2. member-reviews
  3. 188906-147162

You tube hifi influencers. Love them or hate them?

Not sure if I posted this in the right place but here goes. I've been an audiophile for over 50 years. Way back in the day, brick and mortar stores allowed for extensive auditioning and experienced reviewers  from the few established audio magazines gave fairly honest reviews of equipment. Now there is an army of tube influencers and online reviewers with varying degrees of experience/bias praising  their flavour of the month components that dominate the scene. What's a new audiophile to do? I trust the opinions of members of various forums more so than any of these influencers except for perhaps "The Audiophiliac", Guttenberg. How do you feel?

128x128alvinnir2
gregm
3,405 posts
 

You tube hifi influencers. Love them or hate them?

How about, "ignore them"?

hilde45's avatar
hilde45
4,974 posts
 

I stick with reviewers/influencers with some (or a lot) of technical knowledge.

If I come away from a review having learned something general about the technologies involved, I subscribe to the channel.

Tarun, A British Audiophile, is usually instructive.

I used to like Gutenberg, but now I'm more skeptical. He's mastered a kind of hip, easygoing, Brooklyn-esque patter -- a master showman, who's been plumping products for a long time. I have no doubts he's genuinely smart and an audiophile, but he pushes out so much content that his "excitement routine" ("Today's show is really special!") seems pretty hackneyed. And, TBH, a bit sad. A guy that smart could be spending his time in other ways. Still, who am I to judge?

 

rumblestrip's avatar
rumblestrip
48 posts
 

YouTube today is no different from print magazines of the past. Only the delivery format and frequency have changed. I say this as someone who has been published in both formats over the last 25 years in the automotive and motorsports category.

aewarren
656 posts
 

I attend one or two audio shows a year and trust my own ears.

mahgister's avatar
mahgister
13,094 posts
 

I beg to differ from your dismissing opinion...😊

Your analysis is very good and i concur...

I stick with reviewers/influencers with some (or a lot) of technical knowledge.

If I come away from a review having learned something general about the technologies involved, I subscribe to the channel.

Tarun, A British Audiophile, is usually instructive.

I used to like Gutenberg, but now I’m more skeptical. He’s mastered a kind of hip, easygoing, Brooklyn-esque patter -- a master showman, who’s been plumping products for a long time. I have no doubts he’s genuinely smart and an audiophile, but he pushes out so much content that his "excitement routine" ("Today’s show is really special!") seems pretty hackneyed. And, TBH, a bit sad. A guy that smart could be spending his time in other ways. Still, who am I to judge?

More to discover