Publications and websites for equipment reviews

Well, I might be a little bit bias*, but Six Moons.com is one of the best websites for in-depth reviews of many different high-end and small unknown company's gear.

* Disclaimer-I write for them!

Great, thanks.  I'll check them out.

Hi Fi News And Record Review - the best and longest-running UK publication. Also check out HiFi+. Japan has Stereo Sound (unfortunately only in Japanese).

Six moons, analogplanet.

Positive Feedback,Audio Bacon,Darko,Hometheaterreview,Enjoy The Music,Dagogo
are a few others

"Comments on the credibility of publications are welcome." My experience tells me you need to take what the publications say with an enormous grain of salt.  Your ears are what matters most. 

Yup, sodium overdose.  You never know what shenanigans are going on behind the scenes, or how close the reviewer really is to the manufacturer.  Some manufacturers, for instance, will pay some reviewers for a review, and I'm not sure that this is always disclosed up front.

https://www.dailyaudiophile.com/
This is an aggregator of all the online review sites and other things audio.

Here ya go!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHGNxiMlh69Q4M9w7ZV7FPw

And another!
https://www.cnet.com/audiophiliac/

Each and every one should be read as primarily for flavour of the month entertainment purposes.

In over 30 years of reading journalist reviews I can hardly remember one that came across as totally honest. It just doesn’t happen.

So you always have to read between the lines. Always pay attention to any words of criticism however faint they may be.

I’d much rather trust the words of an owner/user - especially one that wasn’t trying to sell me something.


* some online headphone reviewers like metal571 and Z Reviews tend to not hold back so much!

I gave up on mags and online reports and started to listen for my self.

By far the best way to go. 

I got super lucky very early on when I became friends with the best dealer I ever met. Thanks to this I was able to audition a huge range of gear the best way possible, at home in my own system. Plus then a ton more at his place. Then because you can never be too careful I also went around to all the stereo shops up and down the I5 corridor from Portland to north of Seattle.

Unfortunately even with all of that it still only covers a fraction of what's out there. Hardly any of us has the time or connections to do it even if we wanted. And even then a lot of the really good stuff is so niche market its hard to even find out about it, let alone experience first hand, and so one way or another reviews are almost a must-have.

So you always have to read between the lines. Always pay attention to any words of criticism however faint they may be.

Bingo.

Some sources you have to take with an understanding that they gotta advertise for their clients. User reviews are best for me. Take it all into consideration though. 

it's the reviewer that matters if he is close to you in taste you should listen to him.so first you have to understand what he likes. you can tell by looking at his reference gear or the tracks that he uses. than if he is not biased (big magazines are always suspect )everything he says comes to the right context. john darko shows what music he listens to and it's not the usual geeky "audiophile"stuff . metal571 is a great reviewer but he likes flat headphones so he can drastically eq them to death. he loves the hd 800 which has harsh highs and no bass(best suited for classical music) and hates the nighthawks while most of the other reviewers (zeus guttenberg darko and many more)love them and hate the 800. if they say "fast and detailed bass" it means no bass if they say "warm" you have to know compared to what? generally comparisons are the best (amp a has more bass than amp b!).sometimes i read a buyer's remark on amazon and it's better than an hour of video review...

Hi Fi Choice (UK) is good . Plus they give retrospective reviews on older equipment to see how it stands up today.

For those of you who suggest listening yourself as a best practice, of course.  You err when you say you get your information to make a decision to buy listening in a shop or at a show.

The ONLY WAY to be sure is to listen IN YOUR ROOM, period.  No discussion, no controversy, no push-back.  If it does not sound good TO YOU in YOUR ROOM, it may be the best piece of gear ever invented, but it is not for YOU.

Now, can you get some ideas of what to audition in your room at a showroom or a show?  Duh!  But, making a decision to purchase that way is quite foolish as you will eventually discover if you do it enough.

Reading reviews is also fun, and may narrow down your choices for what to audition at home.  If you can't afford a $1,000,000 power cord, what would be the point of taking it home?  Waste of everyone's time and you will eventually sour your relationship with your dealer.

Choose to audition what you need and can afford and everyone will be very pleased with your choices in the end. 

Cheers!

Dailyaudiophile.com is a agregator of 90% of hifi oriented web sites.  Curiously though it does not include many UK publications, which I find to be a nice change of pace compared to US publications.  I really wish Stereo (Japan) and several other Asian publications were translated into english.

Be careful- some sites are explicitly pay to play- IE they will not review a component without a corresponding purchase of ad space.   One or 2 sites at least admit this is their business model, too many do not, but it becomes obvious over time.