Hifi reviewers

[SkyTrax79]

Someone in my city is selling a Yamaha CD-S700 CD Player on Marketplace for the low price of $5, I searched more informations on this model and came accross this article from a tech reviewers that says to not trust the hifi reviewers and it's funny. I like the part of "What about the chap who is convinced that placing a piece of plain white paper – note, it must not have any writing on it – under one of the four legs of the couch in your listening room will improve the sound of your system? Sincerely. I believe that he believes that."

Should you trust hifi reviewers?

That’s a good question to pose to someone who has spent the last quarter century earning his living by reviewing stuff, a good proportion of it hifi gear (and most of the rest hifi-adjacent, such as home theatre gear). So, should you trust us? The short answer is: no. Let me rephrase that, hell...

addictedtoaudio.com.au

 

[SSS]

HiFi reviews are today at least in Germany not much more than a description of new products. Some so called "listening tests", but I think this is not really useful for a buying decision. So, most of it is repeated marketing material. A lot of description is the look and design of the gear which of course has almost nothing to do with the sound quality.

 

[notsodeadlizard]

Sorry, but this was also written by a hi-fi reviewer, doesn't it bother you a little?
It's just the reviewers fighting in the sandbox, you can ignore their cheerful cries.

 

[fpitas]

Luckily, today we have the internet, where all the information is accurate, and no one lies.

 

[SkyTrax79]

I asked the seller and unfortunately he no longer has the remote control that came with it, it seems it was needed to listen to the USB input.

I've always found it funny how hifi companies in those years tried hard to stay in fashion by offering features that went against the philosophy of high-fidelity, such as playback of compressed MP3 files, as we're seeing now with Bluetooth. At this point, the quality of the DAC and analog outputs no longer matter when you're listening to a 128kbps MP3 file that 90% of the data has been rejected during encoding. It's like listening to VHS tapes on a 4k TV, it just reveals the imperfections even more clearly, and reminds me of the old disclaimer on the back cover of CDs of classic albums that have been reissued, which read:

"The music on this Compact Disc was originally recorded on analog equipment. We have attempted to preserve, as closely as possible, the sound of the original recording. Because of it's high resolution, however, the Compact Disc can reveal limitations of the source tape."

 

[sergeauckland]

HiFi reviewers, to me, are like wine or restaurant reviewers. They are expressing a personal opinion, of no value to anyone except themselves.
Even worse, HiFi reviewers are generally non-technical so they don't have a clue about how the stuff they're reviewing works. At least wine reviewers know something about wine-making, even if their taste isn't likely to be mine.

I long for the reviewers back in the 1960s and '70s who reviewed products on the basis of what it did, how it was made, how serviceable it was, and with a decent set of measurements. What it sounded like never occured to them to comment on.

S.

 

[Purité Audio]

Should be shot.
Keith