Warm Take on Professional Audio Equipment Reviews

As someone who has had to learn most of his hi-fi knowledge from the internet, I wanted to share a tempering opinion from what I have read over the years.

To begin, my setup is solidly mid-fi, about $4k in total, and all of the components has a professional review of the component online. The only exception is the Mitsubishi DA-P20, which serves as my phono stage at the moment; the Mitsubishi is not only well regarded on hifiengine (user-driven reviews), it matches beautifully with my Paradigms. For all of the hate that publications get for cranking out positive opinions about every piece of equipment that gets reviewed, there are still trends that can be gleaned from analyzing the larger sample. I have never read a review on hometheaterreview that has convinced me one way or the other. I trust the opinion of anything on Stereophile almost implicitly, especially the Recommended Component lists. My Benchmark DAC and Anthem D2 have been everything that was promised, which only reinforces my trust in the source.

Last thing, my best deal was locally for a Earthquake Cinenova Grande 5: can handle anything, was worth every penny, and the review from Sound & Vision did not oversell the product. I am definitely team "Invest in Your Amp before Speakers".

Have a good one.