Audioholics Reviews

[gene]

We have had some manufacturers tell us our reviews are too long and may go unread by most readers. We were wondering what your thoughts were on this. Please vote in our poll and feel free to comment. Thank you.

 

[Audioholics]

Hey - am I the only one rooting for #3 here?

Gosh, life woud be soooo much easier if we could write "marketing literature" reviews...

 

[joelincoln]

If the readers here wanted the rehashed pablum that you'd find elsewhere, they wouldn't have come here in the first place.

If you're concerned about reader attention span, then ensure that you include an overview section in each review which highlights the conclusions without going into detail.

Details are the key to an extensive review.

 

[Sounds Simple]

Manufacturers are less interested in reviews than they are in endorsements of their products. I suspect that they feel a lengthier review is more likely to discuss a product's shortcomings in greater detail.

I'd sure be interested in knowing which manufacturers are suggesting that shorter reviews are better. I'd also be interested in knowing the reason that Pioneer Elite components are not reviewed here.

Bob

 

[Jaycan]

Short reviews are for magazines. This is a different beast!

 

[gene]

Sounds Simple;

We would love to review Pioneer Elite equipment but a good contact within the company is hard to find. Feel free to email them on our behalf.


As for the manufacturers wanting shorter reviews, its mostly their marketing departments. The engineering groups usually dig it. We are also assembling a new arsenol of test gear so our reviews are likely to get more lenghty

 

[Sounds Simple]

We are also assembling a new arsenol of test gear so our reviews are likely to get more lenghty

As someone who has spent a number of years in marketing, I'm sure you ment "more detailed".

Marketing people are funny - so often they feel the need to control the message much more than need be. It would be ironic if some of the manufacturers who complain are the same ones who augment their standard marketing materials with white papers which truly are more involved than many care to know. However, there really is a need for both just as both short and more deatailed reviews serve a purpose.

One reason I asked about Pioneer Elite (beyond the fact that they are simpy not represented in your reviews) is that the technical marketing is very light. For instance, many manufacturers boast about which DACs they use but I haven't seen that info in any of Pioneer's literature.

Bob

 

[faev_dad]

Reviews

Nothing wrong with keeping all happy. I use top level summaries as the lead for all my reports. Then follow it with all the detail. It keeps leadership informed and has the details the techies need.

 

[gene]

Good feedback. I think what we might start implementing on loooooooonger reviews is an Executive Summary Section. Perhaps we will post it as a separate page all together. Thanks.

 

[Audioholics]

Good feedback. I think what we might start implementing on loooooooonger reviews is an Executive Summary Section. Perhaps we will post it as a separate page all together. Thanks.

You mean our more deeeeeeeeeetailed reviews, don't you?

 

[Sounds Simple]

Hmmmm.....sounds like the "more taste.....less filling" marketing mantra. I just want to know who (Gene or Clint) carries which banner.

Bob

 

[Yamahaluver]

AH reviews are what keeps me here. Would have it no other way.

 

[zipper]

I don't read every review from start to finish unless it's something I'm interested in at the time. I will skim through receiver reviews because I'm not in the market for one right now.But I read ALL of your speaker reviews end to end until I decided what I wanted & will read all amp reviews end to end because that's my next move.

 

[stiletto pat]

Equipment Reviews

I have to agree with the general consensus of all the previous replies to date. I will add that I think it important to have the summary of the review on the first page - a synopsis of sorts - then follow up with the meaty review.

Keep up the good work. Your site really helped get me back up to speed, and I could hardly be happier with my new system.

Pat

 

[Rip Van Woofer]

Hmmm...I seem to be in a minority here! While the reviews are quite worthwhile overall I often find myself thinking that a firm editorial hand is needed here. Or at least a frequently renewed acquaintance with Strunk and White.

The comment earlier that the Web is suited to longer articles than print is especially puzzling to me. A truism of Web design is just the opposite: reading lots of text on screen is much more fatiguing than in print.

I'm having one of those insomnia nights (they say that happens more as one gets older ) so maybe I'll come back to elaborate in a day or three with my well-reasoned criticisms/pet peeves/nitpicky whining...as concisely as possible, of course!

 

[oddio]

Summary & Print-Friendly

Please continue to make the reviews as long and as detailed as possible, but provide an easy-to-find summary page for people with less time/interest.

Above all, provide an easy way to print the entire review (i.e., a PDF file).

Thanks!

 

[ned]

Please continue to make the reviews as long and as detailed as possible, but provide an easy-to-find summary page for people with less time/interest.

Above all, provide an easy way to print the entire review (i.e., a PDF file).

Thanks!

I totally agree.

 

[UmAlum1990]

Reviews

If the manufactures would give more details regarding their equipment rather than just the selling points, there would be no need for reviews. But we know that isn't true either, because if the manuif reiewed their products, it they would be "the best."

As a relative newcomer to high end audio, I count on the in depth reviews, like those from Audioholics, as well as my own ears to make the decisions necessary when purchasing this equipment.

Kudos to Audioholics and their reviews!!!

 

[gene]

Above all, provide an easy way to print the entire review (i.e., a PDF file).

We will eventually offer this in an Audioholics membership program.

Kudos to Audioholics and their reviews!!!

Thank you. We are always stiving to improve and provide the most detailed coverage of products out there.

 

[Rex]

I think more detailed reviews are a good thing, and as JoeLincoln has stated, a summary in each section would suffice. That way the ADHD people can jump to the summaries, and the detailed info can remain for the rest of us.