Best reviewers

Aside from the laughs I get from those who nominate eber (?!), I am surprised that no one has good (or bad) things to say about HP (Harry Pearson) of The Absolute Sound. Since I am relatively new to this as a serious hobby, I do not go as far back as some of you. Yet from recent reading it would seem to me HP has made, or claims to have made, an important contribution to reviewing standards. I am not sure whether the direction he has taken has been good or bad for audio. On the one hand, I like the way he writes, which I find witty, strongly opinionated, and overall very entertaining. On the other hand I'm a little bit unsure about his technical knowledge. Namely, whether he has enough of it to speak with such authority. On the one hand, I strongly believe that listening and understanding live music is the single most important trait of a good audiophile. Yet I also think a good dosage of technical knowledge is paramount to be able to interpret what one hears, get the most out of the equipment, and make useful recommendations regarding compatibility, usage, etc. Your opinions on this would be appreciated (with eber's customary nonsense and David99s unconditional support thrown in to add a bit of humor).

Joe with reference to Harry P. he IS the reason I stopped subscribing to TAS that is when he was Publisher and Editor. He spent too much time Stereophile bashing. He also gives himself too much credit for developing terminology “intelligibility” was one of them that rings a bell. He also supposedly coined the phrase “Hi-End” to differentiate it from Hi-Fi. I recently tried a trial subscription of TAS and Harry was still where I left him, making derogatory remarks about Stereophile. His pomposity and know it all attitude is not to my tastes although I’ll admit he does have a unique style of prose and always has me running to the dictionary to look up words I’ve never heard before. I like meat and potatoes reviewers, those that have a clear concise manner of communicating what they hear and have a reference point that can be followed for all to understand. A sense of humor also helps. JG Holt probably more than anyone contributed most of the language that is currently used to describe characteristics of products and was certainly the first individual to note subjective differences of audio products through publication of “The Stereophile” now Stereophile.

Tubegroover, I also stopped reading TAS, because as much as like the writings of REG, HP was really starting to pluck my nerves. How many times can use the expressions "uber alles" and "gestalt" into a review.Harry needs to relax and quit being so pretentous. But Robert Green is best writer out there in my mind. Duckboy

Robert Harley seems honest,thorough and unhyped whenever I have had a chance to read something he has reviewed.

For a completely different perspective, one that is not influenced by the amount of advertising dollars paid to his magazine (because he doesn't have one)look up Arthur Salvatore at www.high-endaudio.com Very refreshing and well experienced in audio reviewing. One of the very few people who openly expresses his prejudice's and bias and rational for them.Best of all: it s free.