POLL: Are AUDIOPHILE Reviews BS?

They can be. I used to have high end gear shipped to me from various reviewers. Had a few WTF moments and odd conversations with owners and engineers. But I have had gear that kind of lived up to the hype.

Yep total bs.

Don’t sweat it, keep doing what you are doing. You were exactly correct, info and entertainment! The best is your sharing of the music you use for the reviews. You have put me on to a ton of great music I would not have discovered otherwise.

I love the laughs, like saying anything nice about Zu speakers….

Of course that your REVIEW are AMAZING as always.

Reviews=BS
Tests=Not BS

Dear Steve, I’ve been following you for about 8 years now and discovered and then bought the Aeon 2 speakers and Schiit Ragnarock 2 starting from your reviews. I’m very grateful for what you do and I understand the subjective aspect of it. The live listening in my room is the ultimate step of the process.

I need to listen to a piece of equipment on my phone to get a feel for it. Not.

Dear Steve! Wish you a happy new year!

Could you recommend a hifi system for MAGA people?!

There aren't any "audiophile" reviews because there aren't any audiophiles, just loonies

If you had my ears, I could and would trust your opinions…s

I have bought an integrated amp, two sets of bookshelf speakers, and headphones based on your "under $1,000" reviews and you have never steered me wrong. Moreover, you rightly conveyed, each time, what made the recommended product unique and noteworthy.

I know I can trust your opinion as a listener because you have the same ecclectic tastes in music as I do. We would have a great time trading music recommendations, you and I. When I see you testing equipment with music by Brian Eno, CAN, Miles Davis, etc., I know you are striving for the same kind of experience that I am, and it's not always about the biggest sound -- it's what enables an emotional involvement with the music.

For this reason, your reviews stand in stark contrast to certain other popular reviewers who shall remain nameless, who present very thorough reviews of products based on how well they play AC/DC and Metallica. When a review concludes that the KEF LS 50 Meta does not properly convey the concussive majesty of the Beastie Boys, I know I can discard that particular viewpoint.

I also really appreciate that you don't feel duty-bound to review every new mainstream product that comes out. You present only what inspires you.

As for measurements, my livingroom is not an anechoic chamber. It's filled with furniture, tons of books, and numerous cats. No measurement will properly assess the damping effect of moving fur, or what happens when I open a window in the summer.

Mostly

I purchase the Zu DW6 Superflys based partly on your reviews and I am thrilled by them. So thanks for the role you play. The info is useful and valued.

Your reviews i trust

I think most reviewers are paid salesmen. Everyone reviews the same product around the same time and gush all over them. Then I go to Skunkie and watch her open them up and point out all the areas of improvement. 😂 That said I did buy the Chinese LS3/5a you recommend and love them...

There's a kind of goofy car guy who has become very popular. His name is Doug DeMuro. One thing I especially like about him is his 'Doug Score' that he does at the end of each review. He assigns the car he is reviewing a 1-10 score on multiple categories and then adds them up for an overall score. He then places the car with its scores on a 'board' comparing the car to the other leaders in its class. Does anyone do this for high end audio? There has got to be a ranking otherwise these poetic descriptions risk becoming hollow. Would you be open to that? Does anyone do this? :) Thanks. I really enjoy your channel as a new view you come highly recommended by someone I respect.

I only watch for fun, couldn't care less about reviews. Different room, cables, hearing capacity, set-up etc, etc. On top of that reviews means very little for the simple reason that objectivity doesn't exist.

Readers need to learn how to “read between the lines” to really get past the effusive bs and get a semblance of truth. Most reviewers, if biased due to ad revenue, will drop a few hints in the review and if you’re savvy enough to decipher, those hints will tell you what’s really going on.

I don't think reviews (in general) are BS, provided you don't take them completely seriously. Reviews are part entertainment and part one person's impression of a piece of equipment. That's all. It's true some reviewers are less than qualified and/or in it for reasons that are not aligned to my tastes or perspective. My view is to find someone who has similar tastes and lots of experience who reviews things I might be able to afford. For instance Jay's Audiolab is sometimes entertaining, but he reviews things I would never ba able to afford, and I feel puts too much emphasis on the prices. So I wouldn't go to him necessarily for a review.

