Stereophile doubles down on the snake oil!

[Sal1950]

My conclusion is that snake oil nonsense like high-end cables have a short time horizon, because dedicated audio systems as interest most here is a fast-dying market. Maybe there will be vestiges of the dedicated audio market left in certain geographic areas, but in the US at least I'm thinking a system like I have is "dino audio", and HT is the killer asteroid.

I do blame much of the demise of midl level home audio on the basic influence of High-End audio, cables, and all the rest.
Looking back all my boomer gen friends have been discuraged by the goings-on of High End.
About 15 years back my GF at the time went to BB or alike and bought a inexpensive surround system in a box without me and came home
with a bag full of AQ cables that cost almost as much as the system. I told her to return them but refused as the salesman (a professional right?) ensured her she wouldn't get good sound without them, WTF do I know. Some time later I showed her some online info that finally convinced her she had been screwed but now of course she has a bad taste about the whole industry.

 

[SIY]

I don't know how Colloms and Atkinson can look at themselfs in the mirror each day.

They stand on the piles of money.

 

[Sal1950]

They stand on the piles of money.

Thankfullly there's still one or two good folks left there in the closet so to speak. LOL
Things at The Absolute Sound are a total loss and have been for a couple decades thanks to the management.

 

[westsail42]

I've used this quote before on here, and probably in reference to Stereophile too:

“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.”​

― Upton Sinclair

This reminds me of a recent Darko post, where he describes going into a listening room at High-End Munich where Audioquest had three somewhat identical setups each using different "levels" of Audioquest cables. As if Audioquest was REALLY trying to subjectively demonstrate the "value" of their cables on sound quality.

Darko was very delicate in his "review" stating there seemed to be differences in sound quality, but qualified as "not being sure" if it was due to the cables.

Of course Audioquest is a frequent sponsor of his Youtube channel.

 

[BeeKay]

It seems that there is still some dignity and self-protection left in him

 

[Sal1950]

Darko was very delicate in his "review" stating there seemed to be differences in sound quality, but qualified as "not being sure" if it was due to the cables.

Not sure I would phrase that as delicate.
More like lacking integrity to stand up to the snake-oil peddlers and tell his readers the truth.
Just another guy in the payola line.

 

[westsail42]

Not sure I would phrase that as delicate.
More like lacking integrity to stand up to the snake-oil peddlers and tell his readers the truth.
Just another guy in the payola line.

I guess I was being generous.

While I will applaud reviewers who seemingly try to be objective and tout A/B comparisons and the importance of listening (which Darko sometimes emphasises), glaring omissions of ANY positive/negative comment on a sponsor's product makes me suspicious (edit: if he will not comment, then why mention at all?? oh wait, a sponsor).

But then again, Darko apparently cannot setup his own Dirac calibration (admitted in a past post). Bits like this make me wonder about "technical sophistication" of reviewers.

 

[F1Fan72]

Check this out ..

How I choose which hi-fi products to review | Darko.Audio

...and which to politely decline.

darko.audio

 

[Purité Audio]

We can’t access Darko ( no loss whatsoever) but does he choose to only review products that pay him?
Keith

 

[Ken1951]

We can’t access Darko ( no loss whatsoever) but does he choose to only review products that pay him?
Keith

I went directly to his site - never been before - to read the article. He needs a proof-reader for one thing. He also seemed to throw some shade on ASR. His reasons for his choices are fairly reasonable to a large extent.

Edit: For me, written reviews are great. Videos, not so much.

 

[F1Fan72]

We can’t access Darko ( no loss whatsoever) but does he choose to only review products that pay him?
Keith

He blocks access from ASR I believe ,..

 

[Purité Audio]

Thank heavens for small mercies.
Keith

 

[Ken1951]

He blocks access from ASR I believe ,..

Not surprising. I read a bit more on his site. He doesn't think measurements are worth anything, all good designers "tune" their electronics, etc.

 

[thegeton]

He blocks access from ASR I believe ,..

Yep. If you access his site directly it will take you to the same rather empty article.

 

[westsail42]

I went directly to his site - never been before - to read the article. He needs a proof-reader for one thing. He also seemed to throw some shade on ASR. His reasons for his choices are fairly reasonable to a large extent.

Edit: For me, written reviews are great. Videos, not so much.

Of the "internet reviewers" (and let's be honest, there are lot of shysters... um "amateurs" out there), Darko tends to be more palatable for me (esp as he also talks about music that aligns with my tastes). Guttenberg too, although I stopped watching when I bought a component largely on his "positively glowing review" only to find it sounded like crap. And Guttenberg's recent practice of opening his vids by qualifying his credentials as a hi-fi reviewer has left a bad taste. Um, I know one needs to distinguish oneself in a field of amateurs, but come on. Stop telling me how great and experienced a reviewer you are and let your reviews form your reputation.

But for all of 'em there are cases where I must roll my eyes from what I hear them say.

 

[thegeton]

Not surprising. I read a bit more on his site. He doesn't think measurements are worth anything, all good designers "tune" their electronics, etc.

"tune," another Audiophool word for "adds woo" to their gear. Dude is always using a more technical sounding term to enable his abject subjectivism.

 

[Palmer]

Thank heavens for small mercies.
Keith

Got a 403 from the link, was able to go to the website though and access the article. Did not read it, since a guy who calls himself Darko is automatically insignificant to me.
By the way, having the website open in a tab slows down my browser

 

[kolestonin]

Considering that I don’t personally know anyone with a hi-fi system, and that younger generations tend to favor Bluetooth speakers or soundbars, it’s easy for me to assume the cable business is in decline.

Yet the recent Munich Audio Show told a different story: not only was the number of visitors impressively high, but there was also a striking number of booths dedicated to showcasing high-end and often extremely expensive cables.

As with many things, the truth is probably somewhere in between.

 

[F1Fan72]

I know this is slight off the Op topic now but except for ASR and AVforums (been a member since 2006), what other sites / who else should I be following / viewing?

 

[Salt]

I know this is slight off the Op topic now but except for ASR and AVforums (been a member since 2006), what other sites / who else should I be following / viewing?

Some DIY foren offer not only realistic but science confirmed informations, like OP-Rolling and such.
Some of the real world offers in Hifi come from that scene.