Disappointing audition after great review


Ok, so I read the hi fi mags, in print and on line. I recently read a glowing review of speakers retailing in excess of $10,000. Then I found a dealer with the speakers on display. After listening I came away thinking what wa stat reviewer thinking? Also recently I tried a pair of headphones. Read a glowing review which touted its sonic quality and noted although they were heavy, they were comfortable to wear, even for hours. So I tried those headphones. After 5 minutes I could not wait to get them off.

Makes me wonder- are the reviews little more than shill ads? Sometime I think so.

On the other hand, there is one long time reviewer who seems to hear pretty much what I do. What he likes I like.

What's been your experience?
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Showing 1 response by theophile

All lovers of well reproduced music should make it mandatory to seek out the mega-buck and mega-raved about items. That way THEY get to hear with THEIR OWN EARS what others are either raving about or just what level of attainment comes with spending sometimes absurd amounts of money.

I will guarantee that in a fair proportion of those auditions, whether through the utter incompetence of the dealer( in setting-up/ combinations of equipment/ lousy rooms) or even when all of those variable are properly attended to, you will be disappointed by the resulting sound/ music reproduction quality.

I like auditioning equipment totally because it reveals that most of the high-end is 'The Emperor's New Clothes'. I usually put the end result down to poor combinations of equipment and dealers who have tin ears and wouldn't know good sound if it ran them over.

Not all auditions result in that, but you will find for yourself that the bad ones do outweigh the great ones.