I enjoy your reviews because, you have similar tastes (and review things I might be able to afford) and so I appreciate your thoughts. Happy New Year!

Thanks, Steve. I actually bought a pair of Canton 836.2 after watching your review. I’ve also got a Decware on order and first heard about them from you (won’t be playing the Decware with the Cantons!). So some of us are using these reviews as a guide because we don’t have the resources to hear all the products (although I also live in Brooklyn). The other Big But we should talk about is compensation. It’s hard to trust reviewers because some are compensated by companies, either with cash or free products. Would be helpful to have labels on reviews stating whether they were compensated or not!

Audio reviews that do comparisons to similar gear...much like what Steve does...can be very helpful as they allow for some "triangulation" on the part of the reader/viewer. But it is important to remember that what any reviewers say, in fact what all of us might say about any product is a function of our own likes, dislikes and preferences. Reviews should never be taken as absolutes.

Steve - You wrongly identified/switched the amplifier and speaker in the viewer system. The amp is the Yamaha 2000 and the speakers are the Marantz!

So, Steve, which Universities are rated the best for Bachelor of Science (BS), Masters of Science (MS) and PhD in Audiophiliacology?
PS: Keep doing what you’re doing….entertainment factor alone is worth it.

I think so. I say this because most reviews explain sound as opposed to actual samples against a defined baseline. Very few reviewers provide actual differences to support their conclusions.

No

I have to say, I bought the Pioneer Elite towers based on your recommendation. I like them, but I don’t love them. Maybe I need to pair them with different equipment?

Sound demos are just the most ridiculous thing ever. I cannot comprehend that anyone with any interest in audio equipment would even bring it up

Steve, I'm into vintage equipment and the Marantz HD 880 are the speakers. They are quite nice.

Infotainment viewer.
Buyer occasionally.
I miss the daily shows (I bought the mug which works as advertised;-)
Enjoy the music commentaries.
Thanks for all you have done to support the community👌

Well said. A few comments...

I think it is very difficult to be a good reviewer without years of experience listening to diverse equipment. You have to be able to put today's piece of gear in the context of other gear of the same type. And the listening environment, the entire gear chain, etc. That's part of the "footnotes" that let the reader calibrate their preferences and gear with yours. And you do that very well. Some reviewers do not.

ALL reviews are inherently and inescapably SUBJECTIVE. Even in a measurement-centric "objective review" ... which metrics were deemed to be very important, somewhat important, or not important ... that's all subjective. As a career data analyst, I have opined before that in my experience many of most vehement of the "objectivists" are people who are internally uncomfortable with the risks & accountability of subjective decision-making. But no matter how much some people want to believe otherwise, there is no measurement or composite scoring system that can guarantee that a person will LIKE, and be happiest with, Product A over Product B over Product C over ... Product Z . It's ALWAYS a YMMV situation,. And our preferences generally change as we gain more experience.

Re your comment that most readers/viewers of audio products are there for the entertainment value, and few buy as a direct result ... true enough, but I think there's another dimension in there. For those of us in places/situations where we cannot/do-not listen to a wide variety of audio products regularly, reviews are how we try to educate ourselves. I might buy a DAC every 3 to 5 years ... but the reviews I've consumed during that time educate me about the brands & products available, and give me context to form a list of "serious contenders" when I am ready to buy. I will never have your level of experience ... but your shared experience helps me MAKE GOOD/BETTER CHOICES FOR ME. Will all of my decisions be home-runs? No. That's not an achievable goal. But avoiding strike-outs and raising the batting average is do-able. (Without putting an inordinate amount of my time into the research & decision-making process.)

For consumers of reviews, we need to be aware of the dependence of most reviewers on the industry's manufacturers & sometimes retailers. Reviewers generally can't afford to BUY all the gear they evaluate, so they get the products on loan. A reviewer who produces a bunch of "this product is bad/mediocre/too expensive" reviews shuts down his own pipeline of future products to review. So we have to learn to interpret the nuanced ways different reviewers convey the range of their "like to LOVE" reactions. But even if a reviewer likes the Model ZZ-14 Rubricon Ultra enough to buy it with his/her own money, that's not a guarantee that I'm going also love it, given my personal preferences, budget, & quirks.

