Some famous reviewers have atrocious listening rooms!


It’s almost sad, really.  Some reviewers I’ve been reading for decades, when showing their rigs on YouTube, have absolutely horrible rooms.  Weird shaped; too small w/o acoustic treatment; crap all over the place within the room or around the speakers; and on and on.  
 

Had I known about the listening rooms they use to review gear in the past, I would not have placed such a value on what they were writing.  I think reviewers should not just list the equipment they used in a given review, but be required to show their listening rooms, as well.
 

Turns out my listening room isn’t so bad, after all.  

 

 

128x128audiodwebe

Noting that the reflective qualities of Michael Fremer's record collection could be responsible for his listening environment, I don't see that a pair of glasses being regarded as a reflective surface only inches from our receptors [ears] wouldn't make a meaningful difference as well.   I wonder if the engineers who designed the famous Neumann KU-100 microphone in the shape of a human head ever considered a special model wearing eyeglasses ?

Try it even if you don't regularly wear eyeglasses and if you don't hear a difference may I suggest a visit to a hearing specialist ?  It definitely makes a difference 

What if you wear John Lennon specs? You are not the first to make this recommendation as Jim Smith makes it in his book but there is no way on Earth a reviewer's perspective is skewed off base due to failing to remove eyeglasses. What's next, mandating a uniform size and shape of ears? Augmenting or reducing the size of the schnoz? What about beards? Yarmulkes and Taqiyah? 

I use reviewers inputs as simply a jumping off point. If I have met them and have some respect I may take their opinions with a grain of salt. Otherwise I simply ignore all the blather and do my own research. My ears are clean and my listening room is decent. 

Listen to the music not the gear. 

And sometimes “the room” is just voodoo.  Long living room and dining room,,38x16,,divided only by brick fireplace that’s centered, with peaked ceiling at 16 feet,,open on both sides of fireplace.  Last week I’m working on placing tongue and groove pattern board on the ceiling.  I’m up on a scaffold with my head at @15 feet, behind the fireplace.  Music playing in the living room, on the other side.  I love my system, always sounds wonderful.  Up at the ceiling, the music sounds 3 dimensional, floating.  I climb down, it sounds normal great.  Back up on the scaffold it’s wow.  I love that kind of stuff 

cracks me up the fashion critic fails to lead by example……by… ahem…. posting pictures of the system…their…system…

there are no perfect performance halls, studios, nor listening rooms…. there are certainly some of legend…. and lore…