Your fav online resource for high end gear is....

At the end of the day the ears will decide. But before one can do that, one has to know what is out there crying "buy me". Also, auditioning the object of desire is not always possible (take the example of the splendid SRA platforms that are model-specific and custom-made).

So, even when I'm not looking to buy something, I continuously gather information mostly from magazines and online publications to get as broad an overview as possible of various gear, this may include technical specs as well as listening reviews. That way one also gets a fairly good idea of the reviewer's tastes and biasses. I may therefore be more "forgiving" than many 'goners when it comes to reviews. I just keep in mind that: 1) phrases including the words "The Best ..." are plain balderdash; 2) the overwhelming majority of magazines will never review products of manufacturers that do not take out ads with them (there seem to be exceptions), so the overall picture can never be complete; 3) mostly, you've got to read carefully between the lines to spot critical tones (yes, there are exceptions as well). You asked which ones: on a more or less regular basis HiFi+, LP, Hifi&Records, 6moons, positive feedback, Haute Fidélité, Stereoplay, Image Hifi, Stereo (Germany), Stereo (US), Stereophile, hifi.nl, Music Emotion, High fidelity online, Enjoy the Music, I'm sure I forgot a few. Some of these are more convincing than others, but at this stage all are merely information.

Whenever possible, I try to check that information by listening extensively at fairs and shows, where I also look for opportunities to listen to and compare with gear that is not in the mags or on the web. When I am actually looking for something, I try to broaden the base by asking specific questions on Audiogon (no other forums for me, take that as a compliment everybody) and discussing matters with manufacturers and (only) such dealers that I know very well. Friends and other acquaintances? Sorry not a preferential source, as many of them turn out to be the most biassed of all.

Audio asylum is a good source for leads, this forum can be too but you've got to have a well developed Troll filter and remember that some criticism won't get posted on a sales website forum. Trusted peers are the best source for leads. After reading the 2 most popular US magazines for years and comparing their reports to personal experince, I have no faith whatsoever in either of them.

Uru975
Thanks much. I do wonder though, just how many alike yet subjective accounts it takes to equate them with actual objectivity?

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First hand demos or in home auditions aren’t always a path one can take, and it fuels my curiosity for this question. What if your interests or desires point to something outside your geographic or financial scope.

No local dealers, or friends that own it, and you can not or do not wish to prevail upon ‘buying’ a chance audition by paying for it up front with the attached sometimes, 30 day trial period? This latter reality is especially true for the decidedly predisposed ‘pre-owned buyer’ whose desires out reach their financial wherewithal.

One simply has to go in the bucket. Bust a move and hope.

I’m about lessening the hope aspect of it all in this thread.

Personally, that reading between the lines biz is appropriate IMO. Very appropriate. So is seeing much commonalities in reviews and accounts across the web, here and elsewhere. Ferreting out info such as “Just what do you voice your amps with” or ‘speakers with…?’ is simple enough and easy to find out. One needs but to ask. Sometimes it doesn’t pay off though as the amps or speakers being used are filled with too much unobtainium or can’t affordium. Ohso you use, Triangle Magellans? Avalon Idleons? Like them Levinson mono blocks huh? Sigfrieds? Hmmm.

To date, I’ve come to this opinion on much of the audio realm… it has classes or divisions. Speaking in MSRP speak with regard to amps, there is the hotly contested under $3000 region, next comes the $4K to $5500, and then the one at and above $6K, most commonly. At $7K and skyward, I feel it’s more which different you prefer over which is better as I’ve heard of no dogs in that arena. More or less the same goes for preamps.

Speakers fit into another class IMO and are significantly dependant upon upstream components and their own geography and surroundings.

Terms I look for or seek out aren’t the colorful ones, they are the more practical ones, like flexibility, satisfy, ease of integration, simplicity of use. Words like great and best I’ve had mean little to me. Happy works way more than those other words. Affordable has some weight. So does a rave on the value of a piece, yet that also depends on my own needs for it.

I look for the broadest positive strokes rather than the narrower end user one off system accounts. As much as is possible.

