There probably has NEVER been any "objectivity or sincerity" in ANY print magazine reviews. We were all just a bunch of naive kids in the 1970s and 1980s reading these magazines and Cream and Rolling Stone. Well, we aren’t so freaking naive anymore.
I mean they aren’t exactly going to bite the hand that feeds them. Free or discounted gear, being wined and dined, all-expense paid trips to see new gear, etc. Whether you believe in so-called "climate change" or not, can you trust government employed scientists who depend on getting grant money for their meal tickets to tell the truth or make up conclusions to please the politicians steering funding their way?
Anyway, audio reviews basically are sales and marketing departments these days. Maybe they always were. The only good thing about them is that you get a chance to see the gear and know what the latest thing is that we are supposed to part with our hard-earned money to buy. Every new thing is always touted as being the best thing since sliced bread...every single time. Boring.
Does anyone on AG truly care anymore about objectivity & sincerity of Magazine reviews?
The latest cover story In the Absolute Sound triumphs the latest 3rd generation YG loudspeakers & their very best, latest technology. While the accolades commence (& do they ever), they only say, "the aluminum- coned midrange driver are carried over from the series 2" conspicuously omitting to mention nothing whatsoever has been done to it - ever (unlike virtually all their competitors who've had numerous major improvements to their MRs). It’s exactly the same driver that came with the speaker when it was first introduced decades plus ago. Their claims for it have not been verified by any 3rd party ever & no audio company has tried to copy their aluminum drivers ever, either. Entry level Paradigms perhaps, but they have the wisdom to understand aluminum cannot be made to compete with the beryllium they use on their upper end product.
Regarding the revised silk dome tweeter, "you may think your speakers excel in this area but until you’ve heard something like the 3s...you may have never heard true high frequency refinement". So a complete dismissal (with no comparisons of any kind of course) of all Diamond, Beryllium, ribbon, electrostatic etc. tweeters, just like that.
Is it just me or is there (from the Wizard of Oz) a clearly implied, "Ignore that man behind the curtain! !" message, as YG simultaneously has a full page, 4 color ad in the same issue & has been an extremely heavy advertiser for years in the magazine?
I’m reminded of the con man’s credo - You can fool some of the people all the time & all the people some of the time - & that’s enough. I had thought that’s not an especially good, long term business model. Maybe I’m wrong on this last, here.
Showing 2 responses by moonwatcher
@terry9 this isn't the forum for it, but there is a huge difference between "climate change" and making the assertion that it is caused by mankind contributing a very small change in the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide. The United States could disappear from the face of the Earth and the temperature of the Earth wouldn't change by any scientifically significant amount. |