Tok2000, you are a well intentioned, honorable person.
I think this episode is serving as a learning experience, which is what life is all about. Continuing to grow forever, as if we do not grow, we are regressing.
Cable companies are a breed apart in audio. You are wise to formulate a strategy for dealing with them. I only came to these conclusions because of a lot of frustration that would come out on either side of the relationship. Eventually, I had to put up this type of notice to avoid a lot of the misunderstanding that took place during an especially bad episode. Not to go into detail, but imagine a company having false intentions, viewing a "review" as a sale. Then, when the review was over, in order to return the "no longer new" cable, a depreciation fee would need to be assessed.
I have no doubts about your eagerness to become a reviewer. I think we all dream of that. Make sure you pursue it as far as you want to take it. The world of audio needs good reviewers. Just understand that a lot of the people who will come to you will not really care what you think. They are interested in having you say this cable blows all other products out of the water(to use in ad copy and get sales). They are interested in maybe having you become a distributor for them(to get sales). And, they may even be interested in selling the cable to you(no need for ad copy to generate sales).
All of this was the only reason I needed to come up with rules that make me look like an ogre.
But, I must say that the one company who I had a positive experience was fantastic. They really were interested in knowing what I heard. About the bass, its extension, impact, fullness, warmth, speed, integration with the midrange, etc. The same kind of thoroughness went along for the midrange and treble. They spent the time asking about my system, room, tastes, and music. Questions were asked like, "Does this kind of sound appeal to you", "How would you like it better", "If this were this or that, what would you think", "What would you change".
Believe it or not, based on my experience, his experience, and our correspondence, a new product was created. It is their most successful and highly regarded product. In the end, I have undying apprecation for this company, and feel the owner is one of the best people in the industry.
I think this episode is serving as a learning experience, which is what life is all about. Continuing to grow forever, as if we do not grow, we are regressing.
Cable companies are a breed apart in audio. You are wise to formulate a strategy for dealing with them. I only came to these conclusions because of a lot of frustration that would come out on either side of the relationship. Eventually, I had to put up this type of notice to avoid a lot of the misunderstanding that took place during an especially bad episode. Not to go into detail, but imagine a company having false intentions, viewing a "review" as a sale. Then, when the review was over, in order to return the "no longer new" cable, a depreciation fee would need to be assessed.
I have no doubts about your eagerness to become a reviewer. I think we all dream of that. Make sure you pursue it as far as you want to take it. The world of audio needs good reviewers. Just understand that a lot of the people who will come to you will not really care what you think. They are interested in having you say this cable blows all other products out of the water(to use in ad copy and get sales). They are interested in maybe having you become a distributor for them(to get sales). And, they may even be interested in selling the cable to you(no need for ad copy to generate sales).
All of this was the only reason I needed to come up with rules that make me look like an ogre.
But, I must say that the one company who I had a positive experience was fantastic. They really were interested in knowing what I heard. About the bass, its extension, impact, fullness, warmth, speed, integration with the midrange, etc. The same kind of thoroughness went along for the midrange and treble. They spent the time asking about my system, room, tastes, and music. Questions were asked like, "Does this kind of sound appeal to you", "How would you like it better", "If this were this or that, what would you think", "What would you change".
Believe it or not, based on my experience, his experience, and our correspondence, a new product was created. It is their most successful and highly regarded product. In the end, I have undying apprecation for this company, and feel the owner is one of the best people in the industry.