And don’t we all talk to each other and ask something like: So, what’s that sound like to you? Or at least, What do you think? In the end within our talks to each other? ;-))

I’ve only auditioned before hand, a couple of the things I’ve bought so far and have been served pretty well. True too, I’ve looked at some more upscale items generally speaking as well… but tried the popularity route too right up front. I’ve found out there are a good number of people who have my ‘ear’ also… more or less, and I utilize them often. Even some reviewers accounts coincide with my own, some of which post here now and then, some do not to the best of my knowledge.

I’ve been interested in maybe doing a dedicated HT processor lately. I read a review which makes a very good point in ‘Playback magazine’ wherein the Parasound and Marantz multi ch proc/receivers were compared as preamps to one another and to the reviewers other two reference preamps. One priced at about $4K and the other at way way more. AS preamps, all were considered from very good to surprisingly good. Or excellent.

I feel the fundamental problem is I tend to seek out a best or perfect match initially, but have continually found there is plenty of very good to excellent around. The path then to outstanding is lessend by my own perceptions therein. Bareing in mind some attendance to the fundamental prerequisites of mating certain components, ie., impedances, efficiency, and power needs. I personally don’t see myself finding perfection in a less than perfect world.

As for reviews & reviewers per se, I’ll have a look, read, and consider them, IF the context of the review is appropriate. It seems to me a review of thing which is attached to equipment that is as foreign to me as Pluto is, means little or nothing. Hmmm…. Sounds great within a $50K or $75K rig, huh? How about that! So what.

More light is shed by direct comparisons IMO. If a review is to be a review. While I’m grunting about reviews, spending 5000 words on the types of capacitors or size of the voice coils is for me, a real waste of space. Especially if no exchange is made to the direct benefit of said items, to the end user. Likewise with notes made using obscure recordings, or entirely basing the review on orchestral or symphonic recordings. What if, dare I say it, you ain’t into Mendelssohn, Mozart or Beethoven? It’s Just more well wasted space. 3rd movement of handles yada yada? Sheesshhh. Maybe I need a movement. To a more down to earth reviewer or review. No offense intended to those so inclined to the more classical ball game. Personally, I just can’t relate to the majority of it.

The best currently is HIFICRITIC. In theory I agree with Kurt, in practice the last thing I bought on personal audition was a pair of Fisher XP 10 speakers in the early 60s. Even when I lived in Chicago and New York in the 60s and 70s and later in DC I can't remember hearing a demo at a dealers that impressed me. I hope things are better now. In the years I have spent as a dealer I bought on reviews and reputation of the company or after trying samples at home. I attended the Chicago show every year for over a decade but it was very hard to make judgements about sound as the rooms were generally difficult to work with. I did buy all 17 pairs that Monitor Audio brought over the first year they exhibited at Chicago but it was more because of the obvious build quality and the reputation of the designer than the sound at the show. There really is no subistute for having a product at home where you can listen long term and make adjustments in associated equipment. I have a considerable amount of experience and trust my ears and it still takes me a very long time to evaluate GOOD equipment. I purchased a pair of Mini Utopias last spring as a proxy for the development that had taken place during the 14 odd years that I had been inactive in high end and I still haven't decided how I feel about them compared to my long time references. I find the constant questions about which is the best --- at a certain price point to be equally amusing and horrifying. I am currently listening occasionally to the systems of five of my friends, they do not sound alike nor do they sound like mine. All are good but they were chosen to maximize the aspects the owner feels most important. All of us hear in a different manner and critical thing is to recognize this and try to become familiar with your own taste; the thing that drove me crazy as a dealer was trying to help someone with a system who was constantly changing from one component to another with a completely different sound. Krell and Audio Research are equivalent in quality but sound quite different. Just assembling a group of highly rated components is not the same as putting together a complementary system.

Somewhat like Mapman above, I look at everything I can, and look for patterns, especially negative comments. Equipment owners often speak glowingly about whatever it is they own, manufacturers print only good comments about their products, magazines of necessity hide behind the log; but it's the occasional negative comment which is often most meaningful. I personally think most pro reviewers are acting with as much integrity as they can, under the circumstances, and they can be entertaining and knowledgable, but their references, preferences and biases often render their perspective useless. You really have to drill down in the forums, sometimes, to find one or two comments that really tell you what you need to know. Here on Audiogon, there are truly knowledgable and helpful members, but it can take a while to identify which ones know what they are talking about, and what their biases are.