Ok, so some of you are saying a certain manufacturer's product is the most "overrated." Folks, the problem with the subject matter here is that in general, most audiophiles and enthusiasts mix and match speakers, amplifiers, preamplifiers, cd players, turntables, cables, DACs etc. from a variety of manufacturers. How can you tell if the poor experience that you formulated your "overrated" judgement on is the poor (overrated)performance of a manufacturer's component(s), or because the product did not match up well with the rest of the products (gear)in your system?
If we were talking about an all Ayre system, or an all Levinson system then judgements are more valid. Or, if someone is pairing B&W speakers with the same system that B&W uses to evaluate the speaker's sound, or the audio system that ZU Audio uses to evaluate the sound of their speakers, then judgements like most "overrated" would take on much more validity. But instead, most of us are using completely different mixing and matching of speakers, amps, preamps, cables etc in our homes than the manufacturer that designed and evaluated their product before putting it on the market.
On a practical level, in most cases, having a system all from one manufacturer with the same cables, or having the same system and cables as the one used by the manufacturer for evaluating their products is usually impossible for various reasons.
If we were talking about an all Ayre system, or an all Levinson system then judgements are more valid. Or, if someone is pairing B&W speakers with the same system that B&W uses to evaluate the speaker's sound, or the audio system that ZU Audio uses to evaluate the sound of their speakers, then judgements like most "overrated" would take on much more validity. But instead, most of us are using completely different mixing and matching of speakers, amps, preamps, cables etc in our homes than the manufacturer that designed and evaluated their product before putting it on the market.
On a practical level, in most cases, having a system all from one manufacturer with the same cables, or having the same system and cables as the one used by the manufacturer for evaluating their products is usually impossible for various reasons.