Search results

  1. A

    Who is the best reviewer?

    I don't have a problem with the existence of a $70k DAC, or a $50k preamp or a $200k power amp on anything of that ilk. Nor do I have a problem with the $70 DAC or the $50 preamp or the $200 power amp. What I do have a very great difficulty with is the $70 DAC that ends up costing the end-user...
  2. A

    Who is the best reviewer?

    Hi Jeff, How's things!?! Good point. But I still think the answer is not clear cut. Especially as the implication of this is that the only people who can review high-end equipment are those who can afford high-end equipment. That might be a good ultimate solution, but does it mean the reviewer...
  3. A

    Who is the best reviewer?

    Agreed, but the points still hold. In some respects, I think it's almost impossible to make value judgements on products if they are too far outside your normal remit. We have to extrapolate and walk a mile in someone else's shoes. But it makes it almost impossible to separate our own existence...
  4. A

    Who is the best reviewer?

    No. If you extend the Ferrari analogy, what's happened to audio in recent years is that there are a heck of a lot more F70s these days. If you judge things purely by comparing the top of the ranges, yes there are more ranges playing in the top tier today. That is a function of the huge change...
  5. A

    Who is the best reviewer?

    I don't agree. The reviewer's ability to ascribe value is entirely unrelated to whether he or she invests in the equipment they use. First, the equipment the reviewer uses represents a reference point against which they evaluate other products. It's not a 'jolly' or a 'perk', it's a tool of the...
  6. A

    Who is the best reviewer?

    Guys, I have a thick skin (scaly and green too... I think I was an alligator in a past life). Don't be hard on the guy. If he has good things to contribute, that's to the good. If he has a chip on his shoulder (pun intended) about reviewers, he's not the first and won't be the last. I really...
  7. A

    Who is the best reviewer?

    Why? And why?
  8. A

    Who is the best reviewer?

    Price should be - and is - a factor in the design of many product lines. However, many of the seriously upscale brands design in a manner akin to Formula 1; just make it, whatever the cost. Some of these products do end up being an expensive designer's folly, others offer better performance than...
  9. A

    Who is the best reviewer?

    A reviewer's job is to assay the device under test, to the best of their abilities, without grace or favor, while striving to eliminate influence from external forces. The job of looking past the device under test should never be down to the critic, it should be the task of a reporter or a...
  10. A

    Who is the best reviewer?

    Thank you. The lack of business acumen demonstrated by many vanity brands is one of many things hobbling audio, IMO. Even a hobby needs to have its professionals. Audio engineers should stop thinking their EE skills can automatically translate into building a good business, distributors should...
  11. A

    Who is the best reviewer?

    In some circles, yes. A lot of High-End Audio is sold as luxury goods to luxury goods purchasers. To some, the fact it makes a sound is a bonus... it's sold as a status symbol first and foremost. While not everyone is the same, I suspect that the new Sonus Faber Amati Futura sounds like someone...
  12. A

    Who is the best reviewer?

    If I tried editorializing on that scale, I'd fire myself. You need to learn to read what people say, not what you think they said or want them to say.
  13. A

    Who is the best reviewer?

    I am not sure if you fail to understand, or are choosing to misunderstand. The result is the same. Car reviewers didn't spend the time before air-bags and ABS criticizing cars for not having air bags and ABS, but that didn't stop them from recognizing there was a need for a safer automobile...
  14. A

    Who is the best reviewer?

    Really? You've read reviews that say that a component delivers a perfect simulation of the live event? A recording can be a remarkable simulation of the live event, or it can be wholly invented studio creation. That recording played on good equipment can bring the sounds to life, they can stop...
  15. A

    Who is the best reviewer?

    Before it got gummed up with bits of fallen ceiling, my mechanical watch routinely lost just over a minute a week, an error of roughly one part in 10,080. A better mechanical, a quartz or one of those watches that references itself against atomic clocks would return an even better figure. A...
  16. A

    Who is the best reviewer?

    Nope. It's precisely the same set of motivators all round. That's 'motivators' plural, not singular. There are label junkies in every field - if watch collectors were really passionate about the craftsmanship of the horologist, there would be a lot more Grand Seikos and far fewer U-Boats or...
  17. A

    How do you make audio "cool" to bring in new blood?

    I think we all get so caught up in the top-end of the high-end, we forget some of the excellent things that have happened beneath that promontory. Yes, the high-end has grown out to appeal to more than the traditional 'carriage' trade and into the 'armored stretch limo with high-speed pursuit...
  18. A

    How do you make audio "cool" to bring in new blood?

