Who is your favorite audio reviewer/writer

MarinJim · Feb 25, 2012

I have been following Anthony Cordesman and Dick Olsher for awhile. I would check out gear that they recommend.

Bruce B · Feb 25, 2012

Fremer is good for me as far as recommendations.

I like the prose of Chip Stern and Corey Greenburg. Cracks me up!

andromedaaudio · Feb 25, 2012

Easily John atkinson .
A fine combination of measurements and no nonsene reviewing

jazdoc · Feb 25, 2012

Michael Lavorgna is my favorite.

Fremer is helpful. At least you have an idea of what the equipment sounds like after reading his reviews.

Johnny Vinyl · Feb 25, 2012

jazdoc said:
Michael Lavorgna is my favorite.

Fremer is helpful. At least you have an idea of what the equipment sounds like after reading his reviews.

I agree...I also like Neil Gader and Wayne Garcia.

microstrip · Feb 25, 2012

I enjoy Anthony Cordesman and Jacob Heilbrunn writings. HP in the good old days.

More for their comments about sound reproduction, writing style and large knowledge about the high-end than by the reviews themselves.

No Regrets · Feb 25, 2012

I also miss reading articles from Cory Greenburg. I've also enjoyed reading the very descriptive reviews from Bob Neil.

mep · Feb 25, 2012

MarinJim said:
I have been following Anthony Cordesman and Dick Olsher for awhile. I would check out gear that they recommend.

I have great respect for Anthony Cordesman and I’m glad he got away from that cookie-cutter style of reviewing gear that he was into for awhile. Dick Olsher drives me nuts though. He has NEVER reviewed a piece of tube gear that he likes until he swaps out the tubes they come with and he rolls in his own stash of NOS uber tubes.

puroagave · Feb 25, 2012

Harry Pearson & J gordon Holt. I always appreciated John Atkinson and martin colloms for their objectiveness. Ken Kessler, Sam telig and Corey Greenberg for making me laugh. lastly, Art Dudley especially for the best little hifi mag there ever was, listener magazine.

MarinJim · Feb 25, 2012

mep said:
I have great respect for Anthony Cordesman and I’m glad he got away from that cookie-cutter style of reviewing gear that he was into for awhile. Dick Olsher drives me nuts though. He has NEVER reviewed a piece of tube gear that he likes until he swaps out the tubes they come with and he rolls in his own stash of NOS uber tubes.

LOL. That is why I like him. I am a tube rolling fan boy.

Oh, I have to add Jonathan Scull and Sam Tellig (for his insistence on less expensive gear)

Soundproof · Feb 25, 2012

Dudley. Excellent ears, good taste, critical perception.

NorthStar · Feb 25, 2012

Who is my favorite audio writer/reviewer? Wow, I enjoy reading several of them.

Among some of the ones already mentioned here by few members, and from Hi>Fi+:
Roy Gregory, Paul Messenger, Alan Sircon, Martin Colloms, Dave Davies, Alvin Gold, Jimmy Hughes, ..

And others from Stereophile:
John Atkinson, Sam Tellig, Michael Fremer, Wes Phillips, Art Dudley, Robert Deutsch, Larry Greenhill, Ken Kessler, Brian Damkroger, Shannon Dickson, Robert J. Reina, Kalman Rubinson, John Iverson, Thomas J. Norton, Lonnie Brownell, Fred Kaplan, Robert Baird, ...

And others from The Absolute Sound:
Harry Pearson, Robert Harley, Jonathan Valin, Neil Gader, Anthony H. Cordesman, Wayne Garcia, Robert E. Greene, Chris Martens, Paul Seydor, Alan Taffel, ...

And others too from The Inner Ear Report, and UHF - Ultra High Fidelity, and other French magazines from Quebec, Canada, France, and others from the UK, Germany, Spain, England, Italy, and Brazil, and others too from all across the globe.

Only one favorite? No, a combination of all my favorites ... :b

JackD201 · Feb 25, 2012

Quite a few of mine are on this forum. Of those that aren't, I enjoy reading Dudley, Garcia and Hongo.

NorthStar · Feb 25, 2012

Bruce did mention Chip Stern; he's another good one.

And did I mention Myles B. Astor? :b

MarinJim · Feb 25, 2012

NorthStar said:
Bruce did mention Chip Stern; he's another good one.

And did I mention Myles B. Astor? :b

Yes indeed, we must forget Mr. Astor.

NorthStar · Feb 25, 2012

Hope he wasn't crying alone in his corner ... :b

LL21 · Feb 26, 2012

I read them all...voraciously when it comes to a product i am interested in. I try to ignore their conclusions...and watch really, really carefully for their specific use of language around the sound. Oftentimes, the conclusions are different, but their micro-observations can often be more similar than not. No matter how many people love the Zanden digital set and there was 1 that did not...every single group noted the bass being more timid than others (Orpheus Heritage DAC, Stahl-Tek Vekian). it was very notable if one reads thru each line.

As a result, i have found i learn from all of the majors.

However, as to personal interaction, i found i have been fortunate to have personal experience meeting, speaking with or getting personal advice from the following for which i am truly grateful (in alphabetical): Myles Astor, Martin Colloms, Jeff Fritz and Roy Gregory. I have a deep amount of respect for each of them, as 'off the record', they have been open, honest in their assessments and advice. They have personal tastes (we all do)...but they have conviction and the experience to back it up.

MarinJim · Mar 6, 2012

The best story I have ever heard concerning a reviewer was from my friend Gary, here in Marin. He was the first importer of Graaf Audio. He lent a GM200 to a writer from (now defunct) FI magazine. The reviewer had the amp for 6 months (not so long if you go by the Harry Pearson law). The writer told Gary it was by far the best amp he has ever listened to, and beautiful. The reviewer then asked Gary, if he would like to purchase the $5K ad or something similar!

microstrip · Mar 6, 2012

lloydelee21 said:
I read them all...voraciously when it comes to a product i am interested in. I try to ignore their conclusions...and watch really, really carefully for their specific use of language around the sound. Oftentimes, the conclusions are different, but their micro-observations can often be more similar than not. (...)

Similar here. Should we call it positive informational reading of hifi reviews?

I have found that in order to get any useful information about a subjective review you have to know the preferences of the reviewer, something that needs time and a some knowledge of his previous articles.

KeithR · Mar 7, 2012

favorite to read or similar taste?

Fremer and I like similar sound. on the opposite side of the spectrum are Harley/Valin---so i skim their articles only.

Olsher and Dudley are entertaining reads, but not quite into their sound.

Who is your favorite audio reviewer/writer

New Member

WBF Founding Member, Pro Audio Production Member

VIP/Donor

Member Sponsor

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member

VIP/Donor

Well-Known Member

Member Sponsor & WBF Founding Member

Member Sponsor

New Member

New Member

Member

WBF Founding Member

Member

New Member

Member

Well-Known Member

New Member

VIP/Donor

VIP/Donor

Similar threads