Are there any audio review sites that can be trusted.

[DuxServit]

ok ok, I’m going to try winding my Ethernet cable around my small portable room-heater, maybe it’ll burn-in

 

[phoenixdogfan]

Besides this site, Archimago, old issues of the Audio Critic, Stereophile's measurements, and Sound Stage Nerwork's speaker measurements.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

There are some good reviews/articles on audiophilestyle, including some very nice ones by our own @mitchco
Tons of 100% subjective idiocy as well, granted.

I would second the Mitchco nomination and also a mention of Kal Rubinstein.

 

[audiopile]

Renewed again my subs to Hi Fi News and Record review - been reading that mag for 40? years or so. Under The current editor's reign they have achieved a nice balance of experienced reviewers and solid testing. Particularly appreciate the lack of a party line - it's not unusual to have a reviewer praise a component and the test report make that seem unlikely. at least 9 out of 10 issues -I will either learn something or have some long held audio belief at least challenged. I find their analysis of downloads particularly interesting - pretty frequently they'll expose a bumped up CD as the "master"source of something that lights up the high resolution "lights" but is well ,ahh ,a CD.

 

[TamerlanOne]

Psychoacoustics plays bad jokes in judgment and makes it subjective and variable over time even if done by the same person.
I think the only way to test the goodness of a device is instrumental measurements (those do not have mood swings)
A fortiori this applies to devices whose benefits are either minimal or zero on the overall listening experience.
I DO NOT believe that the world's most attentive audiophile's ear is better than the worst measuring instrument ....

There is specific software to be able to appreciate these variations
Maybe he will be an impartial judge on the testimonies of those who make judgments ...

audio DiffMaker

 

[audiopile]

I am interested in enjoying recorded music played thru the equipment I have. While lousy measured performance rarely accompanies a good listening performance- still- in 50+ years of enjoying recorded music -exceptions exist. I have enjoyed music played thru some definitely measurably flawed equipment (Most notably: Dynaco PAS3x/ST-70 -a pleasant audio memory) . And audio memory is something I have come to trust and check. In a complex system it is so easy to screw up - self create some incompatibility that makes your judgement worthless when you add/substitute a component. BTW-as long as I can still solder I won't have a Ox to be gored in the cable debate -so -Carry On.

 

[Vladimir Filevski]

If you are looking for a detailed tests of portable bluetooth loudspeakers and headphones I can wholeheartedly recommend Oluv's gadgets YouTube channel (also known as "clavinetjunkie"):
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7DQTjYICjBd5ZtLQU3Z1dQ
There are measurements and subjective tests, but also a database of binaural recording through the tested loudspeakers (and headphones), where you can actually compare any of them.
A rare gem!

 

[VintageFlanker]

Is there any reason why Audioholics hasn't been mentioned more than one time?!

Before I discovered ASR, that was my only reliable spot for objectivism, with also @Archimago. This is really nice to see @Matthew J Poes recently joined ASR. Would be glad to see Gene DelaSalla around someday... This guy is publicly fighting audiophile BS for 20 years.

Apart from the aforementioned: Soundstage! only for measurements. For Headphones: RTINGS.com, DIY Audio Heaven (@solderdude), as well as Oluv's Gadgets on YT!

 

[VintageFlanker]

My bad: Forgot to mention:
https://www.erinsaudiocorner.com/loudspeakers/buchardt_audio_s400_bookshelf/ (@hardisj)

And @napilopez on TheNextWeb

 

[SIY]

And, ahem, AudioXpress...

 

[board]

Computer Audiophile Style is dead. In case you missed it, I was recently banned from the site along with anyone else who didn't applaud the establishment of an "objectivist" ghetto where any unwanted criticism of snake oil could be quarantined to protect the believers' fragile egos. Thinking back, it's pretty clear that the site has drifted ever closer to pure subjectivism in step with the increasing value of Chris' audio gear. It must be close to a million dollars in MSRP by now, though I doubt he paid anywhere close to that amount. He's in the "big boys" club now. He deserves no gratitude.

Before you know it Chris will be saying that vinyl is a better technology than digital.

 

[sergeauckland]

Renewed again my subs to Hi Fi News and Record review - been reading that mag for 40? years or so. Under The current editor's reign they have achieved a nice balance of experienced reviewers and solid testing. Particularly appreciate the lack of a party line - it's not unusual to have a reviewer praise a component and the test report make that seem unlikely. at least 9 out of 10 issues -I will either learn something or have some long held audio belief at least challenged. I find their analysis of downloads particularly interesting - pretty frequently they'll expose a bumped up CD as the "master"source of something that lights up the high resolution "lights" but is well ,ahh ,a CD.

