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Audio vs. Other Reviews

Compared to reviewing in other industries, it seems that audio has very very few poor reviews, and I wonder what the difference is. I read music review magazines and they have no problem giving something one star and calling it horrible. I used to read computer game review magazines and still read a copy now and then, and they, too, have no problem trashing a bad game. In both cases, there is a lot of gradation as well - things throughout the spectrum. Every review doesn't end with, "You should check this out, because it may just be what you're looking for!" as the worst it might say.

In pricier categories, car magazines tend to be a fair amount more critical than audio reviews. They also do fairly massive head-to-head comparisons, comparing, say, 10 sport coupes in single go, and rating them, something we're always asking of, but rarely receiving from, audio magazines.

So why is it that basically every audio review is positive? I realize that often, if you read between the lines, the reviews give you a lot of reasons to perhaps steer clear, but why so subtle? Is it really so much harder to do a head-to-head comparison of 10 integrated amps than the same number of luxury sedans? If audio magazines fear advertisers backlash, how do the car magazines deal with the same thing?

Or is it just that, on average, audio components are very capable, and that criticizing them would be unfair?
kthomas
elgordo
530 posts
 
In rating cars, I found the Lamborghini Diablo to be very poor in off-road rock climbing. It was even worse for hauling sheets of plywood home from Home Depot. In rating the Lincoln Locomotive and the Chevrolet Subdivision, I found them both very poor for road racing and drag racing. Perhaps they were not suited to my needs.
judit
217 posts
 
I agree with TOK20000 especially on the following point:

"They only review products they like." This is, of course, exactly what I do. I don't waste time listening to gear that is uncompelling.

Incidentally, it is usually possible to discern the difference between a product the reviewer is really taken with vs others. I have read many 'empty' rave reviews, but must admit that I have also enjoyed many reviews where smart savvy technical guys try to make sense out of superior performance for themselves.
brianmgrarcom
1,317 posts
 
To add to the above, I have also wondered if a reviewer tries a piece and doesn't like it, if they simply do not do a write up on it.
bigtee
803 posts
 
Who cares what reviewers say. Go out and do your own listening. Hell, everyone talks about this being so good and that blowing something away that I take everything with a VERY BIG grain of salt. I've heard differences in cable but to be honest, each one had an attribute that made it ok in some part of the frequency spectrum. I've never heard one that really gets it ALL right.
We have NO standard with which to judge equipment. Everybody hears differently. It's a hit or miss with whoever is doing the listening.
Cars and such are measured to a varifiable standard. Its easy to determine if this car is faster, quieter or whatever. We can test it. Too bad we can't test the "Perfect ear."
I'll give you an example. I had a few negative things to say about a Bryston B-60, that Stereophile reviewed so highly, in another article I wrote. I received personal e-mails at home telling me I didn't know what I was talking about. I feel after 35 years of playing around with this stuff that I am as qualified as the next to give my opinion. But that is what it was---just an opinion. I wasn't doing a survey to see if people agreed with it! A few years later other people are now "Hearing" the same things I heard(once the new was gone.)
So, go with what you like and damn the torpedoes. I'm not even going to tell someone who likes Bose their nuts! If you enjoy it so be it. Isn't that what this is all about or is it my woofer is better than yours crap!
paulwp
585 posts
 
Kirk, Brian, actually I've asked Brian's question of a reviewer or two for a big magazine or two, and was told no, that rarely happens. I think most of the reviewers want to publish reviews and collect their $250 as often as possible.

I think the primary reason you dont see bad reviews, at least w/re electronics, amps, cdps, etc., is that most products are pretty good. The stories reviewers tell to differentiate between similarly priced products are the reviewers' product, all toward selling more advertising. This is not to say that the reviewers do not believe what they write. I think they do, or at least believe that they might be right.

The reason you see the comparison reviews in the car buff mags is that most readers will agree that the test results have some meaning, zero to 60, luggage capacity, slalom course roadhandling, leg room - these are all things that make sense to people and make it possible to differentiate between competing products. Now, audio components can be measured, but most of the subscribers to Stereophile and TAS seem to believe that nothing that can be measured matters when it comes to sound quality (God knows what "high fidelity" means anymore), that is to say, audiophiles who believe that two components with identical measurements can sound different must think that the things that are measured don't matter. So what's to compare, and why take the chance of offending some readers and potential advertisers?

Actually, there have been a lot of comparison tests of speakers, with measurements that vary widely. And it is with speakers that KT's question above really resonates. Speakers sound very different from one another. If fidelity to source is the goal, and accuracy matters, some of them must be closer to right and some very very wrong. So why don't we see more reviewers say that certain speakers are just plain wrong? In my opinion, because most of the reviewers don't know what right sounds like.

Paul
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