Stereo Times review on the Tekton Design Encore Monitor

I accept as valid my post-deletion. Apologies! But what if we were on a wine forum and one poster repeatedly posted links to his wine publication in which he onlya touted the wines of a single producer who happened to be a good friend of his? 

Please step back and think about the concept of being a reviewer. The reason for the word "reviewer" rather than "tester" or "researcher" is that subjectivity is involved. Food is a good example of subjective taste (pun intended). If looking for a good restaurant in NYC that matches the occasion, your mood and budget you could rely back in the day on Ruth Reichl or Mimi Sheraton of the NYT or you could read the opinion of some unknown burgeoning reviewer writing for free in some tiny local paper. Ruth or Mimi (and dozens of others). reached their height at the NYT due to BOTH a wealth of experience and having earned the trust of their readers that when they gave a good review, it was very likely worthy. The unknown burgeoning writer is bound to be a hit-and-miss proposition. A discerning reader can detect the shallowness of the review based on the writing; the sophistication of the writing style, linguistics, word-usage, grammar, syntax, references, comparisons, descriptors, etc. 

And then overlaid on top of the above came the internet and webzines. The true democratization of the ability to publish one's opinions. Suddenly instead of a handful of relatively unknown pundits there became hundreds like dandelions in an untreated lawn. Anyone and everyone who wished to put down to writing their thoughts and don the hat of "reviewer" could do so. Of the dozens and dozens of English based webzines I know of no other, in MY subjective opinion, has less credibility due to lack of standards than the one for which the OP writes. 

And then we come to the subject of the review. Nothing more need be said, I hope.

FW(Little)IW, my current favorite audio publications are both printed and web-only, Stereophile and Part Time Audio. Sure, Stereophile is no longer in its heyday with the likes of Larry Archibald, Tom Gillett (aka Sam Tellig) and Art Dudley among others. But Jim Austin is doing a great job at the helm. I know nothing of reviewers at PTA but I admire their penchant for searching out the meritorious products that others don't review or overlook. 

I am not a Tekton hater. I simply refuse to swallow a shovel-full of unconditional perspective-less pablum written by an author that would never pass muster at a publication with strict standards. A publication that is the equivalent of Phoenix University when compared to Harvard. 

You take this much to too seriously!  Fixed.

To be quite frank, in my opinion, many of the print magazine reviewers use some of the stupidest analogies , metaphors and abstruse/esoteric language in their reviews. Irony, I imagine. 

I'm just a Hoi polloi having fun writing reviews that can inform music lovers to good pieces of gear for their systems. That's it exactly mon frere. You can have fun posting your thoughts without calling yourself a reviewer. Do you lack total self-awareness that your view is not any more elevated than those of say, 5,000 others on this Board? You are not INFORMING, you are CONVEYING. Please look up these two words and think about it. 

@teajay 

We are in times when it is critical to find commonality and goodwill in others. I understand you are a fine person and I will try my best to show you a bit more respect. I should have simply ignored the entire thread rather than publish my own criticism. 

May I offer you my unsolicited advice (as I am about to do)?

As with art, music, and food critics, establish your wealth of experience and knowledge base first. This is admittedly not easy to do but it can and has been done by countless others. It is about credibility. It is rather mandatory if you wish to be considered a reviewer. 

With audio equipment it is essential to provide context with comparisons to contrasting or similar products, preferably both. Herb Reichert does this in a rather unique way with amplifiers, for example, by using the same four or five of his favorite loudspeakers. 

Every audio product, particularly loudspeakers, involve compromises. There is virtually no piece of equipment known to mankind that is perfect or suitable for every situation, regardless of price. Describe the compromises. 

If you are dyslexic, not a native English speaker, or have other difficulties with the art of writing, get assistance. If nothing else, use AI to assist with your writing though I would consider that a very last resort. 

@jetter 

I was over the line, accepted my post being deleted with an apology, and then unfortunately felt the need to make my point. 

Funny thing though-thinking about this thread made me do a search for Stereotimes and another "flavor of the month" loudspeaker, the Acoustic Zen Adagio and I found this: https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/major-innovative-break-through-the-new-nsmt-loudspeakers-reference-spe?page=2

So give me this-I am consistent (and no doubt a hobgoblin of a small mind)

And where is NMST now? Anybody?

This in particular is telling (to me);

audition__audio 1,572 posts 07-14-2024 at 12:34pm  Without really dwelling on this I am not a fan of the original post or this thread. Seems to me that not only is this reviewer calling attention to his review but also getting free advertising for a product. I will assume that since no one has questioned things to this point I am the only one that finds this questionable. I do like the design philosophy behind these speakers.

air-ag 2 posts 02-07-2025 at 02:20am  Great write up, check out our listing as we are selling a ex demo SE edition of the NSMT Clairvoyant sub duo at well below retail!

jrdiii 6 posts 02-07-2025 at 10:35am  @audition__audio Agreed. This whole thread comes across as a not-so-subtle marketing pitch.

theophile 259 posts 02-09-2025 at 02:03am  Without actually hearing the speaker system being put forward, and reading a post on an intenet forum is not hearing, all talk of excellence or otherwise is just talk. I doubt that many will get to hear this speaker to give meaningful corroborative testimony. My thought was that KEF utilised the bandpass woofer cancept 30 years ago and they do not use it now.

audition__audio 1,572 posts 02-12-2025 at 10:30pm  Only some advertising is good it seems. Mere association can be damning even to the innocent. I would ask this reviewer to stop posting in this fashion.

@jetter 

What was actually accomplished?   

Not a thing, and for that, I do apologize. I am sincerely not proud of just trashing someone else for little reason other than a flowery review of a product that I would never buy.