Reviewing the Reviewers - and the decline of HiFi


I know that Arthur Salvatore has an ongoing tirade with Michael Fremer, and whilst I don't wholly share his views so far as Fremer is concerned, I support the sentiment that reviewers themselves ought to be themselves reviewed.
I say this after having read another 6Moons review that basically says that the item they have reviewed is the best thing since sliced bread. With the exception of HiFi news - and that was about 7 years ago, and HiFi Critic (which is regrettably not distributed very widely as yet)- none of the magazines ever criticize products.
This may well explain why the industry is in such decline. Let's face it in the United States Breitling made more than the whole of the US HiFi industry put together! Think I am mad? Well think on this cars sell, and continue to sell well. New cars are by and large a luxury, because we can recycle old cars, but we convince ourselves on their necessity. Car reviewers are unfettered by the need to give wet reviews. The buying customers are therefore not forced to listen through the BS of a review to get some real and genuine information.
Manufacturers also have to wake up and not be so hypersensitive of any genuine comparative criticism - it leads to product improvement. The reviewing industry should get out of the habit of expecting 5 star reviews when they lend equipment to magazines for 'extended periods'. let's face it - most people see hifi and music as coming out of white ear buds, computers, and mobile phones.
lohanimal
"A failure to relate and be genuinely critical will lead to the continuous demise of Hi End hifi."

Hi Lohanimal

The above is what you said so I guess it is what you mean and completely in line with the responses to your query as far as I understand, am I missing another point somewhere? First off there are reviewers that are entertaining writers at best who's judgement I don't hold in any higher regard than anyone else's. Then there are reviewer's who by the consistency of their descriptions of products lend more credibility to what they describe. Another thing to consider is that most reviewer's review products that they think they will like. Why waste time on products of little interest? This idea about being "genuinely critical" is a bit vague, what exactly do you mean? There are usually clues in the review that let you know the plus and minus points of the product. There is no need to openly bash a product in a publication unless there is some type of consistent objective method involved, certainly not subjective, that would be totally unfair to the manufacturer of the product and would go back to biases and preferences. Measurements are one of those objective tools upon which the reader can draw his own conclusions but as most experienced audiophiles know, they don't always tell the whole story.

I don't completely understand your point about Breitling and how this relates in any way to Hi-end audio sales, could you explain, I am curious.
Rja,I have read those reviews also!Mechans, I think you are correct.The majority seem to be dazzled by whatever is newer,smaller,and loaded with the latest features.I think reviewers are journalists first,entertainment more than enlightenment.
Watches hold an edge over audio when it comes to disposable income so it's no wonder why or how they can outsell audio equipment. Breitling is not even on my radar when it comes to desirable watches and yet it has an audience. I just don't like the looks. They sell enough to employ John Travolta as a spokesperson but the really big players in the watch industry don't need celebrity endorsement.

I've read where a certain brand took 40 prototypes to a gathering at a yacht club meeting and sold every one with orders for another 40-50 and they went for $400K apiece. These type of people already have a quality stereo system or don't really care about it, but their love of watches goes back generations.

It would be like Ferrari selling out an entire years worth of inventory on a car that has yet to be made and comparing it to the slow sales of farm combines to small family farmers.

All the best,
Nonoise
Hi Loh,

Just to be clear, I've read your post twice now. You contend (first), that the fact that reviewers consistently fail to bash any meaningful number of products that they write about could be the likely cause of the demise of the high end industry's sales. For the life of me I cannot see a tie in between the two and cannot fathom how you correlate these ideas.

Second, you posit that Breitling's US sales exceed the entire volume of high end sales of audio gear in the US. Again, please help me because I have no idea what that has to do with the price of tea in China.

I think I speak for more than a few here when I say that you have made no discernible points to agree or disagreee with.
much easier to review autos etc., an automobile is a whole entity unto itself. Audio components are mingled with other components, cables and different acoustics of each room they're placed in.