Publications and websites for equipment reviews

it's the reviewer that matters if he is close to you in taste you should listen to him.so first you have to understand what he likes. you can tell by looking at his reference gear or the tracks that he uses. than if he is not biased (big magazines are always suspect )everything he says comes to the right context. john darko shows what music he listens to and it's not the usual geeky "audiophile"stuff . metal571 is a great reviewer but he likes flat headphones so he can drastically eq them to death. he loves the hd 800 which has harsh highs and no bass(best suited for classical music) and hates the nighthawks while most of the other reviewers (zeus guttenberg darko and many more)love them and hate the 800. if they say "fast and detailed bass" it means no bass if they say "warm" you have to know compared to what? generally comparisons are the best (amp a has more bass than amp b!).sometimes i read a buyer's remark on amazon and it's better than an hour of video review...

Hi Fi Choice (UK) is good . Plus they give retrospective reviews on older equipment to see how it stands up today.

For those of you who suggest listening yourself as a best practice, of course.  You err when you say you get your information to make a decision to buy listening in a shop or at a show.

The ONLY WAY to be sure is to listen IN YOUR ROOM, period.  No discussion, no controversy, no push-back.  If it does not sound good TO YOU in YOUR ROOM, it may be the best piece of gear ever invented, but it is not for YOU.

Now, can you get some ideas of what to audition in your room at a showroom or a show?  Duh!  But, making a decision to purchase that way is quite foolish as you will eventually discover if you do it enough.

Reading reviews is also fun, and may narrow down your choices for what to audition at home.  If you can't afford a $1,000,000 power cord, what would be the point of taking it home?  Waste of everyone's time and you will eventually sour your relationship with your dealer.

Choose to audition what you need and can afford and everyone will be very pleased with your choices in the end. 

Cheers!

Dailyaudiophile.com is a agregator of 90% of hifi oriented web sites.  Curiously though it does not include many UK publications, which I find to be a nice change of pace compared to US publications.  I really wish Stereo (Japan) and several other Asian publications were translated into english.

Be careful- some sites are explicitly pay to play- IE they will not review a component without a corresponding purchase of ad space.   One or 2 sites at least admit this is their business model, too many do not, but it becomes obvious over time.