The Audio Critic

Good reviewers see and publish opinions on the perceived needs of normal users.

Some reviewers are driven by their own professional standards that they hold dear.

Some are driven by their own internal spins and Cabal programming.

.... and some are driven to just fit in and not be disagreeable to the monitors.

We can choose which to follow. Challenge is in the choosing.

I try to confirm what is read in reviews by what I heard in use (audio).

@pwkmaven2 

Me too.

Unfortunately, more often than not, the result has been a lasting disdain for much of whats been written on the page. Much, if not all of it, simply boils down to little more than an endless stream of advertising driven flavour of the month empty endorsements.

However, when it comes to the likes of Peter Aczel, Floyd Toole, Amir from ASR, the guys at Audioholics etc I haven't found too much to disagree with.

My biggest eye opener was to read the Harbeth User Group forum.

Nothing else altered my way of thinking as much as reading the words of one Alan Shaw.

It took a fair bit of time and a certain amount of discomfort, but in the end I'm more or less in accord with the great man's opinions on amplifiers, cables, stands, connectors etc.

My only remaining issue is with his belief in the superiority of digital over analogue. He's probably right in theory, but not, at least in my experience, in practice.

There's far too many LPs which sound superior to their digital counterparts for me to fully endorse that.

There's a couple of members here who knew Peter personally and commented on him and his diminished hearing acuity . The man was practically deaf. Maybe they'll chime in.

All the best,
Nonoise

When I first got into this hobby 20 years ago The Audio Critic had a bunch of guides/courses teaching you the hobby, how to select equipment and so on.

The theme was - all amplifiers sound the same, choose your speakers via measurement graphs not listening e.t.c

Total nonsense IMO, but if you are into that go ahead.

@agisthos 

You may be right or you may be wrong.

However when such respected figures as Peter Walker, Siegfried Linkwitz, Peter Aczel, Alan Shaw and many others all allude to the same opinion regarding amplification, then perhaps we ought to respect that opinion at least?

In my experience with amps ranging from the NAD 3020 to the Naim 32/110 the amps I have owned have made insignificant sonic difference.

In fact my last 2 amps, a Magnum IA 170 and a Creek integrated sounded uncannily similar when I was able to swap one for the other.

This was a disappointment as I was labouring under the illusion that the far more expensive Creek was a vastly superior amp. I had previously read that it had a more sumptuous, warm and rich sound.

As we know the human perception system is subject to all kinds of illusions, yet it's still a disconcerting feeling when it's demonstrated in such a direct fashion.