2. amps-preamps
  3. 161911-76532

Honest Amp Reviews: Impossible?

So, I’ve noticed a flood of class D junk hitting the market over the last several years. They come from many different brand names from people you’ve never heard of before like "VTV", to popular Internet-in-the-know brands like PS Audio to famous names like Marantz. One thing they ALL have in common: the complete inability to find honest reviews online for these products.

For example, let’s take for instance the Stellar series from PS Audio. Class D junk with the usual attempt to improve euphonics with some kind of input stage. They call this scheme class AD, I guess to differentiate all the other brands that do something similar. However, you’ll never see a review site point this out; they’ll comment briefly on the design and then dutifully call it class AD afterwards as if it isn’t just a class D amp like many others.

Next, the reviewer will invariably lie about the sound. This lying usually takes the form of lying by omission. They’ll gush about how beefy and controlled it is, how neutral it is, how wide and natural the soundstage is, etc. What they WON’T mention is how lifeless, flat, boring and ultimately fatiguing they ALL are. The buyer who doesn’t know any better has to find that out for themselves while he slowly grows to distrust anything a reviewer has to say about anything. So, the only way to actually get value out of a review is to see if a certain amp has the positive attributes you are looking for while trying to painstakingly research any problems it might have because the reviewer won’t mention them.

In addition to the lies of omission, there’s the usual con of giving certain gear to certain reviewers who will appreciate / like the piece. That Stellar will NEVER be put up against a Dan D’agostino or a Pass for example. This could be valuable to the buyer to see how a lesser amp stacks up against a high end one, but it’s not, apparently, useful to the reviewers. Why? Why is telling the whole truth about amps -- all gear really -- taboo?
madavid0

Showing 1 response by douglas_schroeder

douglas_schroeder
3,281 posts
 
As a reviewer, here's my take, attempting to not assault the OP: 

This is what can happen when people chase "giant killer" products. Put a bunch of them together and you do not get greatness. If a reviewer puts an inexpensive product in an upper end rig, the result is nowhere near the same as the guy with all "giant killer" components and speakers. The community is largely ignorant of such things, then blame the reviewers for not getting similar, impressive results.

Reviewers should point out such things, but some do not. It's not so much a "lie" as a different experience that does not translate necessarily. The problem is exacerbated when the budget audiophile believes that cheaper gear should perform on the same level as upper end gear.  I believed it prior to reviewing, but once I got my hands on upper end gear the lie died due to overwhelming proof otherwise. 

Its a case of existing in different worlds, and the experience of putting a budget component into a fine rig is vastly different than populating an entire rig with them. No lie.  


Shall I stir the pot? Sure, why not? 
Imo, as a class, D is overtaking classes A/B and A. I just began a review of a new class D amp (not a value club loser), and to describe its performance as anything other than sensational at the MSRP would be... a lie. Sorry, not a "giant killer", i.e. sub-$2K, but a legit piece of fine kit.  :) 



More to discover