Most annoying Stereo magazine claim

I'm with Revvrun on the phrase, "jaw dropping". Then there are those who take it even further by commenting on how, after listening to some discs through said piece of miraculous machinery, they are "...picking their jaw up off the floor". Seems to me that it'd be hard to trust a critic's opinion who does critical listening with their head on the floor...?

I don't understand Stereophile's Class ratings. For example, with amps, there is a $1500 Class A amp and megabuck Class A amps. Do they both sound the same or does one mean that at a price point, this is the best you can get. How about the common claim that the piece of gear under review resulted in the best sound ever achieved in the reviewer's system . . . until next month when the phrase is repeated again. What about the claims that a $40-50,000 digital playback system will sound like really good vinyl. How much does the vinyl system cost that it is being compared to? How does one make any objective sense out of this? Why aren't cables bench tested in the reviews. Why aren't sound analyzed to compare the effect of tweaks and cables and cones and other gadgets. When a reviewer claims that small change in the system produces a large perceived musical change, can't there be any type of objective measurement just to show that there was a difference. I know that tweaks will change a sound, but allow the serious mags to demonstrate just what change occured. It is up to us to determine if we like the change or not.

The Audio Crtic magazine has quite a few - I remember reading this a couple months ago about the 10 biggest audio lies.

Analog cannot sound better than digital, ever.

All cables sound the same.

Tube gear simply cannot sound better than solid state.

I can't recall the others off the top of my head, but I think you get the idea. Give me a break.

Chris

The Stereophile "Class" rating are INVALID. They delete credible equipment based on the "not recently auditioned" or "too long since we have listened to this entry" What a crock! I suggest that my early '60's Scott LK150 power amp should be listed as a "Class A" item.

"HUGE" improvement, although not limited to print magazines. I've seen my fair share of it being used not very far from here in cyberspace. That the reviewer bought one for his own system is something reviewers borrowed from salespeople in audio shops. I have been wondering if they all have huge homes with a multitude of sound rooms or if the turnover rate is even greater than some of the people posting on Audiogon. The best though is when they make excuses for samples og mega-buck products that were DOA or failed shortly thereafter. That the desginer/builder showed up at their door with an upgraded unit is thrilling to hear. I am waiting for the day this happens to me. Maybe I should buy a Simaudio product and fake an electronic heart attack and see their reaction. Their facilites are five minutes away from my house. Naw. It'll never happen...