[HsvHeelFan]

I don't think we need a peak age for audio reviewers.  I'm a brass player in a Symphony and even though I'm 50, I know what a live, large orchestra sounds like.  I can easily translate that to audio, since my ears (even though they're OLD) still work. 

Even though 15k and up may be attenuated, when comparing A to B to C, most reviewers are looking for relative differences.

Back before I had kids, I was very active in SCCA and spent years autocrossing.  I started out in a 65 MG Midget and moved up to a Formula Ford.   Finished 11th out of 33 (and the fastest true FF) at the Solo II Nationals in Gurnee, IL in the 80's.  The 10 cars in front of me were heavily modified Formula Fords, Formula Atlantics and SuperVee things.

HsvHeelFan

[WGH]

Instead of reviewing cars as an analogy, how about violins? I just heard about this double blind test a couple days ago, you can guess what happened.

Double-Blind Violin Test: Can You Pick The Strad?

"...a research team recently tried to find out. They gathered professional violinists in a hotel room in Indianapolis. They had six violins — two Strads, a Guarneri and three modern instruments. Everybody wore dark goggles so they couldn't see which violin was which. Then the researchers told the musicians: These are all fine violins and at least one is a Stradivarius. Play, then judge the instruments."

Wayne

[acresm22]

Age has nothing to do with it, it's learned skill that counts in race driving and audio reviewing.

So tell me what the learned skill is in audio reviewing? Beyond being a good writer, I'm not sure what it would be.
We expect our food critics, wine critics, violin critics, and audio critics to have some special dispensation for discerning all those subtleties. But as has been demonstrated in any number of tests already discussed in this thread, they don't.
On one fairly recent Food Network show, a group of highly regarded chefs was blindfolded and told to identify various flavors based on taste and smell. It was amazing how poorly they did...even with things like ketchup.

[Mitsuman]

Instead of reviewing cars as an analogy, how about violins? I just heard about this double blind test a couple days ago, you can guess what happened.

Double-Blind Violin Test: Can You Pick The Strad?

"...a research team recently tried to find out. They gathered professional violinists in a hotel room in Indianapolis. They had six violins — two Strads, a Guarneri and three modern instruments. Everybody wore dark goggles so they couldn't see which violin was which. Then the researchers told the musicians: These are all fine violins and at least one is a Stradivarius. Play, then judge the instruments."

Wayne

Feel free not to believe me, but I picked the correct one. 

[lcrim]

 Some time ago I was a lighting designer in NYC for plays, dance, industrial shows.  Union membership in United Scenic Artists was a necessity and the exam was very difficult.  A good friend worked for NY State Council for the Arts and because I often had time on my hands he asked for my help in seeing and reviewing productions to observe that standards were maintained.  Much of it was a blur when you're attending 7 to 10 productions a week.  But in very short order one knew what was good and what was "not so much."  It never was about the light cues being run perfectly but the point of theatre to get the audience to look down that street, the length and breadth of which even the playwright or choreography didn't know.  It was about reaching for the thing which makes us human.

I don't think that any well written review of playback equipment should be a mere recitation of the technical numbers or the reviewers' hearing acuity but rather how that piece helps you get closer to what was being said by the composer or writer or performing artist. 

Sorry to be harsh but this is the second thread started by the same OP where I have to wonder why he's wasting his time and ours w/ naive views of a subject.
Larry

[TONEPUB]

That's a really good point Larry. 

[Rclark]

Oh well, at least we have something to chew on. Thanks for all the great responses! I always feel like I get an education with my asskicking. That's why I love this forum.

[Russell Dawkins]

Two additional points.
1. In the airlines, it is often mistakenly assumed (by non-pilots, or very inexperienced ones) that young pilots will be "better" because their reflexes are faster and they don't need glasses or contact lenses. They have yet to realize the importance of experience, which can much more than compensate for reflex time by allowing the pilot to anticipate problems before they occur, rather than scrambling with their fast reflexes to catch up to a problem which has already happened (due to inexperience).
As to eyesight - mine was 40/20 (high resolution) as a young jet fighter trainee, yet could not see an approaching jet my instructor was hinting was in my field of view, despite my very best tries. After two promptings he took control, and immediately pushed into a hard bunt (nose-down - big negative G). The other fighter flew by right in front of us, so close I could actually hear it go by. Experience finally taught me how to focus on infinity even without a visual reference, which would have let me see the approaching jet.

