SO your place/magazine/ site only does reviews of stuff offered freely, but only if the company happens to have a guy who can offer it to the other guy in certain situations?.
NEVER of stuff not offered for review.
Now this is a totally biased system. One where in the past a single company had a dozen of it's products reviewed... It actually was a joke that yet again another one of "that' companies gizmos got a review. True that is in the past, and I hope it never happens again.
Naturally this a product of SCHMOOZING.Not buying, or tit for tat. but just plain old fashioned schmoozing. See the distributor at a show, have a conversation, offer a product, accepted. Schmoozing at it most mundane. And what about products from companies where you just despise the guy? I bet none...
Is this any better than actually money under the table? or buy an ad so I will review your product?
IMO no.
A neutral system would be reviewing products a lot of audiophiles were interested in, and not just ones the manufacturer wants to get press on.For example, the famous case of no Magnepan review. Due to favors for the manufacturer, who 'does not want measurements'.
Now I know the way it is done is the way it is. I just want to write that the current way it IS done, is also a problem, and not a pretty one.
So the way it seems to work is the manufacturer has to 'run into' this guy, so they can get around to talking about loaning a product for a review. Is that any more 'legit' than other means of making a reviewer and a product bump int each other?
Note I am not condemning the practice. Just writing that it is just as biased, and fraught with problems. Different problems, but real issues.
Edits: 05/23/16
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Topic - Just to whine more, What about the fact xxx only gets to review stuff OFFERED, This also is a bias.. - Smelly_Socks 21:39:28 05/23/16 (28)
- Whiner alert: July Stereophile has been out for DAYS. - Dave Pogue 05:44:23 06/09/16 (0)
- RE: Just to whine more, What about the fact xxx only gets to review stuff OFFERED, This also is a bias.. - Meshuggah Ray Rubenstein 02:46:00 06/09/16 (3)
- Alon Wolf / Magico - Inmate51 10:40:14 06/28/16 (1)
- RE: Alon Wolf / Magico - horn kid 10:20:54 09/30/16 (0)
- :-) /n - Ivan303 11:50:48 06/18/16 (0)
- RE: Just to whine more, What about the fact xxx only gets to review stuff OFFERED, This also is a bias.. - morricab 07:14:01 05/27/16 (0)
- There are numerous ways... - mkuller 08:12:26 05/24/16 (0)
- The solution is? - hawkmoon 03:21:09 05/24/16 (20)
- The solution is... - jamesgarvin 11:33:04 05/24/16 (19)
- If I only had the money... Some car review places use only cars belonging to other folks who let them try them - Smelly_Socks 14:43:34 05/24/16 (18)
- At TAS... - mkuller 20:35:55 05/24/16 (17)
- TAS was on a quest - DAP 09:50:37 05/26/16 (0)
- That TAS/ARC problem shows one reason the 'buddy system' does not work all the time - Smelly_Socks 10:03:17 05/25/16 (15)
- How soon we forget... - Steve O 11:48:46 05/25/16 (6)
- RE: How soon we forget... - thetubeguy1954 21:17:22 06/05/16 (0)
- BAck in the day a bad review from TAS or Stereophile could kill a company.. (luckily no longer true)nt - Smelly_Socks 16:05:56 05/25/16 (1)
- RE: BAck in the day a bad review from TAS or Stereophile could kill a company.. (luckily no longer true)nt - thetubeguy1954 22:17:17 06/05/16 (0)
- Or..... - mkuller 15:26:25 05/25/16 (2)
- Obvious answer - E-Stat 00:29:08 05/26/16 (0)
- Or..... - Steve O 18:08:32 05/25/16 (0)
- There were many others... - mkuller 10:42:12 05/25/16 (7)
- RE: There were many others... - bwaslo 20:59:39 05/25/16 (5)
- RE: There were many others... - mkuller 21:13:39 05/25/16 (4)
- RE: There were many others... - Inmate51 10:16:00 05/27/16 (1)
- RE: There were many others... - mkuller 15:26:40 05/29/16 (0)
- RE: There were many others... - Jeffrey Lee 14:58:36 05/26/16 (0)
- RE: There were many others... - bwaslo 14:23:34 05/26/16 (0)
- This is true. nt - Smelly_Socks 16:04:33 05/25/16 (0)