If those are the trends, both are in my view negative trends. For the first one, I can see how it sort of could be beneficial to a degree - if poor products simply don't get reviewed then in the aggregate the amount of "buzz" a product gets could start to get more in line with its actual quality. On the other hand, publishing a negative review (or as is more often the case a mixed review) sends a much clearer signal and allows prospective buyers to understand what exactly the reviewer had a problem with.
As for testing with different amps, in most cases I'd say that just furthers the myth of "synergy," which most of us here at ASR (though not all of us) would say is really about trying to accommodate flaws in speakers with compensatory flaws in amps.
(Yes, for speakers that present unusually challenging loads, more attention does need to be paid to amp pairing, but that's not what I'm referring to here and from what I can tell not what im_gumby is talking about.)
Oh I agree.
All products (amps, speakers, DACs, etc... ) have their flaws. Their design is always going to be a compromise between technology and cost.
I see a red flag when there's a review saying how great a product is without talking about any negative issues. But to your point... I tend to look for reviews before I pull the trigger. In part because its a part of the hobby. But also because I want to buy something that I can be happy with for years before getting something new.
But there is some truth to synergy.
Just go look at the IEM market and then DAP/DAC dongles. (Oh yeah. Headphones / IEMs a whole 'nother world. )
Every reviewer talks about listener's preferences. I tend to like ToneDeafMonk even though he's Canadian. ;-P He taste in music is similar to mine and we're both older so there's a bit of hearing loss on higher frequencies.
W.R.T amps and reviews...
Everyone was singing praises of the Fossi v3 amp. Cheap Audio Man (Randy) loves the Chi-Fi.
I think Amir has done a review too and they test out fairly well. (Golfing Panther IIRC?)
Ron at New Day Record was doing a review... but blew the amp during a long burn in session. (You can google for his video on this.)
After that... I know Randy made a mention about it. That his are working fine, but he didn't do a long burn in session.
And others have also talked about it... Its great for a desktop small room amp. You can even roll pre-amps. (for a price) and I'm sure that they sound good.
This is a great example of the YT reviewers being open about it. Until Ron blew the amp... no one found the issue. At best they talked about these amps getting warm on longer listening sessions. No one put it thru its paces like that. Of course when you look at the Fossi and then rolling the op amps... you're getting near the price point for better amps. (e.g. Purifi then a bit higher to GaN FETs. )
To your point. Yes I wasn't talking about the amount of power... but how some reviewers talk about how chocolate the sound is when listening via a tube amp, but when listening w a class D it was 'technical but cold'. That sort of thing. I don't own a wall of amps sitting on shelves so I can't verify their claims.
www.psaudio.com
