What, in your opinion, should the rules be for YouTube Reviews?
Recently, the OCD Hifi channel posted a David vs. Goliath takedown of Constellation. He does not own the unit, has none to handle personally, and bases his critique upon his examination of publicly available photos and their website patter. His video reads Constellation the riot act for their paltry construction and then questions their chutzpah for putting lipstick on a pig and suckering people in. He then contrasts the Constellation by comparing it to Jeff Rowland’s stuff, which his dealership carries.
Personally, I don’t own Constellation nor would I pay $55k for an amp. But I’m wondering what folks here — with intimate knowledge of the differences between seeing photos and handling gear -- think about this kind of takedown.
I’m imagining a spectrum of argument, pro and con this video.
On one end of the spectrum, one might argue for the OCD guy — "Look," one might say, "this is just such an easy target that all he’s doing is calling out a scam based on evidence that is so obvious that anyone could see it. OCD has Constellation dead to rights and he just bothered to make it interesting with a video. He doesn’t need better evidence to do such an obvious takedown. This is called "market correction"." Or words to that effect.
On the other end, one might say, "A channel with 11k subscribers had some duty of due diligence. A take-no-prisoners critique of a product requires that he at least have one to listen to, open up, etc. His willingness to draw a contrast with his own line of products is more than a convenient point of comparison of his video — it’s the main point, however disguised. What this amounts to is an unfair takedown of a product and company to help boost his own sales."
Or maybe there are takes in between?
In short, here I’m wondering about these questions:
"What kind of evidence is necessary for a public-facing critique?"
"What are the responsibilities of a public-facing review?"
"What kinds of reviews are appropriate for dealers to do?"
Be interested to hear from those in the industry, consumers, or reviewers on this question.
@femoore12 , come on!. This is not just a hobby. This is LIFE! Humans have not devolved. They just keep making the same mistakes over and over again. You would have thought that the written word would have stopped this. No such luck. And, the computer assures that we will continue along the same lines indefinitely. Climate change? We desperately need the next ice age. |
@cindyment , and there you are. I know very little about electronics so am unable to evaluate it from an electronic standpoint by photograph. I would hazard a guess that very few proprietors of audio stores know much more about it than I do. I am however killer with a soldering iron:) I do generally shy away from Class D amplifiers because I do not like the sound of off the shelf modules in a box or is that just the thought of it? |
Just a note on evaluating equipment by photograph. There are certain pieces of equipment, usually mechanical in nature, that can be evaluated to a degree by photograph. Tonearms and speakers are examples. There are certain laws of physics that can not be broken and when they are very specific results occur. I am not saying that you can determine what a piece of equipment sounds like, you can not. But it will have a certain characteristic because of breaking that law. There may be a trade off for something more valuable. Electronic gear photographs can give you information on how it functions and to some extent on how it is built but never on how it sounds. Maybe you need a preamp with 8 inputs. A preamp with 6 inputs is not going to work. Some of it is personal. I am only interested in one type of speaker, 8 foot, one way ESLs. This is an evaluation that can be made by photograph. You can tell to some extent how a speaker will image by photograph but not entirely. I bought Sound Labs ESLs without ever having heard them because of long experience with line source ESLs. I had a very good idea how they would perform and they perform exactly that way. I am considering the Strain Gauge cartridge. I have no idea on what it might sound like consequently, I am driving 100 miles out of my way to see and hear the cartridge in person. Just because an amp does not have a three foot thick faceplate does not mean it is poorly made and trying to imply what it sounds like from photographs is poppycock. |
@hilde45 , it is up to the individual to make his own analysis. This would only be useful if you were intending on buying such an amp which few of us are. I think it is in poor taste for store owner to dis someone else's product especially if John Curl is one of the designers. He is not known for making clunkers. |
