Publication bias and confounders in product reviews - TAS, Stereophile, Audiogon, etcetera


Folks-

Since I am a research professor at a major medical school in the U.S., I am used to identifying and using statistical measures of such bias in scientific research.

In Japan, I have read that a product reviewer who writes for magazines or websites are paid fees by manufacturers. I have noted that a similar thing may be happening here in the U.S., both reading TAS, Stereophile, etcetera, as well as noticing comments from individuals on this and other websites, many of whom are also dealers of these products.

As an example, I am somewhat of a computer nerd and have been downloading high-resolution audio files for almost a decade. That being said, I have been looking to buy a relatively high-end SACD player for my large collection of CDs and SACDs. I have noted the following:

1. There are few-to-no reviews of DCS players (e.g., Puccini SACD player, somewhat outdated but can be upgraded) and almost no published U.S. reviews of the Marantz SA-10 SACD player that was released about a year ago. In contrast, SACD/CD players including those from Esoteric, Hegel (CD only), Ayre, PS Audio, MBL, and other brands commonly appear in formal reviews, which are all favorable. Does this mean that products which have been reviewed but which are not well-liked by reviewers are not published?;

2.  Comments in this and other forums mention that one or another SACD player or other product "must not be that good because they appear often as used equipment for sale..." or something to that effect. This observation may be valid, but could easily be confounded by the number of such products that were, or are, available for sale. The greater the number of products, the greater the likelihood they will appear as used items for sale - it says nothing about the quality of the product. I like to call this the "Ferrari effect", as this manufacturer intentionally limits the number of cars of any model for sale, and the company often only sells to individuals of affluence and/or have purchased cars from them in the past, artificially inflating the value of these cars; 

3. Odd statements about the interesting MQA file format, part of a larger problem of a lack of objectivity in the audiophile community. Recently I read in a publication - "MQA is to conventional audio what quantum mechanics was to classical mechanics" - Really? Does this individual know anything about physics? Or am I taking this all too seriously?

I guess I am asking about the degree of bias in these reviews, to what extent are products reviews influenced by the manufacturers and dealers, and where is the objectivity in this domain?

Thanks for listening to my ranting...Gerry 
128x128Ag insider logo xs@2xgerryah930
My thanks to all of you for the responses, since I am naive in this domain, and expected audiophile magazines might actually provide unbiased product reviews. 

One last tidbit of information, since we routinely perform high-throughput data analysis on billions of sequence reads - the name "Diana Krall" is significantly over-represented in the discussions of musical content between 2015-2017, both on Audiogon and in TA and Stereophile magazines. I guess she is a popular artist and was also once a student at Berklee in Boston (like I was, a long time ago!) - Rip Van Winkle, aka Gerry.


I've noticed a major change in the quality of reviews in TAS since HP departed for the Audio Valhalla in the Sky. Seemingly, every item in that publication is "superior" in some way or another. Perhaps that's true, but the wry comments, jabs and jibes I so appreciated from HP and his then peers are all gone.

To talk about "objectivity" with respect to audiophile opinions is far fetched ,but the uniformly adulatory tenor of TAS reviews these days calls motives into question. The overwhelming amount of advertising between the covers may indicate a problem in that regard.

Stereophile seems a lot better than TAS. I prefer it anyway.

Owner reviews may be tainted: who wants to readily admit to having purchased a stinker? I've bought a couple, but was hesitant to admit the mistake when I actually had the bothersome component in my own system. This forum is always interesting and informative, despite potential ownership conflicts.


i can only speak from personal experience.  My products have received good reviews in Stereophile without advertising with them.  Conversely, I am unable to get my products reviewed by The Absolute Sound.
The two "Peters" (Aczel and Moncrieff) made a determined attempt to avoid "favoritism" and "commercialism". Check out The Audio Critic (TAC) and International Audio Review (IAR). Listening combined with measuring for honest and forthright assessment of gear! Nothing since has been at the same level (though Brit publication Hi Fi News does try for " objectivity " - but is still bound to its advertising base).