Example of a piece o’ crap, useless review

@soix 

I agree with most of your remarks about reviewers in general, and agree that this particular review: 1) does read a lot like ad copy, and 2) has no comparator which would be useful to a buyer.  This is not, after all, an entry level or budget table, and if you add the arm cartridge, probably a $5K investment, which might be chicken scratch for some here but probably 5 times more than what most people will spend on audio their entire lives.  And of course no measurements, per TAS policy, which would have been particularly useful given the speed stability issues raised here.

  OTOH…I have heard the SOTA tables, and when he finally does get to describing what records sound like, imo he conveys that it’s strength is Pace, Rhythm, and Timing. SOTA is based in Delevan , Wisconsin, about an hour from where I live.  We have a recently widowed friend who has a summer home there and we have spent a few weekends there, and I’ve wandered into a local audio store a few times, with several SOTA tables on display.  I probably know the SOTA sound better than most other brands as a result, and perhaps that is why I get what he is trying to communicate.  I don’t own SOTA tables but wish them luck in the marketplace 

  In general the reviewer seems to be staying away from the usual audio terms which serves as shorthand between aficionados.  The review in general seems aimed at younger newbies, perhaps a conscious attempt by TAS to capture younger audiences who might view audiophiles of my vintage as old stale and boring.

  It would be interesting to see if that trend continues with TAS and other magazines, to see if they continue to consciously reject the culture and terminology that they helped create and try to lure younger blood.  I don’t intend to read them but I applaud your Watchdog efforts monitoring the B.S. meter

Reviews are full of crap, i.e. you have to dig thru it to get to the earth.

I just re-read the Cayin review I posted above, and I had forgotten my impression then: "it seems he is paid by the word". When I find a review that seems helpful, I read it a second time, skipping the extra and finding the meat of it, like I now remember I had to do with this one.

I am supposing I found other sources to help me decide, but this is the one I remember, probably the opening and closing lines.

I wanted a tube amp with remote volume, it had to sound as good as my Fisher 80z 30wpc mono blocks or I was going to re-sell it. Luckily, happily the Cayin does. I didn't even know Cayin existed.

Soix, Did you write a letter to TAS complaining about the quality of this and other reviews they publish? 

@lewm Yes.  A while back I wrote to them about these issues but not surprisingly didn’t hear back, and obviously nothing changed.  I’ve also spoken to a couple of their reviewers and they both spouted the same company line that product comparisons aren’t useful because it’s unlikely most readers own the exact component used for the comparison.  This is just an absurd rationale used by them to try to excuse themselves from the considerable amount of added work it takes to do comparisons and the inherent accountability that it brings upon a reviewer — much easier/faster to just wax poetic about what you think a product sounds like in a bubble with no check and balance of a comparison.  One of their reviewers said he’d consider doing more product comparisons in the future, but I’ll believe it when I see it and not holding my breath. 

soix

Sorry for the rant, but especially as a former reviewer this piece of garbage pushed all my buttons and really ticked me off.  

Are you often this excitable?

I will read them because I like hearing about new products on the market, but would not buy something without a demo in a store or at a trade show.  To me, the music reviews are the worst.