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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.

john1
audioman58's avatar
audioman58
4,134 posts
 

Being an ex Audio dealer at Audio shows I heard horror stories from truly great smaller companies  with these Big Audio magazines say give up $50k 

you willbe very popular and well respected ,many didnot have this kind of cash 20 years. Back , and gave maybe 1/3 rd. Decent review 

the full page ads or minimal 1/2 page for a year they get  much more coverage on average . Even onl8ne $700 a month for an ad ,that’s a lot for a small company just 

1 online magazine  TAS ,stereophile double that , way too much politics .

 Reviews good for a observation , your ears by far the best reviewer. 
I now helping out a bit with Denafrips ,they made a Big mistake putting out review samples after the New Gen15 products came out now reviews not until 

mid nov ,a very good product and value ,not to well versed in marketing though, since Alvin went on his own venture loaded with reviews , that’s smart marketing.

alan60's avatar
alan60
178 posts
 

You never see a bad review of any equipment, but with good reviewers you can usually read between the lines.

Whether we like it or not there is an ongoing decline in quality audio retailers, so reviews can provide a guide and perhaps help you whittle down to 2 or 3 products, but ultimately you must let your own ears decide.

michaellent's avatar
michaellent
193 posts
 

No!

moonwatcher
446 posts
 

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.

terry9
2,333 posts
 

@moonwatcher Interesting jump from journalists to scientists. Stopped reading there. By the way, the term "climate change" was coined by George Bush the second.

How 'bout it - you believe in Bush-called "climate change" now? 

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