Bad audio reviews

Was reading the latest HiFi + whilst soaking this evening and there were a lot of good new speakers. Audiovector R6 Arrete. Magnepan LRS had a great review. A new floor stander from ELAC and a superb review of B&W 702 at the same price as the ELAC. They review the Auralic Vega G2.1, the Aries 2.1 with added DAC, referred to as spectacular. Had to wait for a $6,500 1m cable for indifference:


That’s the closest I’ve seen to a negative review, but fortunately I don’t need a pair of RCA cables.

Here’s another review that flatly states " I wouldn’t spend my money on them" from Srajan @ 6moons.

https://6moons.com/audioreview_articles/neodio-b2/4/

This product is definitely on the fringes of audio tweakdom.

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IMO the negative reviews in Stereophile (and RAS) of years ago we’re more obvious than they are now. As pointed out, these writers have to tread a very fine line, but if you read between the lines sometimes you can get a sense of whether the reviewer would go out of his way to buy the item under review. In the latest Stereophile there’s a review of the LVA R25A speakers. Frankly I wouldn’t call it an enthusiastically positive review. In his Long Thoughts at the end, it seems to me at least that Greene is practically tripping over himself not to say he didn’t like the speakers. It’s a carefully worded exercise in keeping from ticking off the manufacturer. My take, anyway.

Anything decent from Bordeaux usually costs at least €250, but at least you can usually drink it.