Best Place for Negative Reviews?

Its interesting how some see product promotion in some reviews when careful reading by folks familar with the reviewer and the products in general can find all kinds of picks and nits which would kill a purchase.

Interesting kind of conundrum - the person who needs the review the least usually can get the most out of them. Those who read reviews thinking that they are reading something more than a subjective, albeit experience based, opinion are setting themselves up for disappointment.

Ditto in spades for casual user comments which can be forthright opinions or in many cases nothing more than puffery by product supporters like salemen, dealers, distributors and their sockpuppets.

It's a swamp out there..................

I find this site and also Audioasylum to be excellent place for reviews from actual owners and not a staff looking not to offend a manufacture that contributes big advertizing bucks to their mag.

Most reviews require you to read in between the lines of what is actually being said, I see many negative opinions that on the face can seem like an over-all positive review.
I do wish the problems with gear were not so cryptic when you read a given review, and half of me thinks most reviewers have made a deal with the devil and complete honesty has jumped the shark, but how can you mix sound business and sound reviews.....its a tap dance.

". . . jumped the shark." You bet! The reviews are all the same, and user reviews must be taken with great skepticism too. Most users write their review while still in the "honeymoon period" and are trying to convince us (and themselves) that they've made a good purchase.

Lose your faith. It's the only relatively sane thing to do.

As for finding reasonably honest reviews. Check out independent reviewers who neither own nor sell the equipment (or bought *after* they reviewed it), AND have a sound methodology along with the required equipment for testing, e.g., The Audio Critic.

I think sleepysurf is onto something.

I do the same thing. I read many opinions of common folk like us and I look for a theme. Theme being, I see a common thred of a certain product getting steller pub from a lot of actual users. This takes tons of research, but has served me well for many years to put an awesome system together for its value.

I don't bother with a reviewer anymore. I recently ended my stereo review and TAS subscriptions.