You tube hifi influencers. Love them or hate them?

@tomic601 They are keepers and here to stay!

When researching equipment you cannot see in person, YouTube influencers play an important role in showing and speaking about that component.  Sometimes they are nothing more than glorified infomercials, but even that helps with your research.

I bought a Luxman integrated amp earlier this year that was a special edition of only 300 worldwide (L-595A SE), and there was no way to see it or audition it.  Both Steve Huff and Steve Gutenberg had reviewed it enthusiastically and I appreciated their insights.  They both seem to have a genuine enthusiasm for good audio equipment, and get excited about it.  I have noticed that Steve Guttenberg has varying levels of enthusiasm, so you have to read between the lines, and he does have clear opinions.  I imagine that he does not post negative or bad reviews so as not to scare away manufacturers and distributors from sending him gear, but if he doesn't like something he simply does not post a review about it.  Emphasize the good and positive, ignore the bad and negative.

OP

“Recently, I was thinking about diving into the world of 300B based amps. No local dealers had any 300B amps to audition, despite living in a city of 3 million population. So I did a google search which took me to, among many reviews, some you tube reviews of 2 very inexpensive ChiFi amps, available from Amazon, or direct from China, and these 2 amps had universal praise from you tubers Guttenberg, Thomas and Stereo, Jay’s Iyagi, and Steve Huff.

Thankfully, another you tuber, Skunkie Designs, who has extensive technical knowledge, posted about some serious circuit deficiencies in those amps that were creating both performance and reliability issues as well as showing the mods to correct the issues.”

I think you are correct here with these statements. I did the same thing and that experience and many others has led me to believe it’s pointless to buy equipment based upon these reviews. In fact one Chinese company utilizes the 805 tube that I have come to find out gets far too hot and can overload causing a fire or explosion. Nevertheless at least 2 YouTube reviews gave it high praises.

It’s difficult to navigate the Hi-Fi waters and choose components, sometimes I think the salesman at the old brick and mortar store was the better chance at getting good information. Even on audiogon, you will find bias fanboys vs people who condemn equipment, but have never heard it or had experience with the company who manufactured it.