++++StereoPhile Class A components+++++

Golden_ears, it is not my intent to minimize or deny the insidiously cozy nature of the mag/manufacturer relationship, but to paraphrase the late Dave Thomas, the beef is still missing from the particular burger you're asking us to swallow. I do use my ears - and my eyes - which tell me you've got nothing but a lot of hot air to offer here. I suggest that you use your common sense - or is the next thing you'll be telling us that the UN and the 'Trilateral Commission' are brokering Stereophile's review deals? Armchair conspiracy-theorizing is a cheap commodity, but your brand of evidence-free insinuation just makes reasonable concerns about the review mill and its real effects on marketing in the high end industry that much easier for the main players to dismiss with a wink and a nudge.

Sorry, it was not my companies that were involved, and I'm not at liberty to name them and get them in trouble by giving details.
If there are reviewers on this site and people claiming to be reviewers, they should be fully identifying themselves and who they work for in their bios.

Back to the point (again), Mythtrip's questions, including, "Are the reviews completely independent?"
Answer: No. All reviews are subject to editing by someone higher up in the chain.....for whatever reason.

As long as we have at least one member of Stereophile reading this... : )

I have more respect for a few specific reviewers than i do for others. Some are more willing to divulge information than others. Having said that, most of that information has to be garnered via CAREFUL discernment. To those writers / reviewers, i say THANK YOU for at least trying to "sneak" the truth out. I have to believe that walking the tightrope that's suspended between the manufacturer and consumer requires more than just a little balance. This is not to mention making the Editor happy at the same time.

As to a question that i have, it seems as if more and more gear that is sent in for review is defective or breaks down during the review period. While my thoughts about this may be different since they are based on the fact that i work in the electronics repair / modification industry, why doesn't product reliability / QA ( Quality Assurance ) carry more weight in the ranking of a product ?

Quite honestly, a product that can't hold up to normal shipping and is damaged in transport is either poorly designed, poorly built or not very well packed, etc... With the money that we pay for these products and the profit margins involved, i would think that manufacturers could afford a little more foam and / or an extra box just to make sure things aren't "beaten to death" in transit.

Besides that, a product that fails during normal use, especially more than once in a review or warranty period, is a faulty design as far as i'm concerned. With the lethal voltages inside some tube based gear, safety now becomes a far greater issue here.

On top of that, I find it rather "difficult" to believe that a reviewer would write such a glowing review about a product IF they had to step through the same "flaming hoops" that most consumers deal with when equipment failure arises. After all, having to cover shipping expenses and the "down-time" incurred during such situations can be a REAL damper on your opinion of a product. On top of that, putting the reviewer through the "hassle" of having to deal with such a situation might make for a more realistic assessment of "customer service" from some of these manufacturers also.

As such, have you folks given any thought to this ? If so, what are your plans for future reviews where such a situation is encountered ? Please remember than not all end users have a dealer within walking distance, nor do all dealers supply loaners, etc... In some cases, the dealer wants nothing to do with warranty claims as it is up to the manufacturer to stand behind their product. Sean
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Good point Sean.
I've seen such reviews, where the designer actually went to the reviewer's house to repair, or -ahem- "upgrade" the component to a "higher" level.
Actually, if a player breaks down more than once on the reviewer, (or if it is not a good product) there are two opinions on what should happen:
- terminate the review process and send the designer back to the drawing board
- publish the results....but that would kinda' mean. It could kill a company off and effectively prohibit him from correcting the problem and having a good shot at making a living from selling a better quality product later.
It's not really a magazine's job to kill somebody, just to tell us if a product is worth auditioning. (even though we would really like to be warned)

I think you guys are missing some rather huge points with the Stereopile or other professional reviewers worth: Many of them have credentials which let one appreciate that they do in fact know what a particular track should sound like, as they where either in the studio behind the mastering board or even playing an instrument on their demo material used to review new gear with. I respect the reviewers with these credentials more then I do any Joe Blow who comes to this or any other audio site with their prep-school vocabulary and fat bank accounts from their silver spoon background, which can fool themselves and others into believing that they are somehow in the know. A further fact is that pro reviewers get to play with more gear in a month that even neurotic audiophiles will play with in a year, if not their lifetimes for most. We need "experts," without these professionals there would be nothing but subjective and ego driven conjecture (some of which we see here above), there probably wouldn't even be a hobby as the average audiophile just doen't have the time, money or energy to do for themselves what pro reviewers do for them. I'm not saying one should take the reviews as gospel, nor should one disregard personal tastes for "correctness" or a neutral presentation, but to brush off the worth of pro reviews and rakings is pretty short sighted, me thinks....