I cancelled my subscription to HFN a couple of years ago as I was fed up of two pages of subjective claptrap and the measurements squashed into a little box, which as you said, often made a nonsense of the subjective review. Also, half if not more of the reviews were for stupidly priced (and styled) products that had no technical merit. The HiFi equivalent of some of the car magazines that never review cars that people actually buy.

About the only thing I found of value was some of the reprinted reviews from the 1960/70s that actually had some substance to them, and the reviews of vintage equipment - which showed just how little we've progressed.

S.

 

[audiopile]

Towards the end of his editorship of Stereophile John Atkinson addressed the frequent reader complaints about the focus on crazy expensive /exotic gear. He tracked reader interest by month to month sales on magazine racks. He pointed out the relatively poor sales for a issue with the NAD D 3020 on it's front cover. I sold (and serviced) the original 3020 back in the day -it was the first purchase for a lot of guys who went on to share our hobby/obsession in the decades to follow that first audio purchase. You'd think the D series 3020 would be of great interest to a lot of casual readers of Stereophile - it wasn't ? Put a D'agastino (spl questionable on my part?) on the front cover and folks buy a copy to read about a piece of equipment that not only will they be very unlikely to ever own -but given the state of retail audio -likely will never hear. With Hi Fi News -I read it less for the reviews of equipment -but because pretty much every issue there will be a column or article that challenges my beliefs or teaches me about some aspect of hi fi audio that after 50 plus years of untreated obsession - I didn't know about. Bloody expensive sub here in the states - but to me something I really look forward to every month. The educational aspect of Stereophile has been less obvious to me over the years and I have seriously considered not renewing this spring.

 

[board]

We do of course have to remember that publications are a business like everything else, and if they can't sell, they can't pay salaries, and then their employees can't put food on the table. So in that way it's understandable that they aim for attracting as many readers as possible.

With Hi-Fi News I only really look at the measurements, and it's one of the only places I can find measurements of phono cartridges and phono preamps. Those reviews are a little bit "funny", because they are often of some hyper expensive cartridge that is being praised as one of the best things the reviewer has ever heard, and surely nothing like "that godawful CD sound", and then the measurements show a very uneven frequency response, either with an enormous drop in the highest frequencies, giving it this "relaxed presentation that CDs just can't do", or with an enormous boost in the highest frequencies, giving it this "hyper realistic and detailed presentation, digging out all the details in the grooves that CDs are simply unable at capturing". Then there's of course also the 10 % distortion at 10 kHz, in some cases (Dynavector DV10x5) 35 % at 20 kHz.
There's nothing wrong with having a preference, but the reviews are usually written in statement form as if they were facts, when it's just a preference, but that's how many audiophiles are - thinking their personal preferences reflect facts.
At least Hi-Fi News include measurements, which most magazines don't. But even in the German magazine Stereo, which seems quite serious, they often sing the praise of a product with poor measurements, and rather than conclude that this then shows that measurements are not important I would conclude that many people (perhaps even most) prefer imperfect to perfect, with most people falling into of two big groups: One that prefer a "dark" sound, and one that prefer a "detailed" sound (often a boost around 10 kHz).
Part of this explanation is probably to be found in the fact that most recordings are average - that's why there's an average. Often they've been produced, mixed and mastered on non-neutral equipment in non-neutral rooms and/or at least approved by an artist who likes a harsh, aggressive sound. So these recordings can be improved. Using e.g. speakers or a phono cartridge to alter the frequency response can yield a more pleasant listening experience, especially by boosting the bass, lowering the harshness region and boosting around 10-12 kHz. That's the pattern I see in most non-neutral equipment, particularly speakers and phono cartridges.

 

[texbychoice]

One can get a headache quickly reading multiple subjective reviews or wading through technical details of objective testing. Depending on a single source of information risks being stuck in an echo chamber. Considering multiple sources of information strikes a good balance. Each individual has to find what works for them based on time, money, and goals. If owning the objectively tested best of everything makes you happy, great. If owning the subjectively reviewed best of everything makes you happy, also great. I owning what most pleases your wallet and ears, regardless of the opinion of others, could be your happy place.