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In Reply to: And this is why Consumer Reports does such a GREAT job... posted by Dave Pogue on March 19, 2007 at 04:56:16:
Consumer Reports may not test expensive equipment that interests you, but they do the best they can using measurements not subject to the usual audiophile expectation bias / pontificating with excitement over every new product!Measurements are not a precise method but they can separate above- average equipment from the below-average equipment.
For one example: Consumer Reports reported just how bad the overall frequency response and bass output/distortion of the NHT SuperZeroes was ... at the same time Sytereophile and others were praising these below-average speakers as if they were manna from heaven! (I have nothing against NHT, as I use NHT SuperOnes in my bedroom's background music system, but I know a poor speaker when I hear one!)
Consumer Reports tests are so much better than some high-end audiophile "reviewer's" absolutely worthless pontificating for three pages about some expensive wires ... that a comparison with Consumer Reports methodology would be pure comedy.
Consumer Reports should add blind speaker tests to their reviews but I feel they avoid lawsuits by making all their tests repeatable (a blind listening panel could have a different opinion each day they listened!) It's unfortunate how much our lives are affected by fear of lawsuits!
In most U.S advertising-supported audio magazines almost every component is described as above average and worth an audition = very little information given to help us evaluate the best sound per dollar (quite different from some British audio magazines supported more by dealer ads -- they actually give components bad reviews and low ratings ... yet they manage to stay in business!)
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Richard BassNut Greene
Subjective Audiophile 2007
Follow Ups:
they test something you know about. Then you discover that the assumptions they make in their testing are often wrong, sometimes ludicrously so.Apart from audio, I know bikes and photography equipment. I learned years ago that CR was incompetent to test and report on these things. I haven't checked in over a decade, maybe they've improved. But it makes me wonder if you can trust them to be right about toasters.
I wonder if non-hobbiest categories are something they might be doing a good job on. The nuances that hobbiests go into...audio or whatever...and the prices they are willing to pay...make me think they are not good judges of those categories where anything thing like 'value' or common sense are reasonable factors to include. I know one person period who spends more on hi fi than I do (and I don't spend that much). Everyone else gives me a funny look. Music lovers, musicians, composers....most of them could care less about sound the way audiophiles do. If toasters were your hobby, you probably wouldn't find cr worth anything. But if you want a safe, reliable machine that pops up a couple good pieces of toast when you want it, it might be another story.
It also just so happens that anything that I have purchased that happened to be recommended by Consumer Reports has been a bad purchase.
*Dishwasher that caught on fire due to faulty knob
*Horrid tires only acceptable to those with the least stringent requirements.
*Vacuum cleaner that repeatedly broke and did not even do a very good job.
*many more...When they write about things I know about I just have to laugh and feel sorry for those who follow it. I know they mean well but they either outsource too much or just have non-experts doing the reviews.
Anybody remember the recent baby seat fiasco?
Bill
< < *Vacuum cleaner that repeatedly broke and did not even do a very good job. > >Yes, CR only recommends cheap plastic junk vacuums. For uprights, the best vacuum is an all-metal Royal (made in the USA). These are often used by hotels and other commercial outfits. It's like a Kirby, but half the price, half the weight, and without all the useless attachments. They last forever, are easy to maneuver, and clean great.
But I guess to CR it doesn't make sense to recommend something good.
I'm an Oreck man, and I say the best vacuum is an Oreck, dammit! That little bastard really sucks! You have been proven wrong Mr. Hansen, for I have performed multiple triple blind tests that prove conclusively that Orecks are indeed the BEST! I challenge you sir, to prove otherwise (using the proper test methodology, of course)!!Harumph!
Way to go, "Subjective Audiophile."I'm sure "they do the best they can using measurements." :-)
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