Best Place for Negative Reviews?

when i first started reading the "little" stereophiles, many reviews would compare two (or more) very similar components price-wise leaving everything else in the system the same.
these real-time A/B tests and the resultant impressions imho
gave the reader an immediate sense of the writer's honesty, musical tastes, and a ruthlessness that could not be mistaken for "gee, thanks so much for your advertising dollars; here's a lovely review of your new preamp". i remember plenty of angry debates in the "manufacturer's comments" section, too. very enjoyable reading, and good ammo when you went out to hear a $5000 piece of electronics or speaker system- now you're either enthusiastic regardless of the lofty price-tag or wary and armed with some questions and perhaps some revealing cd's you brought along.

you forgot to include : trust your ears.

I agree. Armed with your own set of test CD/LP's I think you can't go far wrong. The danger is when the demo is made with unfamiliar pieces. Danger being that the music is selected by the person making the demo; therefore it is likely to be particularly well suited to the system reviewed. A great system will outshine others on a wide variety of music even if another system will outshine it in one or two particular instances (because it happens to enhances some specific weakneses in a recording).

There are no negative reviews because today's gear are all so wonderful. Bright speakers are "fast". Veiled amps are "romantic"..etc. Sad state of the high end press, they have turned into pimps. I too, enjoy reading the old Stereophiles.

After reading some of the other responses I have some follow up comments.

I have never, ever been exposed to any biasing which could even tangentially be associated with advertising…at all. Never. I review products that have appealed to me is some way, I contact the company and make the arrangements. I don’t even know if they are a supporter or advertiser of the mag. Heck, they may hate us for all I know. This may sound bad, but I have contacted companies only be told that I already have sent XYZ to ABC at your mag for his review!

I agree, reviewing is a form of entertainment. It is not meant to the definitive word. Our magazine tries to get multiple reviewers review the same product. I recall that I loved the Reference 3A MM Di Cappo (which became my reference for a long time) while at the same time the other reviewer didn't care for them at all. (and said as much)

Next, most reviewers are unpaid volunteer hobbyists audiophiles just like you. Like you, we are looking for the best sound, in "our" room, within our budget. What we have over you, is that we can go through several products, keep them for months AND then decide if it is right for "us". Why would anyone of us buy a product just because we got a deal on it when, chances are, we could get a similar deal on the product we actually want!? When a reviewer buys a product you can be sure that they really like it and it meets their predilections in their price range.

Finally, do read between the lines. I know when there is something I do not like about a product; I say so, albeit in a low key and non-product-bashing way. Mainly because, as I said above, most products are generally very good and because of one issue I may have, that is no reason to toss out the baby with the bath water.

John

I have been reviewing for 7 years now, and I can only recall one "bad" product. Even the ones that I did not personally care for, Dali Helicon 300 comes to mine, had plenty of positive merits to it that another listener could love and I tried to write about what it does well and bad while being objective. Ultimately, when you compare the price/performance level to a $2000 product to the p/p of a $2000 product of 15 years ago - it is hard not to get pumped with excitement.

Then there are the products that do not represent a good value, yet they sound great. Most common in this area are cables. I have reviewed great cables that I would never buy because there is better or equal at the same or less cost. Same is true for speakers and electronics. But the p/p doesn’t define the quality of sound; it may only effect “how” it may be recommended.

I trust that each of you all would be making similar comments if you were lucky enough to get a steady stream of gear pass through your listen room.

There was one time I was supplied with an integrated amp from a company that does not have much market share and, in fact, may be gone now. I got it in my house and it was awful. I could not say anything nice about and neither could my editor. We informed the company, that under the circumstances, your XYZ would get a horrible review and let them pull the product. This would never happen if it were a case of not meeting preferences or expectations. Maybe the company needed to come back with an iteration or revision – but it was so bad it was an ethical questions weather to inform the company and let them pull it.

On the other hand, we all know about a very popular New Zealand based electronics’ company that has a very well received integrated amp. I reviewed it, found it to be a "good sounding amp" but not worthy of destroying in the press nor did I gush over it. I just thought it was way over hyped – but that dose not effect the sound, just the perception thereof.

just my input..