In rating cars, I found the Lamborghini Diablo to be very poor in off-road rock climbing. It was even worse for hauling sheets of plywood home from Home Depot. In rating the Lincoln Locomotive and the Chevrolet Subdivision, I found them both very poor for road racing and drag racing. Perhaps they were not suited to my needs.
Audio vs. Other Reviews
Compared to reviewing in other industries, it seems that audio has very very few poor reviews, and I wonder what the difference is. I read music review magazines and they have no problem giving something one star and calling it horrible. I used to read computer game review magazines and still read a copy now and then, and they, too, have no problem trashing a bad game. In both cases, there is a lot of gradation as well - things throughout the spectrum. Every review doesn't end with, "You should check this out, because it may just be what you're looking for!" as the worst it might say.
In pricier categories, car magazines tend to be a fair amount more critical than audio reviews. They also do fairly massive head-to-head comparisons, comparing, say, 10 sport coupes in single go, and rating them, something we're always asking of, but rarely receiving from, audio magazines.
So why is it that basically every audio review is positive? I realize that often, if you read between the lines, the reviews give you a lot of reasons to perhaps steer clear, but why so subtle? Is it really so much harder to do a head-to-head comparison of 10 integrated amps than the same number of luxury sedans? If audio magazines fear advertisers backlash, how do the car magazines deal with the same thing?
Or is it just that, on average, audio components are very capable, and that criticizing them would be unfair?
In pricier categories, car magazines tend to be a fair amount more critical than audio reviews. They also do fairly massive head-to-head comparisons, comparing, say, 10 sport coupes in single go, and rating them, something we're always asking of, but rarely receiving from, audio magazines.
So why is it that basically every audio review is positive? I realize that often, if you read between the lines, the reviews give you a lot of reasons to perhaps steer clear, but why so subtle? Is it really so much harder to do a head-to-head comparison of 10 integrated amps than the same number of luxury sedans? If audio magazines fear advertisers backlash, how do the car magazines deal with the same thing?
Or is it just that, on average, audio components are very capable, and that criticizing them would be unfair?