A comment came up in another thread in which the author suggested that manufacturers can benefit from user feedback about various products from discussions on forum threads. I can understand how this would happen, but it is not always that simple. I responded with this post:
I have auditioned products both in my own system and systems belonging to friends. I have then contacted the designer/dealer/manufacturer who was not always very appreciative of the negative feedback telling me that it would not be fair to him if I described my experience with his product on a public forum.
Given these responses, I now hesitate to provide such feedback on public forums. I provided all feedback in private. The result is that the forum reading public never gets to read the negative comments, especially if the designer is an active member of the forum. I have learned to be less candid than I would otherwise be because of this. There are also not so subtle warnings on posts that negative comments can hurt the livelihood of the designer, etc. etc. All of this stifles open and honest (candid) discussion. (IMHO)
I guess this is the trade-off for having manufacturers/designers/dealers participate in the discussions. Their contributions can be very insightful, but perhaps their participation stifles the sharing of candid opinions if those opinions are somewhat less than positive.
A member responded to me with this post, but rather than respond to him again and take that thread further off topic, I opened a new thread to share opinions about this topic.
I wish it were that simple. I'm not talking about violent bashing or meaningless comments, but rather honest, open user feedback submitted behind the scenes directly to the designer/manufacturer/dealer. Some products are routinely slammed on WBF as long as their designers are not active participants. Products designed or represented by members, are treated differently, perhaps more kindly. This is understandable, given that we all want to get along, but does this benefit the reader?
Given this environment, I do not feel comfortable sharing my negative experiences with particular products on this forum because the parties involved are members, just like I am. I simply brought this subject up in response to a designer's recent comment that user feedback from forum discussions can be helpful to the designer. I see this, but my point is that not all user feedback is shared on the forum, particularly if it is negative, because of potential consequences to both the user and the designer, especially if they are both active participants on the forum.
I am now less than completely candid with some of my own experiences given the reaction I received behind the scenes. Basically, I was the "only one" to not think this product was fantastic, etc. etc. (Of course, so were my audio buddies who heard the same things I heard). Or the product was not fully broken in, or not set up right.
Is it a matter of preferences or "system synergy"? It certainly can be, but why dismiss it as such? It might also be something inherent in the product, especially if it was experienced by the same listeners in different systems or by different listeners in the same system. My private contact with the manufacturer/designer/dealer with helpful user feedback became more a criticism of me and my testing methodology or my taste, rather than what the product was actually doing in the various systems.
So I ask, have we really created an environment for open and honest discussions of audio products when I get these reactions to private communications? Image the response if I commented publicly. Perhaps the answer is that it is not perfect, but it is the best that we can do because we want industry representation on the forum. That is fine, and I get that, but the audiophile is not really presented with "the rest of the story" for a more balanced perspective.
This is a bit like discussions about professional reviews and the interests of the readers versus the advertisers. I hope this topic is not too controversial to discuss here.
I have auditioned products both in my own system and systems belonging to friends. I have then contacted the designer/dealer/manufacturer who was not always very appreciative of the negative feedback telling me that it would not be fair to him if I described my experience with his product on a public forum.
Given these responses, I now hesitate to provide such feedback on public forums. I provided all feedback in private. The result is that the forum reading public never gets to read the negative comments, especially if the designer is an active member of the forum. I have learned to be less candid than I would otherwise be because of this. There are also not so subtle warnings on posts that negative comments can hurt the livelihood of the designer, etc. etc. All of this stifles open and honest (candid) discussion. (IMHO)
I guess this is the trade-off for having manufacturers/designers/dealers participate in the discussions. Their contributions can be very insightful, but perhaps their participation stifles the sharing of candid opinions if those opinions are somewhat less than positive.
A member responded to me with this post, but rather than respond to him again and take that thread further off topic, I opened a new thread to share opinions about this topic.
I wish it were that simple. I'm not talking about violent bashing or meaningless comments, but rather honest, open user feedback submitted behind the scenes directly to the designer/manufacturer/dealer. Some products are routinely slammed on WBF as long as their designers are not active participants. Products designed or represented by members, are treated differently, perhaps more kindly. This is understandable, given that we all want to get along, but does this benefit the reader?
Given this environment, I do not feel comfortable sharing my negative experiences with particular products on this forum because the parties involved are members, just like I am. I simply brought this subject up in response to a designer's recent comment that user feedback from forum discussions can be helpful to the designer. I see this, but my point is that not all user feedback is shared on the forum, particularly if it is negative, because of potential consequences to both the user and the designer, especially if they are both active participants on the forum.
I am now less than completely candid with some of my own experiences given the reaction I received behind the scenes. Basically, I was the "only one" to not think this product was fantastic, etc. etc. (Of course, so were my audio buddies who heard the same things I heard). Or the product was not fully broken in, or not set up right.
Is it a matter of preferences or "system synergy"? It certainly can be, but why dismiss it as such? It might also be something inherent in the product, especially if it was experienced by the same listeners in different systems or by different listeners in the same system. My private contact with the manufacturer/designer/dealer with helpful user feedback became more a criticism of me and my testing methodology or my taste, rather than what the product was actually doing in the various systems.
So I ask, have we really created an environment for open and honest discussions of audio products when I get these reactions to private communications? Image the response if I commented publicly. Perhaps the answer is that it is not perfect, but it is the best that we can do because we want industry representation on the forum. That is fine, and I get that, but the audiophile is not really presented with "the rest of the story" for a more balanced perspective.
This is a bit like discussions about professional reviews and the interests of the readers versus the advertisers. I hope this topic is not too controversial to discuss here.