No. A lot of reviewers are older with some hearing degeneration so their hearing isn’t as good as the listener, but they try to recommend products based off of specs and their relationships from a dealer, like Shane Lee for example.

Everyone hears differently and each room is different

Thanks for this Steve -- I am sure that there are a range of influences that "effect" Reviewer's conclusions -- biggest of all is the reviewer's own personal preferences.
Next, or perhaps first, is the fact that reviewers are employed to review the next new thing - as a result there is an inherent bias in favour of the new. Sure he who pays the bills is likely to demand compliance with their expectations/requirements -- magazines have to sell advertising, web-sites attract sponsorship and live to create click-bait to secure page views etc...
The biggest challenge any potential buyer has is to be able to access potential purchases so that they can listen to them before they buy, preferably listen to an nA, B, C and D comparison of different variants of what we are seeking to buy. Very few stores/retailers and certainly almost no exhibitions make this easy or possible. Few stores have the resources to carry more than a few hi-end brands and even then simple business limits what they can invest in. So we have to read reviewers and try to understand them in a way that helps us make buying decisions.
What I expect all reviewers to do is to present the facts and the results of their measurements in a language I can understand -- so please reviewers stop the over use of audiophile insider's language unless you also provide descriptions than non-insiders can also understand -- we also buy your content so please serve your customers -- all of us, not just your buddies.
Musicality and ease are most important for me - far more important than an demands for "overly" transparent solutions -- I am not an audiophile, a reviewer of HiFi or music -- I'm just a listener/watcher who enjoys great performances well presented. I am sure that a large portion of my 80,000 tracks are not the best -- I would be staggered if they are. BUT - a great system can present them as best as possible. So I am avoiding considering overly transparent solutions. I like coloured sound if I understand the colouring and that is to my taste -- so Yes tubes vs dry electronics, no to DCS and other ultra high-end dacs - yes to Chord DAVE and other DACs where the engineer is also a lover of music..... etc...

I really take everything you say with a very large pinch of salt. The story is fictional, but the shirts are real.

Welp. Why anyone would get mad at a reviewer seems odd to me. You are the only reviewer that matters.

The one thing Steve does correctly is not offer sound demos. As for BS from reviewers there is some truth to that. However, anyone watching must take into account that it is the reviewers opinion on the subject. We have to consider their level of experience and expertise with audio equipment. The variables are THEIR ears and priorities to what they believe sounds better or worse. Other variables include YOUR particular room and component selection. Synergy truly matters as I have discovered and it's not easy to do with a variety of components in the chain.

Hello, Is it possible to improve the sound quality of a Tube Pre-Amp by 50% by redesigning the power supply? I have a Von Gaylord UNI custom 2024 Pre-Amp-2 6SN7 tube-Capacitor Coupled--The Pre-Amp is dead quiet--& sounds great--I received a notification from Ray Leung that he has a new power supply design that improves the sound quality by 50%? Is this possible?

I am 70 with normal age-related hearing issues, and also from years of riding motorcycles. So I know I will never appreciate the nuances of sound extolled by most reviewers. That said, I put a lot of stock in the sincerity of the reviewer. It's pretty easy to spot agendas and BS on YT, no matter how good or bad the product may be. But look, I am OK with folks trying to make a buck in the hobby/business of audio gear. I still recall how good music sounded to my pre-teen ears over a transistor radio. That's still my benchmark. Our brains are amazingly adaptive at injecting SQ that is not objectively measurable. So yeah, I can afford good quality gear these days, but so much of my process is based on functionality, aesthetics and the feeling I get when listening. If I can use a car analogy, I can afford to buy the Ferrari or the Corvette but I am much more satisfied with the pickups and SUVs I've owned.

Yeah! Go ahead and trust Darko!
Solid dude

I watch online product reviews to get eyes on products and maybe learn a little additional info about them.

I watch Steve’s reviews mainly to learn about new music which is the standout part of his reviews IMO.

Most regular people can’t afford these products much less compare them to anything else. My audio setup would be considered entry level and cheap by “audiophile” standards even though the total of all pieces is well over $2000. I think it sounds great.

The biggest problem I had with Stereophile back in the day: "Yes, we can hear a definite difference in these $3000 cables that were sent to us by the manufacturer for free." Without a blind test setup using basic copper cables for comparison. Diminishing returns for the money indeed.