Hi there, i was wondering in the light of last years' events( Covid, chip shortages, etc), that this whole 18months exacerbated the Hi-Fi's industry shortcomings. i think this may end up yet again into a hi-fi Subjective/Objective reviewer thread( but hope not). What i'm saying is that for many years hi-fi was a physical "get there and listen to it" product buying experience. Expensive? yes, but over the years there have been plenty of good accessible products. one can't say this is an "Old white male" expensive hobby. not anymore.
I believe what exacerbated the shortcomings of this industry was the fact that for around 1 year almost no one could go and listen. We had to stay under lock-downs (UK here was REALLY LOONG), and rely on youtubers and other online outlets for our entertainment and benefit of watching someone who has had the opportunity to review a product that many of us may have been interested in possibly buying. Now, do these guys convey the information we so need, in order to warrant an online order without listening to the product? Do they have a certain responsibility to us the customers? I think not. I wouldn't buy on Audiophiliac's opinion on stuff without looking for some as objective as possible measurements ( at least believable). But, then , this industry was not build to support this promotional model? am i right? . will this promotional model weed out the bad guys in a natural way? Are we victims of a CN product super pushy marketing strategy (talking about DACs out of everywhere...)? Why are some old, well established brands not in this?
So, are we missing a reliable reviewing model that actually may work for this industry? Is the industry inherently not adaptable to the online model? I know there are more important things happening in the world but this is an audiophile forum right? Please discuss.
I believe what exacerbated the shortcomings of this industry was the fact that for around 1 year almost no one could go and listen. We had to stay under lock-downs (UK here was REALLY LOONG), and rely on youtubers and other online outlets for our entertainment and benefit of watching someone who has had the opportunity to review a product that many of us may have been interested in possibly buying. Now, do these guys convey the information we so need, in order to warrant an online order without listening to the product? Do they have a certain responsibility to us the customers? I think not. I wouldn't buy on Audiophiliac's opinion on stuff without looking for some as objective as possible measurements ( at least believable). But, then , this industry was not build to support this promotional model? am i right? . will this promotional model weed out the bad guys in a natural way? Are we victims of a CN product super pushy marketing strategy (talking about DACs out of everywhere...)? Why are some old, well established brands not in this?
So, are we missing a reliable reviewing model that actually may work for this industry? Is the industry inherently not adaptable to the online model? I know there are more important things happening in the world but this is an audiophile forum right? Please discuss.