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Gold Member Username: Edster922Abubala, Ababala The Occupation Post Number: 4384 Registered: Mar-05 | I found this particular post very insightful: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8126302&&#post8126302 PS. As you browse the thread, skip through the ongoing digression about whether all amps sound the same...zzz! |
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Silver Member Username: QuinnPost Number: 117 Registered: Aug-05 | Read it. Audioholics pop into anyone else's mind first thing? |
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Gold Member Username: Frank_abelaBerkshire UK Post Number: 1545 Registered: Sep-04 | I don't think it's that black & white. In my view, one should treat a review as a relatively in-depth opinion of one individual. One accepts that the individual has a fair amount of exposure to other products and can give a reasonable assessment of the product in question. One presumes that the individual will have spent time with the product, and formed their opinion on that basis. If there are positive or negative things said in the review then one should be careful about placing importance on them, because they are just opinion. On the other hand, factual statements such as lack of functionality should be considered more seriously, but corroborated elsewhere if possible. In other words, take it at face value as an opinion by an interested party, but try to discern the difference between factual statements and those based on the reviewers preferences. As for the 'all amps sound the same stuff' very saddened by what I read there... Regards, Frank. |
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Bronze Member Username: Cousin_itPost Number: 50 Registered: May-05 | These guys type a lot - they should listen to some music. Most of these all-amp-the-same/tube-naysayers have never heard really great gear. |
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Bronze Member Username: Cousin_itPost Number: 51 Registered: May-05 | I forgot to add that when I read a positive review (on my current speakers) I emailed the reviewer. He gave me even more insight and I'm very glad that I bought the speakers that he reviewed. They were an online purchas so I was putting more weight on the review than I normally would. I guess we share the same view on how a system should perform, so I was lucky... |
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Bronze Member Username: BvgArvada, CO Post Number: 52 Registered: May-06 | Nicely put, Frank. The same holds true for "expert" reviews. We can assume that expert reviewers should have the benefit of broader experience, but they are still just as subject to human foibles and preferences. Even if we set aside any notion of potential conflicts of interest, confirmation bias is a hard thing to contain. As a good friend of mine used to say, "Welcome to the human race. What made you think you'd be different?" lol. Lab tests are more objective, but suffer their own limitations, just as manufacturer's spec's do. (Specs are effectively the result of a lab test, so I'm lumping them together here.) The bottom line is always, listen first. The best way to improve your system is often to improve your listening skills. |
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Gold Member Username: NuckPost Number: 3721 Registered: Dec-04 | Nice sound, not enough bass. |
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Gold Member Username: Frank_abelaBerkshire UK Post Number: 1552 Registered: Sep-04 | The problem with most specs is that they take such a blinkered view of a unit's performance so as to render the quoted spec as relatively unuseable. We're getting better at quoting more useful specs but we're a long way from really useful ones. Regards, Frank. |