what are your views regarding reviewing styles ?

i'd like to clarify my use of the term factual.

i meant the perceptions of reviewers without adjectives.

here's an example of expressing a thought two ways.

"there is an elevation of harmonics in the upper mids/lower treble region"

"the component sounds bright"

both relate to a reviewer's perceptions--accurate or not.

the first is a report, the second, at least implicitly attempts to influence.

thus being factual means reporting what you are without using adjectives and without attempting to influence.

i may not have completely communicated my point.

a review is a collection of perceptions.

it is at least a report of what a reviewer heard after hours and hours of listening.

there are ways to describe what one hears which are analaogous to a report.

like a scientist who does an experiment and reports findings.

a reviewer has anecdotal evidence to present regarding the sound of a component/stereo system.

if a reviewer says he does not the ring of a telephone with compoent a but does hear the telephone with component b, this is factual reporting based upon the reviewers perception.

such a statement, one could infer is objective without an attempt to influence.

if a reviewer says i heard instrument a behind instrument b--again a perception reprted without an attempt to influence.

finally if a reviewer reports nan inability to tell whether there were 1 or 2 violins on a recording, or whether an instrument was a tenor or alto sax, such information is useful to a potential buyer.

it is this approach which i consider reporting--communicating perceptions, without ornate phrase which are relevant.

the subject here is reviewing.

regarding 6922 and a carmel colored cd player, i was remiss in not defining the term.

essentially, given a definition, one could confirm perceptually whether a player experienced by another person, satsified the description of the term "warm" or "caramel colored".

i guess, in the final analysis, one might say that a perception is an opinion in which case, any statement is an opinion as opposed to factual. if that is the case i guess it doesn't matter whether i ask for facts, if every statement is a matter of opinion.

the best i can hope for is unambiguous communication where terms are defined/described and one seeks perceptions which confirm or disconfirm the description offered.

you might still be right by saying a confirmation would still be an opinion in which case you are correct and i'll back off for a while and do more thinking.

this is my last comment on a subject i feel strongly about.

i'll try the restaurant example.

your friend recommends a restaurant. you ask what he ate and describe the taste and discuss the service.

let's say he reports without any opinions.

he states what he ate, the ingredients of the food--spices, sauces, etc. he doesn't use any adjectives.

he discusses the temperature of the food and the time it takes from one course to another.

in short he reports on his experience as if he were an observer.

with this information, i have a shot at making an intelligent decision as to whether to patronize the restaurant.

the same "observer" approach could be used to describe the results of auditioning a component.

a decision to purchase a component requires honest observations without using adjectives. it is enough to say " one instrument appeared to be positioned behind the other and i perceived a sense of space between the instruments".

such a statement is reporting. it converys information. there is no hype, no attempt to influence. if a review were full of statements similar to the above statement, it could be useful and it would qualify as a report, not a criticism.

hi tvad:

i think we agree that my restaurant example and your restaurant example represents a factual description of an event.

where we don't agree is what we would like someone to tell us about an experience--audio or otherwise.

aesthetic experiences are highly subjective. if someone says the food was spicy, or the meat was tough, or the sauce was salty--adjectives, adjectives and adjectives.

i might not agree with his perceptio and therefore would not decide against eating in that restaurant.

i say give me the facts and let me decide. giving an opinion
using adjectives doesn't help me if i am looking to buy an amp. i would like to experience evreything. unfortunately, it is not possible. so, if i am going to make a decision based upon someone's experience, other than my own, i need facts, not opinions, descriptions, not sentiment.

don't tell me the wine is sweet. tell me how many grams of sugar per ounce.

the most important opinions to me are my own, not those of others.

it's not a drab, monontonous world comprised of facts. it's information useful for making intelligent decisions.

preferences are idiosyncratic, but facts are more objective.

get two people to eat in a restaurant and you get three opinions.

as jack friday said "give me the facts, maam".

there are two many opinions, virtually no knowledge and not enough facts.

perhaps the best example is someone going to las vegas and telling me it was hot. when asked the temperature, says is 85 degrees. is 85 degrees hot ?, is a teaspoon of sugar in coffee sweet ?

opinions often obfuscate, facts clarify.