Magazine reviews are interesting, but keep a critical mind, and check who buys a lot of advertising in the magazine. Surprisingly enough, the big advertisers tend to get a lot of reviews, mostly favorable. You don’t say!
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No one would purchase advertising in a magazine which gave them a less than positive review.
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Reviews/reviewers need to factor in the room, the equipment that isn’t being auditioned, a persons age and therefore listening abilities (sorry old-timers…but the truth is atrophy takes place as you age), and just so much more like time of day (e.g. how quiet is the atmosphere, air conditioning, and other normal home factors, on and on). I will also venture to say that audio graphs, such as those Amir uses, require a VERY well-trained audio engineer to properly interpret and even verify said graphs worthy of inspection. For these reasons, it nearly renders the whole process a complete mess, but we still adore the music.
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And we know why most writers not even dare to compare…reviews are just a service for those who read about the equipment they already own and want to confirm they’re right without having to care for alternatives.
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I don’t agree with the logic I think is behind your inference.
That said, one should always engage in critical thinking when dealing with such matters (and with regard to all things really).
Discernment trumps information and knowledge every time.
(Don’t mean to come off as preachy here, so apologies in advance…)
Regards.
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I used to think like you until I realized that most magazines get their revenues mostly from advertising (mostly manufacturers).
I understand.
I just don’t share the opinion of many – that this particular “market model” has the level of corrupting impact that it is alleged to have.
SEE
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Amir is a master hack. His testing methodology is suspect at best as is his hearing. The guy is completely unreliable both objectively and subjectively.
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Amir is definitely a PS Audio hater. Check his closing notes of his review of the S300 amplifier. He is anything but objective.
On the other hand, I find measurements done by BHK Labs for Sound Stage Network objective and meaningful.
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I haven’t seen a really negative review in TAS or Hi Fi News for a very long time. Stereophile maybe, but with a big advertiser, I can’t remember any recent case.
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Amir is a hater of most things. However, is a big time lover of:
- The brands his business carries
- The brands he has a (monetary?) relationship with (everything’s been taken down now but a couple of years ago he was writing blogs in China for the parent company of Topping, SMSL, etc.
I’m confident the review samples of the stuff he shills are cherry picked and care is taken to get the best possible results. For everything else, his methodology wouldn’t pass a high school level science lab. You can read it in his reviews sometimes - comments like not bothering to check if there is a problem with the setup or measurement when something comes out looking terrible.
He’s also not either an engineer nor a scientist at MS as he claims. Dude was a product manager (that does not = engineer) of the failed Zune projects.
Hack of the highest degree with a confidence problem. If you question his findings, you’re banned. That’s not how science works. Science is based on having your findings holding up against questions, counter hypothesis, etc. In science, you haven’t done jack until your findings are backed by peer review.
He’s just as bad on the subjective side. He doesn’t even bother listening to the majority of DUTs and when he does it’s a 15 minute job and he’s done.
Why people continue to spread his idiocy is beyond me.
#QAmir
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Measurements matter. The best and most trusted audio magazines, Stereophile and Hi Fi News, publish their independent measurements. Some brands don’t like the embarrassing bench tests. The best equipment usually measures best and sounds best.
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I have no doubt that truly negative reviews published in TAS, Hi Fi News, Stereophile, etc. are few and far between.
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I guess he feels like a kind of Robin Hood, differentiating what’s behind the companies’ marketing style (of which Paul’s can at least be called polarizing) by his measurements. He just doesn’t realize that this doesn’t make sense…and that he’s not Robin Hood. But there are worse activities in the world having innocent or negatively energized supporters 
I beg to differ with this as well.
Anecdotally (as in I have not gathered a statistically significant number of test reports, etc.), I have to say this is an overstatement and does not generally jive with my experience as a hobbyist over the years.
I would agree that certain measurements tend to be indicative of the potential quality of kit , but I would not go so far as to say “measures best” usually “sounds best”.
Just my opinion/observation…
You make an interesting observation, though – and I wonder if others here would tend to agree with you.
Cheers.
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I never said that if if it measures well it sounds good.
What I said is that I prefer to buy equipment that measures and sounds good, if possible.
Seems like a good practice/mantra…
Sorry, I misunderstood.
SEE
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@DarrenMyers and @BHK qualify on bench testing and sound, according to JA and Paul Miller. I own the SPP and I agree, it’s an amazing product 
. PSA has some really good designers 
.
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I agree with you that measurements matter. What’s really funny is that the device that was reviewed , which people are talking about is also a measurement device itself.
The power plant has an oscilloscope. I’ve seen people talk about how much distortion (measurement) their incoming power has and how clean (measurement) the output is and also how nice the new sine wave looks (measurement).
If measurements don’t matter then why would one care about the metrics a power plant displays?
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