioholics. We are establishing industry standards for testing loudspeakers and amplifiers which we will start integrating into our reviews next year. But as Clint points out, we are bringing more reviewers on board to keep up with the exponential growth of our publication and you can expect a great many things from us in 2005!

 

[Zarg]

Denon 3805

I really enjoy the reviews here, and I was wondering why the Denon 3805 got the nod over the Yamaha 2500. Looking at the two reviews, my impression was that you felt the Yamaha was the better receiver. For example, the DSP and YPAO functions on the Yamaha were judged superior to those of the Denon. The Yamaha has more power. The prices are essentially the same. Thus -- can you explain why the Denon receiver was the winner.

For that matter, how about a side-by-side comparison review? Kind of like the auto mags do -- or a horizontal wine flight. What do you think?

Regards

Zarg

 

[rgriffin25]

I do remember a time in the not to distant past when one of you mentioned the fact that some manufacturers would not send you their products. In a thread about a NAD preamp I believe... You also mentioned that you would do some PR work with some of these companies in hopes of curing this????

I am sure there are several of us that would appreciate a review of a product other than Yamaha. (Were there really that many differences between the 2400 and 2500?) Maybe that could have been time well spent reviewing a Marantz, NAD, Onkyo, or Pioneer Elite. Don't get me wrong, I am not at all trying to discredit the excellent work you all are doing here. When compared to other publications I really feel that with your reviews you leave nothing uncovered. That is why most of us are so anxious to read a review on other Brands. I think at this point we all know the Yamaha receivers are exceptional. The big question is how do these other brands compare.

I agree with Hopjohn that we need to contact these companies. So if there is anything we can do as Members here i.e. email these companies let us know. I would gladly donate a few minutes of my time.

 

[gene]

We gave the nod to the Denon AVR-3805 for its slightly more robust amp section, and D.Link capabilities. However, we felt the Yamaha RX-V2500 had the edge in DSP processing and user interface. Both are great products however so much of it depends on your needs.

RGriffin you are correct. NAD and Anthem seem reluctant in sending us gear. If anyone wishes to email them on our behalf it would be appreciated. We don't beg or hunt down manufacturers to send us product to review. However, we suspect because of our critical nature with hardware some manufacturers may be a little wary.

 

[Rob Babcock]

Odd. You wouldn't think NAD or Anthem would have anything to hide. Their stuff always measures pretty well, doesn't it?

 

[hopjohn]

RGriffin you are correct. NAD and Anthem seem reluctant in sending us gear. If anyone wishes to email them on our behalf it would be appreciated. We don't beg or hunt down manufacturers to send us product to review. However, we suspect because of our critical nature with hardware some manufacturers may be a little wary.

It is presumptuous to assume that your review's critical nature is the reason that companies will not provide you gear, and sounds to me more like sour grapes than anything else. While I have more experience with NAD's product than Anthem's I have serious reservations in regards to this notion, particularly with these brands. Their decision not to, could be for any of a number of reasons. One that I might add, since we are speculating here, is the site's disproportionate number of Yamaha and Denon product reviews and front page press, which may indicate to these companies a bias here toward competing brands, be it true or not.

I don't think an email campaign is begging or hunting, but maybe your pride stands in the way of even that, and if so that's a shame.

Also, I'd like someone to respond RGriffin25's question about the need for a review of the 2500 on the heels of one on the 2400. It's a legitimate question that needs answered.

 

[toquemon]

NAD quality issues are documented even in mexican audio forums. Apparently the earlier versions of their receivers had those problems but they were corrected on the next generation.

All companies have their marketing policies, maybe NAD and Anthem don't consider Audioholics as an important platform to launch their products; maybe they preffer Sterophile (phool?). Eventually this site will be THE SOURCE of information for everyone who plans to buy from a HITiB to High End equipment.

I don't see the case in performing an exhaustive review of the 2500 because it's essentially the same as the 2400 (looking, design, parts, slight more power, but not audible). It's worthless if no fundamental design changes are present, i don't know, like changing the transformer for a toroidal or changing DAC's or something like that.

 

[Leprkon]

It is presumptuous to assume that your review's critical nature is the reason that companies will not provide you gear,
....
One that I might add, since we are speculating here, is the site's disproportionate number of Yamaha and Denon product reviews and front page press

Pardon me, but I think you're an idiot. I honestly don't know what else to say. no product, no review... you can't test what you don't have.

Guys like Yamaha and Denon are doing something called "marketing". You get the word on the streets by getting your product on the streets. I guess some companies haven't learned this yet.

Where else can one item (say a $ 2,000 receiver) get you 7 or 8 full pages of print, and then numerous follow-up conversations in the forums that can be viewed by anybody on the internet ? Any idea what $ 2,000 will get you in the pages of, say, the New York Times ? An obituary, maybe....

And nearly every person who comes here to find things out shares that information with friends, relatives, etc..