There's looking and seeing - there's listening and hearing.

2. Even normal hearing differs widely, as shown by a few experiments. Changes brought about by age are just another variation. We perceive our aural reality with our uniquely different hearing. The question always is, when assessing reproduced sound for veracity "how does what I'm hearing differ from what I know to be real". That question can be as well answered by anyone without an extreme hearing loss, as we are all used to the way we perceive aural reality and that is our basis for comparison, so the validity of that comparison comes down, once again, to experience.
I see you got your first serious stereo system in June 2010, R. These are still early days for you, actually.

P.S. My "uncle-in-law" is a 77 (I think) year old race car and light aircraft designer and still a decent driver, even on the track. A very talented man and still sharp as a tack, and still designing aircraft. His name is Bill Sadler, and I'd take his advice as definitive any day of the week when it came to any automobile, fast or slow.

[JohnR]

I like Rclark's threads

[TONEPUB]

What no one has mentioned here, is how many reviewers actually attend live performances of any kind in a given year?  I've talked to a few of my print contemporaries and I'd bet a big stack of 20's that most of them haven't attended five live shows in the last five years.

Because I shoot most of the live music photography in our magazine, I attend 50-80 shows in any given year - all kinds, from the symphony to snoop dogg.  It really helps to hear amplified and unamplified music on a regular basis to keep that in perspective.

[Letitroll98]

I like Rclark's threads

I like his attitude.  Takes a licking and keeps on ticking (all those who remember that one are those doing the a** kicking here) without being a jerk about it.  He'll argue his point (no matter how silly), even hold his ground against overwhelming onslaught, but you never feel like he's insulting you.  Makes for good discussions.

However Rclark, may I gently suggest the next time you feel like walking into a gathering full of over 50 gentlemen, you think long and hard about pissing on old people when you get in there.  You should attend the next audio show in your area, for many other reasons, and take note of the overwhelming percentage of folks north of 50.  (If it's on the East Coast, I'll buy the drinks)  We're mostly, not exclusively, in the second half of our lives on this forum, just sayin'.   

[Æ]

Astrological sign of the reviewer is all you really need. It will tell you how to evaluate him/her, which in turn enables you to evaluate the review.

Chinese or Western astrology? Big difference. One has me being a monkey, the other one has me being a lion. I'm confused, like am I supposed to chase myself up a tree? 

[Æ]

I gently suggest the next time you feel like walking into a gathering full of over 50 gentlemen, you think long and hard about pissing on old people when you get in there.  You should attend the next audio show in your area, for many other reasons, and take note of the overwhelming percentage of folks north of 50.

Hey, I'm over 50 and I have no problems pissing off a room full of older gents!

[Mike Nomad]

I'm sorry, you all are going to have to type louder. I can't understand anything you are saying...

[Letitroll98]

I'm sorry, you all are going to have to type louder. I can't understand anything you are saying...

WHAT??  I HAVE TO TIP THE WHAT?  SPEAK UP SON!

[jimdgoulding]

What no one has mentioned here, is how many reviewers actually attend live performances of any kind in a given year?  I've talked to a few of my print contemporaries and I'd bet a big stack of 20's that most of them haven't attended five live shows in the last five years.

Because I shoot most of the live music photography in our magazine, I attend 50-80 shows in any given year - all kinds, from the symphony to snoop dogg.  It really helps to hear amplified and unamplified music on a regular basis to keep that in perspective.

Snoop dog?  I don't envy you that one.

[Rclark]

Why? Snoop Dog is so good. Don't be ageist now 

[jimdgoulding]

Next time I'm in east LA, should I be strappin?

[Rclark]

probably 

[TONEPUB]

Snoop put on a fantastic show here in Portland last year.