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Honest Amp Reviews: Impossible?

So, I’ve noticed a flood of class D junk hitting the market over the last several years. They come from many different brand names from people you’ve never heard of before like "VTV", to popular Internet-in-the-know brands like PS Audio to famous names like Marantz. One thing they ALL have in common: the complete inability to find honest reviews online for these products.

For example, let’s take for instance the Stellar series from PS Audio. Class D junk with the usual attempt to improve euphonics with some kind of input stage. They call this scheme class AD, I guess to differentiate all the other brands that do something similar. However, you’ll never see a review site point this out; they’ll comment briefly on the design and then dutifully call it class AD afterwards as if it isn’t just a class D amp like many others.

Next, the reviewer will invariably lie about the sound. This lying usually takes the form of lying by omission. They’ll gush about how beefy and controlled it is, how neutral it is, how wide and natural the soundstage is, etc. What they WON’T mention is how lifeless, flat, boring and ultimately fatiguing they ALL are. The buyer who doesn’t know any better has to find that out for themselves while he slowly grows to distrust anything a reviewer has to say about anything. So, the only way to actually get value out of a review is to see if a certain amp has the positive attributes you are looking for while trying to painstakingly research any problems it might have because the reviewer won’t mention them.

In addition to the lies of omission, there’s the usual con of giving certain gear to certain reviewers who will appreciate / like the piece. That Stellar will NEVER be put up against a Dan D’agostino or a Pass for example. This could be valuable to the buyer to see how a lesser amp stacks up against a high end one, but it’s not, apparently, useful to the reviewers. Why? Why is telling the whole truth about amps -- all gear really -- taboo?
madavid0
soix
8,911 posts
 
If you said all amps (ditto cables, CD players, DAC's etc) under controlled conditions sound alike, just how popular would you be amongst those who are trying to earn a living selling them?
Not very, but you also wouldn’t be a good reviewer if you can’t hear differences between amps, cables, etc.  If you think they all sound the same I feel truly sorry for you, and why are you even here?

And BTW, there is truth to the idea that there are mostly positive reviews because it’s mostly very good-sounding equipment that makes it to that point.  I’m not saying there aren’t bad or otherwise useless reviews out there — there certainly are, but if something’s made it to the point of being reviewed these days it’s probably gotten plenty of good buzz precisely because it sounds pretty darn good.  So it’s not really too surprising most reviews are largely positive.  
jjss49's avatar
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jjss49
6,612 posts
 
there are some good points being made about how high end gear is sold, and how ’professional’ reviews play a role in that...

... but i would also say that the stream of venom and anger in the op’s tone is pretty hard to take, certainly not very enjoyable to read...

we have all made mistakes trying things in this hobby, some fairly expensive -- it is up to us to be discerning and careful in how we gather info, process it, and decide how to act
arafiq's avatar
arafiq
1,599 posts
 
Slightly off topic but nowadays a similar trend can be observed in reviewers whose primary medium is youtube. Many started off as refreshing alternatives to the more mainstream reviewers al’a Absolute Sound, Stereophile, etc., and were actually very honest, opinionated maybe but still honest, in the beginning. Once they become popular, the devolution goes like this ...

The reviewers starts off as a hobbyist and the reviews are honest and do not tend to ’lie by omission’. Pretty soon, the youtube channel takes off and they quit their day jobs. Now the pressure to keep churning videos every week or daily (e.g. Steve Guttenburg) starts mounting. You gotta pay the bills after all. Next comes the infusion of chifi reviews. But while they claim that the chifi component flavor of the week is a giant killer giving you the same performance at 25% of the price, they will make sure not to compare to the higher end products directly. They will omit any mention of long term reliability, or post sales service. Everything is a giant killer, everything knocks their socks off!

I feel that our last bastion of hope remains forums such as these. Reviews, whether by professionals or amateurs on youtube, should be taken with a truck load full of salt.
douglas_schroeder
3,281 posts
 
As a reviewer, here's my take, attempting to not assault the OP: 

This is what can happen when people chase "giant killer" products. Put a bunch of them together and you do not get greatness. If a reviewer puts an inexpensive product in an upper end rig, the result is nowhere near the same as the guy with all "giant killer" components and speakers. The community is largely ignorant of such things, then blame the reviewers for not getting similar, impressive results.

Reviewers should point out such things, but some do not. It's not so much a "lie" as a different experience that does not translate necessarily. The problem is exacerbated when the budget audiophile believes that cheaper gear should perform on the same level as upper end gear.  I believed it prior to reviewing, but once I got my hands on upper end gear the lie died due to overwhelming proof otherwise. 

Its a case of existing in different worlds, and the experience of putting a budget component into a fine rig is vastly different than populating an entire rig with them. No lie.  


Shall I stir the pot? Sure, why not? 
Imo, as a class, D is overtaking classes A/B and A. I just began a review of a new class D amp (not a value club loser), and to describe its performance as anything other than sensational at the MSRP would be... a lie. Sorry, not a "giant killer", i.e. sub-$2K, but a legit piece of fine kit.  :) 



julie_priest
132 posts
 
@madavid0  I have tested Genelec 8341A active speakers. They use class D amps. My old system was Dynaudio contours powered by Hegel H190 which I gave up to downsize. The Genelecs would be hard to best even by speakers ten times their price. 
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