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In Reply to: June/July TAS is a special analog issue posted by hesson11 on May 11, 2007 at 16:15:29:
Hey, I like vinyl too, but maybe they laid on a little thick for just about everything.
Follow Ups:
I see what you mean. I've started reading a few of the articles and reviews, and seldom is heard a discouraging word about any of the products discussed. Then again, maybe they're all that good. Maybe?
-Bob
I haven't read the articles, but reviewers HAVE to say good things about equipment. The things they DON'T say tell you more than what they actually write! That's why you have to get a "flavor" of the writer. In today's audio market there are few really bad pieces of gear. There are, however, better sounding things at differing prices.I've only heard one bad piece and it was so bad the article wasn't published! You have to ALWAYS remember that reviewers AND manufacturers are exactly like you...hobbyists! They have learned how to listen for gross and minor anomolies, but so have the rest of the audio crowd! The only difference is they have the guts to show how smart or dumb they are by allowing others to read their creative masterpieces of literature or outright drivel; and THAT is for YOU decide!
Again, in the end, we're all people that love music and love to hear it played well in our homes. I'd just like to know which end of a soldering iron works so I could be a manufacturer!
"Let's see, if I take this thingie and attach it to this thingamabob and run a wire over to this doohickie..."
****
If I had more money I'd soon be broke...but I'd have more LPs!
"In today's audio market there are few really bad pieces of gear. There are, however, better sounding things at differing prices."actually, in various places and spaces i've heard a whole bunch of lackluster pieces that are waaaay overpriced -- but the thing is that many were lackluster at any price, if we just leave price out of it.
some of the gear was super-expense, some of it cheap (if it's not going to convey music, at least it should be cheap)... some of it was tube, some solid-state, etc., etc.
what is sad is that people can assemble a terrible system for $100k. when that can still happen -- and all too easily -- i wouldn't say that there are really "few" bad pieces of gear. in all honesty, i'd say there are more items that are on the wrong side of the line than the right (again, not even factoring in "value").
I have trouble feeling sad for someone spending $100K on a system. If they got those kind of bucks they ought to be able to figure it out or pay someone to help. More to the point of your post, however: the reviews in the mags SHOULD tell the reader what's good and bad in no uncertain terms. I got this issue of tas in the mail even though I had let my subscription lapse and reading it reminded me of why I didn't renew--same old same old consistantly rave reviews of everything. They can't say anything bad--NOT because there isn't bad stuff out there (especially when price is factored in) but because they won't get equipment to review from the mfgrs if they write real reviews and they wont get ads either. The full page ad for basis that quotes harleys review in that very issue (if Im reading this right) is proof positive that there is no separation between reviews and ads. Here's a great review...how about runnning a big ad? Baloney. Im down to one magazine (Stereophile) and that's it--out of habit, out of respect for the long history of that mag, because it is cheap year to year and interesting...but NOT because the reviews are great. Even though I read them and when I occasionally buy something, look at their (watered down) recommended components for advice.
"I have trouble feeling sad for someone spending $100K on a system."Oh, I agree -- I don't feel "sad", per se....but I've heard several such systems and it was more a feeling of pity than anything else. Some people have more money than sense. (I'm not questioning the decision to spend a princely sum on a system...just that you figure if you spend that sum you would at least use your ears and realize that what you've got is awful.)
Then again, once people own something -- anything -- there is a tendency to become a huge advocate as it is human nature to believe our own tastes are the best -- and we are blind to our (systems') own shortcomings.
Magazine "reviews" where equipment gets high marks make people happy because they validate peoples' (sometimes poor) decisions.
I absolutely agree. I have found personally through the years that I can "justify" to myself (rationalize I guess might be a better word) any purchase on the basis of Stereophile reviews. I buy mostly used stuff on the Gon, and I look back and old issues or have old reviews in my head when I buy. My other priorities limit my hifi funds and so I am always looking for "good value"...but even a recommendation of such value isn't often solid. There is one stereo store left in town and it does lots of home theatre these days, so listening as a means of deciding is very limited. Thanks for the posts!
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