    This is all very true. I think the worst thing the audiophile would could do is get it spectacularly wrong and spend the next few years disenfranchising those who traditionally buy audio and patronizing those who don't, by assuming their tastes begin and end with American Idol or Justin Bieber...
  19. A

    How do you make audio "cool" to bring in new blood?

    New music does not necessarily include new albums from old artists, but it's a good start. Tool, Grinderman, Mogwai, LCD Soundsystem, The Raconteurs, Godspeed! You Black Emperor, The Black Keys and The XX are all excellent contemporary alternatives. Some are a bit spiky and angular and there's...
  20. A

    How do you make audio "cool" to bring in new blood?

    More people than ever enjoy more music than ever. They do so on smartphones, laptops and iPods while they go about their daily lives. They have no need of being forced to sit down and listen to their music in a specific place, and the idea of being so compelled by that sound as to put aside the...
  21. A

    Are CDs dying out in the market place?

    My point about LP eclipsing CD in 50 years was an indication of just how many CDs are currently sold - and the amount CDs sales are dropping - against the maximum capacity of current pressing plants. At current rates of decline in CD, it will still take decades before the numbers are down to the...
  22. A

    Are CDs dying out in the market place?

    True, but CD and stereo amp sales have both been in a slow, but similar, decline for some time, but over the last couple of years CD player sales went from losing a few percent per year, to losing 30% per year. Meanwhile stereo amps continued going in a steady decline. Also, until recently sales...
  23. A

    Are CDs dying out in the market place?

    I believe, 'CD players' in this context covers everything solus with a disc mech that doesn't include video output (CD, SACD, CD transports, but not DVD, BD, or people who use games consoles). How this works with CD transport+DAC combos, I don't know (I think if sold as one, they are treated as...
  24. A

    Are CDs dying out in the market place?

    This is hugely disingenuous. CD sales have dropped considerably over the last decade. Vinyl sales have risen from their lowest ebb. The two things have happened at around the same time, but correlation does not imply a causal link. What is not discussed in all of this is numbers. The 2.8million...
  25. A

    New category products

    It's very early days for the audiophile side of the computer/server revolution. The media server - until a few years ago - was the preserve of multiroom companies struggling to create a stable platform both in terms of file and metadata. Sound was an important - but secondary - consideration...
  26. A

    New category products

    This is already do-able. A full-spec Lyngdorf DPA-1 or TacT RCS 2.2 XP will both perform the first three, and adding something like a MF V-Link, which converts USB (asynchronous, to 24/96) to S/PDIF, will cover the last request. People consider these products 'preamp+DAC' rather than...
  27. A

    Are CDs dying out in the market place?

    Back on topic, the sad answer is "yes". They are dying out and will continue to do so fairly rapidly. They are dying out because the methods of distribution used to get music from record company to listener are collapsing, and painfully slow, inefficient and expensive next to the 21st Century...
  28. A

    A question of value in today's hi-end.

    No, I realize you were not talking about the mag review, but the product that it was of, but the point holds. A portion of the industry is targeted toward extremely wealthy buyers now, and the high-end magazines reflect that portion somewhat disproportionately. Part of this is down to there no...
  29. A

    A question of value in today's hi-end.

    If you read Whisky magazine, judging by its content, you would get the picture that single malt whisky represents something in the region of 95% of the market. The reality is single malts account for just 7% of total whisky sales. If you read QP magazine, judging by its content, the average...
  30. A

    Accommodation pricing for the industry reviewer's ...your opinion?

    I agree and if the topic just continues to cycle round the same concept with nothing positive coming out of it, iit serves no purpose for me to continue with this thread too. Edit: it's a new form of English I've just invented. We now have it, its, it's and iits. I reserve the right to invent...

About us

  • What’s Best Forum is THE forum for high end audio, product reviews, advice and sharing experiences on the best of everything else. This is THE place where audiophiles and audio companies discuss vintage, contemporary and new audio products, music servers, music streamers, computer audio, digital-to-analog converters, turntables, phono stages, cartridges, reel-to-reel tape machines, speakers, headphones and tube and solid-state amplification. Founded in 2010 What’s Best Forum invites intelligent and courteous people of all interests and backgrounds to describe and discuss the best of everything. From beginners to life-long hobbyists to industry professionals, we enjoy learning about new things and meeting new people, and participating in spirited debates.

Quick Navigation

Home Forums

User Menu

Login
Steve Williams
Site Founder | Site Owner | Administrator
Ron Resnick
Site Owner | Administrator
Julian (The Fixer)
Website Build | Marketing Managersing
Top Bottom