If you are wondering about bias, think about this.. companies that merely throw MONEY around for things like cube speakers and cables are the ones who get the most heat here. If these A/H guys just wanted money or free toys, we'd be seeing M-words and B-words all over these pages.

 

[rgriffin25]

Pardon me, but I think you're an idiot. I honestly don't know what else to say. no product, no review... you can't test what you don't have.

Come on now, is this really necessary? I think he brings up some valid points. I don't think any member here would disagree with your comment on the quality of work that Gene and Clint (and others) do here. Maybe a nice way to say what hopjohn really meant was, We want other brands reviewed here. I too disagree with Gene's statement "However, we suspect because of our critical nature with hardware some manufacturers may be a little wary." To me it almost feels like going to a Ford dealership and asking about Chevy cars. You would expect comments like Gene's from a Dealer, not an "Unbiased" website "seeking the truth in audio! " Those comments are the very reason for our complaint. Facts on a review sheet speek a thousand words, that is why I beleive more Brands are needed to make a real assesment on which product is really the "Product of the Year"

 

[Leprkon]

I too disagree with Gene's statement "However, we suspect because of our critical nature with hardware some manufacturers may be a little wary." To me it almost feels like going to a Ford dealership and asking about Chevy cars.

I completely disagree. Hopjohn seems to think that "certain" products will not get a fair shake. Gene's statement reflects a critical nature with ALL hardware. He does a VERY thorough review of "Chevys" every bit as hard as he does "Fords". The only people who have something to fear is those who have something to hide.

People like Sherbourne have taken a bath in the reviews here, but they turned around and learned from it and made a much better product. Other people like RBH asked what the people wanted before they ever even made it.

I guess other companies believe they have nothing to gain and nothing to be learned from a review by A/H.

 

[Leprkon]

Come on now, is this really necessary? QUOTE]

so it's ok for someone to accuse the site masters of intentionally pushing certain companies, but it's not "politically correct" for me to consider him a jerk for doing so ?

 

[hopjohn]

Pardon me, but I think you're an idiot. I honestly don't know what else to say. no product, no review... you can't test what you don't have.

You must be confused so I'll refer you to this statement above:

There really aren't any major companies I'm aware of that won't send us products at this point

As for your comments on marketing, I''m going to go out on a limb and say that the people who do this for a living have a pretty good idea what they are doing. So should they decide not to send their product in for review, for free or at a cost, then they probably have a worthwhile reason. It isn't necessarily that they fear doing so, or because they lack marketing skills, as has been suggested.

If you are wondering about bias, think about this.. companies that merely throw MONEY around for things like cube speakers and cables are the ones who get the most heat here. If these A/H guys just wanted money or free toys, we'd be seeing M-words and B-words all over these pages.

I NEVER suggested that these guys were in it for the money or taking payments in trade for compliments, and I do not appreciate the insenuation, nor you twisting my words about the bias I've already clearly explained. I enjoy the work that gene e.t. all., do here, though I feel like it is becoming a playground for certain brands. As a forum goer I felt it was time to say something about it. If I'm an "idiot" for speaking up then I'll accept that with hope that my comments may somehow make this site even better in the future.

 

[Audioholics]

Let's cool it a bit - we're not taking offense and I hate to see anyone get assaulted for their opinions. Gene's statement isn't prideful - it's based on actual conversations we've had with certain venders (not NAD or Anthem, however) He's applying what we learned/heard first hand from some venders as a possible reason others aren't too keen on sending products our way.

With that said, we'll review anybody's gear (though not endlessly perhaps) and have in fact been making contact with a MUCH larger sampling of companies who are just now starting to ship and schedule us products for review. Every time we go to a trade show word spreads and more companies find out how many people read our reviews and articles. The Internet is really doing well for us, even as more traditional outlets like print magazines struggle to keep their numbers.

It's a strange industry and you'd be surprised at what's going on out there - it amazes us to no end sometimes to see who's in bed with who and for what reasons. but we're trying to stay out of that and just provide honest reviews while encouraging manufacturers to fix problems and make better products (if we have a overt bias it's there).

I'm rambling, but there's a reason for everything and we're constantly working to make it better. Realize that we read these forums and want to know what you think so we can make this a better place.

PS. After the new year we will have brought on a minimum of 4 new reviewers, so the quantity of reviews should go up (peer reviews will keep the quality in check as well.)

 

[hopjohn]

Excellent response hawke. I appreciate all the information and hope you understand that my criticisms were intended to be constructive. I look forward to seeing all the changes.

 

[flyv65]

People like Sherbourne have taken a bath in the reviews here, but they turned around and learned from it and made a much better product. Other people like RBH asked what the people wanted before they ever even made it.

Thats confusing, because I had thought that the Sherbourn amps faired pretty well in the reviews here, at least regarding performance. What was it that they were dunned for?

Bryan...been looking hard at the 7/2100A...

 

[Leprkon]

they didn't fare too well in the original "Attack of the Clones" amplifier article. They got much better reviews about six weeks ago for the upgraded version.